Spark Festival

What Spark Festival does

Spark Festival is a Sydney-based Not-For-Profit community organization that operates Australia's flagship annual startup and innovation festival and an associated year-round programming calendar. The entity, registered as Spark Festival Limited and headquartered in Haymarket, Sydney, runs more than 100 events per year and engages an active network of over 40,000 participants, with 4,000-5,000 registrations concentrated in the annual festival window. Its programs span the Spark Festival flagship event, vertical content tracks in Artificial Intelligence (Spark AI), Startup Teams, Sustainability, and Housing & Infrastructure, plus the Spark Investment Network launched in 2023 to formalize founder-investor connections and Spark Regional Events launched in 2024 to extend programming beyond Sydney into regional New South Wales.

The organization's core product is convening — connecting Australian founders, investors, corporates, universities, and government stakeholders through live events, content programming, and curated networking. There is no proprietary software platform or technology stack disclosed; the deliverable is event production and ecosystem curation. Participation is free to attendees, removing individual end-user revenue as a meaningful line.

Spark Festival's revenue model relies on sponsorship and government grants rather than ticket sales or subscription fees. Anchor funders include Investment NSW and the Commonwealth Department of Industry, supplemented by ecosystem partners including Stone & Chalk, the University of Sydney, UNSW Founders, UTS Startups, Tank Stream Labs, Cicada Innovations, CSIRO ON, Sydney Angels, Macquarie University Incubator, and Pledge 1%. With a small team of 1-10 employees, the organization is operationally lean and structurally dependent on continued public-sector and institutional support. Leadership is anchored by Chair Murray Hurps, Adviser Maxine Sherrin, Non-Executive Director Maria Macnamara, and a rotating set of program leads.

Name

Spark Festival

Legal name

Spark Festival Limited

Website

https://sparkfestival.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Spark Festival is a Sydney-based Not-For-Profit that runs Australia's flagship annual startup festival and year-round programming, convening founders, investors, universities, and government through 100+ free events serving a 40,000+ participant network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Events and Community

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (71132), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Music Festival Organizers & Promoters (MPAGAAAB), Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

Keywords

• Startup festival events
• Entrepreneur networking
• Ecosystem community building
• Investor founder events
• Innovation workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Haymarket

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship: Spark Festival operates as a Not For Profit organization supported by major sponsors. The festival relies on sponsorship funding to deliver its annual festival week and year-round programming.
2. Government Grants and Support: The festival receives support from government bodies including Investment NSW and the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources to run regional events and ecosystem programming across NSW.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Spark Festival is a Not For Profit grassroots festival and community organization that runs Australia's premier annual startup festival (since 2016) along with year-round programming connecting startups, investors, corporates, government, and innovators through events, workshops, networking, and ecosystem support activities across NSW.

Product overview

Spark Festival is a Not For Profit grassroots festival and community platform that has been Australia's premier startup event since 2016. The offering consists of the flagship annual Spark Festival week event (attracting 4,000+ attendees) supplemented by year-round programming. The platform organizes multiple thematic program streams including Spark AI (AI ecosystem content), Spark Startup Teams (startup employee community), Spark Sustainability and Impact (environmental and social outcomes), Spark Housing and Infrastructure (affordability and development), and Spark Investment Network (capital-raising connections). Regional events extend across NSW through partnership programs. The various products work together to create a comprehensive startup ecosystem engagement platform connecting founders, investors, SMEs, government, corporates, and innovators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Spark Festival Australia's premier annual startup festival running since 2016, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, government, and ecosystem participants through hundreds of year-round events. The flagship event attracts 4,000-5,000 attendees annually with an active network of over 40,000 participants.
• Spark Investment Network A unique event format launched in 2023 restricted to investment-ready startup founders currently seeking capital, connecting them with investors from across the Asia-Pacific region including private equity and family offices.
• Spark Regional Events Regional event initiative spanning New England, Hunter, Mid North Coast, Central West, Riverina, Tablelands, Western Sydney, and Sydney South, supported by Investment NSW and the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Investment NSWcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Government economic development agency partnered with Spark Festival to support regional NSW expansion, enabling the festival to reach local innovators, supporters, and entrepreneurs across the state through the Regional Events program launched in 2024.
• Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and ResourcescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Federal government department provided significant support for Spark Festival's regional expansion activities, particularly through Innovate at Charles Sturt initiative supporting rural and regional startup engagement.
• Stone & ChalkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSydney's leading tech innovation hub serves as headquarters location for Spark Festival and hosts multiple events throughout the year. Stone & Chalk provides venue access and ecosystem coordination support for festival programming.
• University of SydneymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor university partner hosting events at Sydney Knowledge Hub and promoting startup ecosystem engagement. The partnership includes research translation, startup incubation support, and student entrepreneurship programs.
• UNSW FoundersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNSW's entrepreneurship program co-hosts AI-focused workshops and founder events with Spark Festival, combining university research resources with festival community reach.
• UTS StartupsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Technology Sydney's startup incubator co-hosts events and provides venue access at UTS Startups @ Central location, supporting festival programming across the Tech Central precinct.
• Tank Stream LabsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSydney-based startup accelerator and co-working provider co-hosts events and provides Discovery Day access for festival participants, supporting founder education and ecosystem connections.
• Cicada InnovationsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralia's home of deep tech celebrates 25 years as Spark Festival partner, hosting expo and deep tech programming that showcases research commercialization and advanced technology ventures.
• CSIRO ON ProgrammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSIRO's entrepreneurship program supports researchers transitioning to commercial ventures, co-hosting ON Prime Showcase with Spark Festival to connect research teams with broader ecosystem.
• Sydney AngelsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAngel investor network co-hosts funding education events including Due Diligence Workshop and Angel Investing 101, providing direct investor education for festival founders.
• Pledge 1% AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial impact movement partner hosting meetup to connect Pledge 1% members with broader Spark ecosystem, supporting founders interested in embedding social impact from day one.
• Macquarie University IncubatorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity incubator co-hosts Due Diligence Workshop providing startup education on risk mitigation and investor readiness for festival participants.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SXSW: Large-scale, multi-disciplinary festival combining technology, music, film, and culture. Analogue for Spark's multi-theme approach (AI, sustainability, housing, investment) at festival scale.
• Slush: Helsinki-based major startup event organized by a not-for-profit community, pairing founders with investors. Strong structural and mission-level analogue to Spark Festival's nonprofit startup-convening model.
• Web Summit: Global tech and startup conference bringing together founders, investors, politicians, and media. Comparable in target audience and festival-style format, but at much larger scale and international scope.
• TechCrunch Disrupt: Flagship tech/startup conference featuring founders, investors, and ecosystem players. Comparable in audience and startup ecosystem focus, though commercially run and globally oriented.

Others

• Startup Genome: Global startup ecosystem research and network organization that maps and ranks startup ecosystems. Comparable as an ecosystem-building and data-driven community organizer, though focused on research rather than events.

Emerging players

• Fishburners: Australia's largest startup community and coworking organization, hosting regular founder events and education. Comparable as a community-anchored Australian startup ecosystem organizer with overlapping audience.
• Techstars Startup Weekend: Global program of 54-hour startup-building events operated across many cities. Comparable in event format and founder education, though narrower in scope than Spark's broad festival programming.

Direct peers

• Creative3 Conference: Australian conference at the intersection of creative industries, technology, and startups. Direct peer in the Australian startup/innovation events space with thematic overlap to Spark's creative and sustainability streams.
• Pause Fest: Australian festival focused on creativity, technology, and innovation, with a similar multi-event, multi-theme format connecting startups, corporates, and government. Direct peer in the Australian startup/community festival category.

Regional players

• Techweek NZ: New Zealand's flagship tech and innovation festival, run as a broader innovation week with multiple events, partners, and themes. Closest trans-Tasman analogue to Spark Festival's model of regional event coordination.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sparkfestivalau
• Facebookfacebook.com/sparkfestivalau
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spark-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Spark Festival