Top 20 Business Networking Events for Startups & Founders
For modern founders looking to accelerate their growth, who you know is just as important as what you know.
Almost every startup success story today is built on the foundations of community. By making the right connections, founders unlock opportunities for funding, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. Our Startups Financial Confidence Report even found that 40% of Aussie founders are looking to their professional networks for financial advice.
Ready to rub shoulders? We’ve rounded up the 20 best events happening around the country to keep your calendar bursting with possibilities.
List of Startup & Founder Events 2024
Location | Prices starting from | |
|---|---|---|
Forbes Business Summit | Sydney | $399 |
Venture Capital Summit | Sydney & perth | $645 |
World Business Forum | Sydney | $1990 |
Airwallex for StartUps | Australia-wide | Free |
Sunrise by Blackbird | Sydney | TBC |
Fishburners | Sydney | $380/month |
SXSW Sydney | Sydney | $295 |
SmallBiz Week | Sydney & Melbourne | Free |
The Entourage | Australia-wide | Varies |
Stone and Chalk | Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide | Varies |
CapitalHQ Annual Investor Day | Sydney | Free |
Adapt or Die Tour with David Goggins | Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne & Perth | $125 |
Evoke AG Program | Brisbane | $550 |
TechSpo | Melbourne | Free |
PropTech Summit | Sydney | $1095 |
Digital Health Festival | Melbourne | $595 |
EduTECH | Sydney | Free |
Spark Festival | Sydney | Free |
StartUp Creative | Sydney | $500 |
CUB | Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane | Free |
1. Forbes Business Summit
Forbes Business Summit brings together a network of leaders for a night to share how to elevate business strategy, scale to a multi-million dollar empire and innovate.
Who should attend: Founders, entrepreneurs and leaders of all kinds
Location: Hyatt Regency, Sydney
Price: From $399
Date of Event: 19 November 2024
2. Venture Capital World Summit
As part of a World Series, The VC World Summit aims to provide mid-stage businesses with an opportunity to build connections with potential investors.
Who should attend: Experienced entrepreneurs who are ready to pitch to an international audience and investors
Location: Sydney and Perth
Price: Starting from $645
Date of Event: 20 February 2025
3. World Business Forum Sydney
Organised by WOBI, this two-day event brings together over 2000 executives to learn from business thought leaders on management and the challenges of steering teams.
Who should attend: Entrepreneurs, founders, C-suite executives and senior leaders
Location: ICC Sydney
Price: From $1990
Website: https://wbf.wobi.com/wbf/wbf-sydney/
Date of Event: 13-14 November 2024
4. Airwallex for Startups
The Airwallex for Startups program is one of Australia’s largest startup communities, with over 1200 members from across the ecosystem. We pride ourselves on presenting unconventional connection opportunities - it’s networking, but not as you know it!
Whether it’s talking about founder fundamentals over breakfast with Google in our Sydney HQ, or talking about the power of embedded finance for startups with SquarePeg in Melbourne – at our events you’re going to learn a lot, connect with likeminded founders, and enjoy a darn good coffee.
Who should attend: Founders and members of the startup ecosystem
Location: Australia-wide
Price: Free to join
Website: https://www.airwallex.com/au/airwallex-for-startups
Date of Event: We host events year-round, the only way to be in the know is to become a member!
5. Sunrise by BlackBird
Sunrise is ANZ’s premier startups festival, presented by BlackBird VC (the VC with a $7B portfolio including Canva, SafetyCulture, and Culture Amp). Sunrise is a key networking opportunity for founders, and a place to learn from ecosystem players and big thinkers from across creativity and tech.
Who should attend: Founders, VCs, investors and startup leaders
Location: Carriageworks, Sydney
Price: TBC
Date of Event: 1-2 May, 2025
6. Fishburners
Fishburners is Australia’s largest ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs to find support, use coworking spaces, and network. Fishburners hosts regular events to help founders build connections, share ideas, and raise investment.
Who should attend: Entrepreneurs and startup team members
Location: Level 2, 11-17 York Street, Wynyard NSW 2000
Price: Membership starts at $380/month
Website: https://fishburners.org/
Date of Event: Varies regularly
7. SXSW Sydney
Visionaries from around the city, the country, and the world descend on Sydney each year for South by SouthWest. Founders can take their pick of over 1,000 sessions to explore the latest ideas across tech, music, screen, and gaming.
Who should attend: Creatives and founders looking to explore creative solutions
Location: Sydney
Price: From $295
Website: https://www.sxswsydney.com/
Date of Event: TBC 2025
8. SmallBiz Week
Australia’s largest B2B small business event offers networking, industry insights, and opportunities to elevate your business through expos, keynote sessions, and workshops.
Who should attend: Small to medium-sized business owners
Location: Sydney & Melbourne
Price: Free
Website: https://www.smallbizweek.com.au/
Date of Event: 18-20 March 2025 (Melb) or 24-25 September 2025 (Syd)
9. The Entourage
The Entourage provides business coaching, training, and networking opportunities to Australian businesses from entrepreneurs to those looking to scale their business. They hold regular events featuring highly regarded entrepreneurs like the founders of Boost, Atlassian and OzHarvest.
Who should attend: Business owners ready to scale
Location: Mix of in-person and online
Price: Varies
Website: https://www.the-entourage.com/events
Date of Event: Varies regularly
10. Stone and Chalk
As Australia’s largest innovation community, Stone and Chalk helps tech startups and scaleups at every stage of their business through events, expert advice, and additional resource hubs.
Who should attend: Startups and scaleups in tech
Location: Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide
Price: Membership varies depending on plan
Website: https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/startups
Date of Event: Varies regularly
11. CapitalHQ Annual Investor Day
Capital HQ offers attendees an opportunity to showcase their business value propositions to potential investors to gain access to funding before they hit the mainstream market.
Who should attend: Startups and scaleups
Location: Level 2/11 York St, Sydney NSW 2000
Price: Free
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/capitalhq-annual-investor-day-tickets-964633664257
Date of Event: 28 October 2024
12. Adapt or Die Tour with David Goggins
Mindset coach and ultra-marathon runner David Goggins is coming to Australia to present ideas on business performance, personal development, and discipline. Special guests include Mark Bouris, Nick Kyrgios, Stephanie Rice, Michelle Bridges, and Samantha Gash.
Who should attend: Business owners and leaders
Location: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth
Price: From $125
Date of Event: 4-11 November 2024
Looking to up your networking game? Discover six strategies for making great connections in our guide to founder networking.
13. EvokeAG Program
EvokeAG is the biggest event on the agrifood tech calendar. Industry players of all sizes are invited to come together over two days to build connections and share cutting-edge ideas about the future of the sector.
Who should attend: Producers, researchers, industry leaders, government bodies, and investors within the agrifood tech space.
Location: Varies - Brisbane in 2025
Price: $550 to $1540
Date of Event: 18-19 Feb 2025
14. TechSpo Melbourne
This two-day technology expo showcases emerging technologies and innovation in Internet, Mobile, AdTech, MarTech, and SaaS Tech. There is also an opportunity for small to medium businesses to pitch to consumers, investors, and the press.
Who should attend: Tech startups, small to medium business owners
Location: Melbourne
Price: Free
Website: https://techspomelbourne.com/
Date of Event: TBC 2025
15. PropTech Summit
The property industry is in the thick of a digital transformation, and proptech entrepreneurs are leading the way. This Summit aims to connect commercial and residential property professionals to unpack technological opportunities, macroeconomic challenges, and more.
Who should attend: Proptech and real estate professionals
Location: Sydney
Price: From $1095
Website: https://proptechsummit.com.au/
Date of Event: TBC 2025
16. Digital Health Festival
Australia’s biggest digital health transformation event, the Digital Health Festival, will feature talks from innovative healthcare and healthtech leaders, plus pitch events and a startup village.
Who should attend: Clinicians, allied health professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors
Location: Melbourne
Price: From $595 (early bird) or free for Public Health VIPs
Date of Event: 13-14 May 2025
17.EduTECH
Which digital tools trends are set to shake up the education sector this year? That’s the question that the big thinkers at EduTECH, Australia’s largest conference and expo for EdTech providers, come together to answer.
Who should attend: Leaders from ICT, business, and finance for the education sector
Location: ICC Sydney
Price: Free expo seminars, exhibitions, opportunities to network. Paid conferences
Website: https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/edutech-australia/
Date of Event: 11-12 June 2025
18. Spark Festival
Spark is a not-for-profit, grassroots festival and community where founders from any stage of their journey can connect with NSW industry leaders to discuss sparking engagement in and across their ecosystems.
Who should attend: Founders, investors, SMEs, government, corporates and innovators from NSW
Location: Sydney
Price: Session prices vary
Website: https://sparkfestival.co/
Date of Event: TBC 2025
19. StartUp Creative
StartUp Creative supports their community of early-stage entrepreneurs and founders with coaching, resources, and regular workshops on topics like bringing your side hustle to life.
Who should attend: Early-stage creative entrepreneurs and founders
Location: Sydney
Price: $500
Date of Event: 9 November 2024
20. CUB
CUB offers an exclusive leadership community in Australia complete with networking opportunities, exclusive events, and access to CUB Clubhouses.
Who should attend: Entrepreneurs building a brand and looking to network
Location: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and globally
Price: Memberships start at $4800/year
Website: https://cub.club/
Date of Event: Varies regularly
Next stop, unicorn status.
Feeling inspired to take on the networking circuit? To help you stay on top of all of the ecosystem happenings, and to unlock access to our very own networking events, join 1,200 other Aussie founders who are already part of our Airwallex for Startups community.
Disclaimer: This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services available here.
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Vanessa is a business finance writer for Airwallex. With experience working at leading B2B technology companies, Vanessa is passionate about helping Aussie businesses, large and small, grow through cutting-edge tech. In her day-to-day, she breaks down complex tech jargon to help businesses streamline their end-to-end financial operations.
