At least seven of Australia’s better known startups began as side projects, built on weekends, at university or in spare rooms before their founders raised money or went full time. All seven are based in Melbourne or Sydney, and between them they now span link-in-bio tools, digital business cards, companion robots, clinical AI, at-home health screening and generative AI.
The common thread is that each founder started by solving a specific problem they understood closely, often their own, and proved demand before committing to it full time. Several later attracted major local and international investors, and one has already been acquired.
Linktree (Melbourne)
Linktree was built in about six hours at a music agency in 2016 because its founders were tired of constantly changing the single link allowed in an Instagram bio. The tool fixed an everyday irritation for creators and brands, and the company now reports more than 70 million users.
Blinq (Melbourne)
Jarrod Webb built the digital business card app on weekends while working at Uber Eats. He moved to Blinq full time in 2021 once paying users had shown demand, and the company raised its Series A in 2025.
Andromeda Robotics (Melbourne)
Grace Brown built the first version of Abi, a companion robot, in her bedroom during the COVID period while studying mechatronics. The company has reportedly been valued at about $100 million.
Lyrebird Health (Melbourne)
Kai Van Lieshout co-founded the clinical AI scribe company in 2023. The business now handles around 30,000 consultations a day, as reported, by building closely around the needs of the clinicians who use it.
June Health (Sydney)
Grace Toombs founded June Health to offer at-home cervical and sexually transmitted infection screening. Health screening is tightly regulated, which makes partnerships with laboratories central to reaching patients.
Fluency (Melbourne)
Finnlay Morcombe and Oliver Farnill started Fluency while at university, as self-taught developers. The company validated its product before raising, and has since been backed by global investors Accel and DST Global.
Leonardo.ai (Sydney)
Leonardo.ai was founded in December 2022. It reportedly reached about 19 million users in under two years and was acquired by Canva in 2024.
Jack’s take
None of these founders waited for permission or a big cheque before starting. The pattern I see is building for a problem the founder knows firsthand, proving people will pay, staying narrow until the niche is won, and only then going big. That is a far more repeatable playbook than starting with a deck.