Digital technology and innovation

With its world leading university and research hubs, Melbourne is the home for innovative businesses. The 2018 Strategy focused on the emerging opportunities in entrepreneurship, startups and e-commerce, while noting the need for innovation across other sectors including health.

Invest Victoria has assisted several Indian-based technology enterprises to announce Melbourne as their Oceania or Australian headquarters, including Sedin Technologies and JARVIS Invest. Indian multinational AI company Fractal also announced it would scale up operations in Melbourne.

India has the third largest number of startups in the world and has produced the third largest number of unicorns – reaching 111 in 2023. Innovations such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have been groundbreaking. In 2022, the National Payments Corporation of India reported 74 billion UPI transactions, worth around $2.25 trillion.

Victoria and India’s connections across the startup and scale-up ecosystems continue to grow. World leading Victorian accelerator programs provide attractive offerings to help Indian technology companies prepare for international market expansion and are increasingly active in India.

The Victorian Government has facilitated and secured further investments from major Indian technology companies, such as UST, LeadSquared, Zepic, and Infosys’ first Living Labs. This has created jobs and fostered partnerships with Victorian universities to drive innovation.

The Victorian Government has assisted RMIT University to partner with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) for the new BITS-RMIT Higher Education Academy and La Trobe University to partner with the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, to support innovation in its new Bio Innovation Hub and Digital Innovation Hub.

What's the opportunity

Digital technology is a critical aspect of Victoria and India’s economic relationship that enables multiple points of engagement across trade, investment, international education and talent development in the digital economy. Areas of opportunity span cyber security, digital games, EdTech, energy, FinTech, MedTech, DeepTech, and SportsTech.

There is a modest but impactful number of Victorian tech companies succeeding in India with room to grow. While India is a global leader in technology services, Victoria has strengths that are complementary in India, particularly in relation to measurement and monitoring technologies.

Major exchanges

The Victorian Government has delivered several innovation exchanges in the tech sector to catalyse new areas of opportunity for Victoria and India:

a MedTech innovation exchange led by the MedTech Actuator in partnership with the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre in 2019.
a clean energy tech innovation exchange led by Startupbootcamp with Indian industry partners in 2020.
an EdTech exchange led by EduGrowth in partnership with DIDAC India in 2021.

Case studies

GapMaps is a global leader in location intelligence services, partnering with businesses to develop and implement data-driven strategies that optimise the size, performance, and placement of store networks. By combining advanced analytics with comprehensive demographic and market insights, GapMaps empowers businesses to make informed decisions that drive growth and operational efficiency.
GapMaps entered the Indian market over five years ago and built its presence through word-of-mouth referrals. They have worked with several leading retail businesses in India, including Burger King, KFC, Subway, Taco Bell, Anytime Fitness and Tata retail to optimise their store networks.
In India, GapMaps has realised the importance of relationship building and attribute their success to their ability to build trust with senior decision makers. They have leveraged the local knowledge and networks of the Victoria’s Bengaluru office to navigate the local business environment and connect with opportunities across India.
‘We operate across many countries in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. India continues to be one of the most challenging markets, but it also continues to be the market with the greatest potential. Step by step, with the assistance of the Victorian Government, we’re building a presence, building revenues and the potential is becoming real. After more than five years working in India, we remain confident that it will be our largest global market within the next three years.’
Tim Shaw – Director of Market Planning & Advisory, GapMaps
Fractal is a multinational AI company founded in 2000 that has established itself as a leader in providing cutting-edge AI and analytics services across a broad range of sectors. With headquarters in Mumbai and New York, Fractal services fortune 500 clients around the world from its global network in India, United States, the United Kingdom, and fifteen other locations.
Fractal opened an office in Melbourne to scale its operations and respond to increased demand for design, data, AI and analytics services in Australia. The office was established with support from the Victorian Government and services clients in data, AI machine learning (AIML), cloud tech and analytics.
With recent funding of US$360 million, Fractal achieved unicorn status and has solidified its position as a trusted service provider for industry giants such as Google and Wells Fargo. The opening of Fractal’s Melbourne office follows a growing trend of Asia-based unicorn companies looking to Australia to establish or expand their technology initiatives in the region.
‘Melbourne has a strong pool of tech professionals. Invest Victoria has been helpful in connecting us into the local talent ecosystem.’
Rohit Joshi, Regional Head, Fractal Analytics
Acusensus, a Victoria-headquartered company, provides automated recognition of drivers illegally using mobile phones to enforce traffic safety laws. Their mission is to reduce road accidents and fatalities through innovative technology and now want to help respond to India’s annual road death toll of over 150,000 fatalities. Since entering India in 2018, Acusensus has implemented speed camera systems along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project as well as in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Acusensus has partnered with the World Bank and SaveLIFE Foundation, India’s leading not-for-profit focused on improving road safety, to deliver some of these programs
Finding the right partner with local connections, insights, and cultural understanding was crucial to success in India. Ador, India’s largest provider of traffic safety and enforcement solutions, was an early investor in Acusensus. Guided by a mutual commitment to road safety, they developed a solution tailored to India and the first speed camera systems were installed in 2021. The Victorian Government and Austrade provided ongoing advice and support throughout this process.
‘India provides a really unique opportunity to make an impact with our technology. It is a market that is in some ways challenging but it’s also a market that is eager to work with Australian companies.’
‘By being involved on the ground innovating for and with India, we believe we can make a huge difference in starting to bring down the road toll.’
Alexander Jannink, Managing Director, Acusensus
XY Sense, a Melbourne based technology startup, uses smart sensors and AI analytics to optimise workplaces. The rapid growth and potential of the Indian market has exceeded the team’s expectations. Within the first 12 months, XY Sense’s sales growth across multiple new client deployments has generated over US$1 million in revenue.
In 2023, XY Sense established a local entity in India, building on existing client relationships to expand deployments and capitalise on demand from large Indian employers, enhancing workplace experiences and achieving smart building outcomes. Critical to XY Sense’s success was seeking expert advice to navigate company registration requirements, tax and compliance considerations, logistics and insurance and establishing connections with relevant suppliers and government bodies in India.
‘By providing expert mentorship and connecting us with trusted local experts and resources, the Victorian Government has played a crucial role in our ability to rapidly grow and exceed our initial revenue goals in India. The team in India are very well connected and were able to open up opportunities we wouldn't have otherwise known about. We are grateful for their support, which has empowered us to deliver exceptional workplace solutions to this vibrant and expanding market.’
Alex Birch, CoFounder & CEO, XY Sense

Updated 17 September 2024