The Australian Startup Stack

J O I N T R E S E A R C H I N T O T H E T E C H N O L O G Y T O O L S
P O W E R I N G T H E A U S T R A L I A N S TA R T U P E C O N O M Y.

W H AT I S T H E S TA R T U P S TA C K ?
A suite of cloud tools designed to help entrepreneurs
easily automate the fundamentals of running a
business.

“When you’re growing from one to 10 million in
revenue, you don’t build a stack for a company
growing from 10 to 50 million. The business changes
very quickly and will have different needs at each
stage of growth. It’s important to know where you’re
going and pick the right tools to get you there.”
D A M I E N W I L L I A M S , H E A D O F F I N A N C E ,
C U LT U R E A M P

150+ tools are used across 10 business functions. The average Australian
startup uses 6 - 10 technology tools to power their business.
T H E T O O L K I T O F H I G H - G R O W T H
A U S T R A L I A N S TA R T U P S
A C C O U N T I N G A N A LY T I C S
C U S T O M E R S U P P O R T C O D E R E P O S I T O R I E S

C R M C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y
H O S T I N G A N D D ATA S T O R A G E H U M A N R E S O U R C E S
M O B I L E A N D W E B PAY M E N T S T E A M C O L L A B O R AT I O N & C O M M U N I C AT I O N

T H E S E T O O L S A R E M A K I N G I T C H E A P E R A N D
E A S I E R T O S TA R T A T E C H B U S I N E S S I N A U S T R A L I A .
strongly agree that tools
have made it easier to start
a tech startup in Australia.
strongly agree that tools
have made it cheaper to
launch a tech startup in
Australia.
startups believe they
couldn’t exist in their
current form without tools.
0
25
50
75
100 253325
75%
67%
75%

T H E Y A L S O M A K E T H E F U N D A M E N TA L
A S P E C T S O F G O I N G G L O B A L E A S I E R .
68% of startups say that entering new markets is one of the
greatest challenges for Australian startups. Top barriers include:
Access to capital
Access to talent
Regulation and
compliance
97% agree these tools have made it easier to go global from Australia.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
15%
23%
31%

“While on the surface we make designing custom
shoes look simple, we have an immensely complex
business model behind the scenes. Tech tools have
come a long way since we first started out 8 years ago,
but we've been early adopters of any tools that
understand the needs of fast growing startups and
allow us to simplify.”
J O D I E F O X , C O - F O U N D E R O F S H O E S O F P R E Y

H O W E L S E A R E T H E S E T O O L S H E L P I N G
A U S T R A L I A N S TA R T U P S ?
25% Quicker entry into market
18% Reduced operating costs
17% Quicker product development
17% Increased productivity
13% Easier to work remotely as a team

The top three tools having the biggest impact on startups’
growth are hosting and data storage, team collaboration and
communication and online payments.
26%
Hosting and
data storage
22%
Team collaboration
& communication
14%
Online
Payments

“Scaling a high growth technology business requires
razor sharp focus. Today, startups shouldn’t reinvent
the wheel but rather leverage software tools and
platforms that have been designed to make their
team’s lives easier so they can focus on what
matters.”
G AV I N A P P E L , C O - F O U N D E R O F O N E S TA C K

One in four of the tools most favoured by Australian startups
were launched within the past six years.
S TA R T U P S B U I L D I N G F O R S TA R T U P S

W H E R E I S T H E R E D E M A N D F O R M O R E T O O L S ?
The following categories emerged as the top 3 areas in
need of better tools:
16%
Cybersecurity
14%
CRM
12%
Analytics

The full startup stack is greater than the sum its parts. When selecting
tools, startups are prioritising the following factors:
W H AT D O S TA R T U P S L O O K F O R I N T O O L S ?
Ease of
integration
Reliability/stability
Interoperability
between tools
Affordability
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
15%
15%
17%
30%

“We always look at cost and accessibility and
whether we’ll be able to scale up as we grow.
It’s sink or swim, we’re a small team and
training staff to use new tools takes time. It
needs to make an effect straight away.”
A S I M B R O W N , F O U N D E R O F B O U N T Y E

U N B U N D L I N G C U LT U R E A M P ’ S S TA R T U P S TA C K
Mobile and web paymentsCRM
Accounting Hosting and data storage
Team collaboration and
communication
Cybersecurity Human resources
Accounting
Team collaboration and
communicationHuman resources

Stripe conducted research in December 2016 in partnership
with a cohort of leading VCs, accelerators and startup hubs
across Australia.
Responses were gathered from 208 startups, with one in
three responses coming from founders. Most respondents
were from early-stage startups that employ five or fewer staff.
A P P E N D I X
Research background

W H E R E O U R S U R V E Y R E S P O N S E S C A M E F R O M
Startups from around Australia participated in our research.
34% Sydney
11% Brisbane
2% Canberra
3% Perth
0.5% Darwin
36% Melbourne
7% Adelaide