Melbourne Startup Networking Event: Meet Founders, Investors, and Talent - Build or Scale Your Startup
This event has already taken place
The next date is now open for registration.
Next: Startup Pitch Events Melbourne: 5 Founders on Stage — Oct 23, 2026 →Missed this one?
Drop your email — we'll let you know when we run something similar in your city.
Startup Networking Event in Melbourne for founders, investors, and tech talent.
Join a high-signal startup networking event in Melbourne where founders, investors, and talent connect to build and scale startups.Meet the right people, unlock real opportunities, and grow within the Melbourne startup ecosystem.
Most networking events end with exchanged LinkedIn profiles.
This one focuses on real conversations and real opportunities.
We bring together founders, investors, engineers, operators and talent in a curated environment designed to create meaningful connections.
Through interactive networking rounds, open conversations and pitch opportunities, participants can share challenges, exchange insights and build relationships that last beyond the event.
Startup Networking in MelbourneStructured networking rounds where founders, investors, and talent connect, share challenges, and explore opportunities.
Talent & Hiring ConnectionsMeet engineers, operators, and professionals in the Melbourne startup ecosystem.
Startup & Investor ConversationsDiscussions around fundraising, product development, and scaling startups.
A limited number of founders will have the opportunity to present their startup.
Selected founders will showcase their pitch deck to the audience and attending investors, followed by a short Q&A where participants can ask questions and share feedback.
Apply by sending your pitch
Spots are limited and founders will be selected in advance.
We invite local investors, angels and venture capitalists to join the event.
Investor participation is complimentary.
After verification, investors receive access to the Ascent Valley ecosystem, including:
Interested investors can request verification
Five founders, five minutes each, then the room asks. A table on a topic the room voted for, and the hour after the stage, which is the one people remember.
Anyone building something, from the first line of code to Series A, and the people who run a function at a company that is scaling, write the code, do the hiring, or are still deciding whether to start.
Why it is worth itWatching somebody explain their company in five minutes teaches you more about explaining yours than another evening alone with the deck.
Times in Australia/Melbourne
Check in, grab a drink, and start meeting fellow founders, builders, and investors before the program begins.
Selected founders present their startups to the audience and receive feedback from founders, operators, and investors.
Time to recharge, continue conversations, and prepare for the startup pitch session.
Selected founders present their startups to the audience and receive feedback from founders, operators, and investors.
Frequently asked
No. The room is built around founders, but investors and operators (product, engineering, marketing, people who have done the job) are who founders come to meet. Each format says who it is for, and the event page repeats it for that evening.
At Pitch Nights and Investor Connect evenings, by application. A ticket lets you attend; a separate application, reviewed by a person, puts you on the list to present. Read how pitching works before you apply.
Sometimes, and we never promise it for a given night. Investors come to Investor Connect and to some pitch nights; they are approved on application and are not used as bait. Introductions to investors are made by us afterwards, through the Monday digest, and we take no percentage of any deal.
Open the event page and use its ticket button. It takes you to the platform that sells that evening, Eventbrite or Luma; your ticket and confirmation come from there, to the email you used. Right after the purchase you also get two emails from us: an invitation to our Luma calendar and an invitation to your city's community. Each evening is sold in one place only, and refunds follow that ticket page's terms.
You are in your city's community from the moment you buy the ticket: the invitation arrives with your purchase, and it opens in Slack, in the browser or in Telegram, three doors to one room. That is where the conversation continues and where the next date is announced. If you pitched, your startup enters our base with the evening and the date on record.
The Duke of Wellington · 🇦🇺 Melbourne
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics Melbourne voted for, and an open hour after the stage.
The Duke of Wellington · 🇦🇺 Melbourne
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics Melbourne voted for, and an open hour after the stage.
The Duke of Wellington · 🇦🇺 Melbourne
Five founders, five minutes each, then questions from the room. Tables on topics Melbourne voted for, and an open hour after the stage.