Innovative financing solutions: for scaling up space and defence start-ups and SMES
Date
2020
Authors
Sardeshmukh, S.
Opie, M.
Mackay, W.
Oak, M.
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Report
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Abstract
In September 2019, this research team was co-funded by the Department of Innovation and Skills, South Australia (SA) and the National Australia Bank (NAB) through the Research Commercialisation Start-up Fund (RCSF) grant.The goal of this research was to identify financial challenges faced by the Space and Defence Start-ups and Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in SA and to suggest potential solutions to ensure Australian industry benefits in the long term from the current defence mega-projects. For this research, we took a multi-stakeholder perspective. We conducted in-depth interviews with 37 critical respondents from different stakeholders, including SA defence start-ups and SMEs, defence primesĀ¹, Defence SA, Defence Teaming Centre (DTC), banks as well as fintech start-ups. We augmented the insights from our respondents with an in-depth literature search.As we were about to conclude the data collection phase, the COVID-19 situation unfolded. Given the potential impact of the COVID-19 crisis, especially in the short-and medium-run, during April and May 2020, we also undertook additional five Zoom based online panels interview sessions involving 30 respondents from a variety of industry stakeholders.Although our research has a focus on SA defence and space industry, this section of the industry is a microcosm of the broader Australian defence and space industry;therefore, our research implications can be extrapolated to have national relevance.