Episode Summary:
Grab your copy of the Dealroom and SideStage Ventures report we talked about on the show with Cheryl Mack and Maxine Minter here - https://www.sidestage.vc/outliers-report-2025
Ben Grabiner is the Co-founder and General Partner at Side Stage Ventures, and the author of a landmark new report in collaboration with Dealroom and AWS. In this episode, Cheryl and Maxine sit down with Ben to unpack the data behind Australia’s rapid rise as one of the most efficient and exciting venture ecosystems in the world.
They explore how Australia produces more unicorns per dollar invested than any other country, what makes the ecosystem so resilient and capital-efficient, and why the next decade might belong to Aussie tech. From funding gaps to founder grit, from global capital flows to angel investor opportunities, this is essential listening for allocators, founders, and emerging fund managers alike.
You’ll also hear Ben’s story, from buying Tottenham Hotspur shares as a teenager, to moving across the world mid-COVID, to becoming a key builder in Australia’s startup ecosystem.
Episode Sponsors:
Chapters:
04:49 – Ben’s first investment: £250 in Tottenham Hotspur
06:34 – What makes Australian unicorns so capital-efficient?
09:14 – Unicorn efficiency vs gross unicorn creation: what matters more
13:15 – How Australia quietly matches Israel and India on decacorn creation
14:35 – Why foreign investors see the opportunity more clearly than locals
18:41 – The power of local exits like Afterpay, and how they inspire allocation
21:19 – Can Aussie startups scale globally from home? Or must they go abroad?
23:40 – Why this next wave of operators will be our ecosystem’s secret weapon
25:54 – What global LPs need to understand about Australian venture
30:17 – Why pre-seed funds and angel investors matter more than ever
Resources:
🙋🏻♂️ Ben’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengrabiner/
💳 Side Stage Ventures - https://www.sidestage.vc/
📋 Grab your copy of the Dealroom and SideStage Ventures report we talked about on the show with Cheryl Mack and Maxine Minter here - https://www.sidestage.vc/outliers-report-2025
