Catalyzing Genomics Entrepreneurship Down Under | Why Australia & Why Now For Genomics?

Illumina For Startups | Spotlight Article by Emma Ball, PhD MBA

Illumina for Startups is Illumina’s engine for creating, launching and growing genomics startups. Building on the success of Illumina Accelerator San Francisco Bay Area and Cambridge UK, we launched Illumina for Startups Australia in late 2021. “Why Australia and why now?”, we hear you ask. In this Spotlight Article, we share a few of the trends and success stories that inspired our expansion Down Under.

Before we dive into Why Australia & Why Now for Genomics, here’s a bit about me, Emma Ball, Head of Illumina for Startups Australia. After two decades in the Australian biopharma industry (large and small, private and public) across a number of roles (R&D, commercial, search & evaluation, corporate strategy), it was time to jump into the startup scene full time. The new role weaves together two of my passions — entrepreneurship and genomics — and sits within the context of an amazing multi-national company with the talent, expertise and insight to drive innovation and global impact. Here are some thoughts on why Australia is the perfect place support genomics startups in 2022 and beyond.

1. Australia’s Track Record in Genomics and Lifesciences Research

At Illumina for Startups, we support early-stage companies working with genomics and multi-omics who are developing therapeutics, diagnostics, agriculture, synthetic biology, software and direct-to-consumer applications.

Australia has a strong life sciences and biomedical research sector, with most activity aggregating along the Eastern seaboard in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane[1], cities that consistently rate highly on the Economist’s Global Liveability Index[2]. The biomedical research sector is underpinned by a high quality and equitable healthcare system[3] and associated clinical trials infrastructure. Melbourne is ranked among the top 5 Life Sciences hubs in Asia based on the number of medical research institutes and universities involved in biomedical research[4]. Over 200 biotech companies are in Melbourne’s Parkville Precinct[5], home also to Illumina for Startups and our laboratory, the Illumina Innovation Collective (IIC).

While the Australian life-sciences industry is predominantly human health-focused, other subsectors are growing with ~16% of Accelerating Commercialization grants awarded to food and agtech companies in 2020[6] and locations such as Sydney, Brisbane and Perth growing as bioeconomy hubs not only for biomed but other synthetic biology and life sciences applications[7],[8].

2. Vibrant and Rapidly Growing Early Stage Investment Landscape

The Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute (GEDI) ranks Australia as number 5 (behind US, Switzerland, Canada and the UK) out of 137 countries in their 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI)[9]. According to the recent report, The State of Australian Startup Funding 2021[10], the Australian startup sector has never looked better and shows no signs of slowing. We have reached a level of sophistication only dreamed of a few short years ago. Total equity into startups more than tripled in 2021 to over $10B, deal sizes grew by strong double digits and more investors, local and overseas, entered the fray[11]. The market is maturing and flywheel spinning, with founders and other beneficiaries of notable liquidity events now reinvesting. Anecdotally, investors traditionally focused on areas like fintech and SaaS are becoming interested in more technology-rich areas such as human health and environmental applications as they seek to deploy capital with meaningful positive impacts. This places multiomics businesses in a strong position as they are now within the sights of a broader range of VCs and other investors.

In addition to private sources of funding, state and federal governments have significant initiatives in place to address the gaps and challenges associated with startups and commercialization. These include the AU$20B Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and state-based initiatives such as the Victorian Startup Capital Fund (VSCF), the Breakthrough Victoria Fund and programs through InvestNSW and Advance Queensland, to name a few.

3. Challenges & Opportunities

While the ecosystem is strong and the future looks bright, it is not all smooth sailing. There are areas that we need to urgently improve upon in order to maintain momentum and capture the inherent value in the sector.

• Human capital: Throughout COVID, Australia’s borders have remained tightly closed. While our geographic isolation being an island continent spared us the worst of the pandemic to date, Australia is a nation proudly built on migration, multiculturalism and global connectivity. With a population of only 25 million[12], shortages of skilled labor continue to hamper growth of fast-moving startups innovating in deep tech. Together with new migration and repatriation of expat knowledge-workers, we need longer-term strategic investment in education and training to prepare a highly-skilled workforce capable of scaling and entering into roles that perhaps don’t exist today. To this end, one of the objectives of The Advanced Genomics Collaboration (TAGC) between Illumina and the University of Melbourne is education and workforce development within the genomics ecosystem[13].
• Diversity: The percentage of Australian startups deals with a female founder sits at 19%, with only 22% of capital invested in startups with at least one female founder[14], presumably meaning that high quality female entrepreneurs are going unfunded or perhaps never turning their intellectual capital into ventures. While these numbers are consistent with other regions globally, these gaps must be addressed as they represent significant value unrealized. We are proud to share that 56% of our 61 portfolio companies graduating from Illumina Accelerator (San Francisco and Cambridge UK) are female cofounded. We hope to now replicate that track record at Illumina for Startups Australia with the companies who are awarded Startups Grants and other forms of support, acknowledging that gender is only one aspect of rich diversity to be embraced.

Looking forward, we are bullish about what’s to come. Australia is innovative in genomics and other life sciences, a healthy investment sector and a culture of open collaboration and can-do attitude. It is truly an inspiring time to be working with entrepreneurs and investors and to help build this community and change lives with the power of genomics.

To quote a “hit” song from the 80s, “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades!”

Sources

[1] Australia’s Life Sciences Sector Snapshot 2019, AusBiotech, https://www.ausbiotech.org/documents/item/589

[2] The Global Liveability Index, The Economist Intelligence Unit, https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/global-liveability-index-2021/

[3] Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly, The Commonwealth Fund, https://thegedi.org/global-entrepreneurship-and-development-index/

[4] The Global Startup Ecosystem Report GSER 2021, Startup Genome, https://startupgenome.com/report/gser2021

[5] Melbourne Startup Ecosystem Report 2017, LaunchVic, https://startupgenome.com/reports/melbourne-startup-ecosystem-report

[6] Crossroads 2020, StartupAus, https://startupaus.org/our-research/reports/

[7] Australia’s Life Sciences Sector Snapshot 2019, AusBiotech, https://www.ausbiotech.org/documents/item/589

[8] A National Synthetic Biology Roadmap 2021, CSIRO, https://www.csiro.au/-/media/Services/Futures/Synthetic-Biology-Roadmap.pdf

[9] The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) https://thegedi.org/global-entrepreneurship-and-development-index/

[10] The State of Australian Startup Funding 2021, Cut Through Venture and Folklore, https://www.australianstartupfunding.com/

[11] Venture Capital Dashboard 2020–21 https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/venture-capital-dashboard

[12] Australian Bureau of Statistics, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population

[13] The Advanced Genomics Collaboration (TAGC), https://www.tagcaustralia.com/

[14] The State of Australian Startup Funding 2021, Cut Through Venture and Folklore, https://www.australianstartupfunding.com/

About Illumina For Startups

Illumina for Startups is focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry by partnering with leading venture capital investors and entrepreneurs to create, launch, and grow genomics startups. Illumina for Startups initiatives include Illumina Accelerator, founded in 2014, and Sequoia Capital China Intelligent Healthcare Genomics Incubator, Powered by Illumina, founded in 2021. Illumina Accelerator is a company creation engine co-located with Illumina research and development sites in San Francisco Bay Area and Cambridge, UK. Since inception, Illumina Accelerator has invested in 68 genomics startups from across the globe, which have collectively raised over $1 billion in venture capital funding. Approximately 93% of Illumina Accelerator investments have gone on to raise additional capital from leading investors. For more information, visit our website.