The Missing Middle of Australian Innovation

From start-up fascination to scale-up reality

Last week, we wrote about the three strata of Australian innovation: start-ups, scale-ups, and stay-ups. The point of that article was simple. Australia’s innovation ecosystem is broader than the start-up scene, and it only becomes stronger when all three strata are recognised and connected.

This week, we focus on the least understood of the three: the middle.

Because while Australia has become relatively comfortable talking about start-ups, founders, accelerators, and early-stage momentum, we still pay too little attention to what happens next. We are good at celebrating emergence. We are less disciplined at understanding scale.

And that matters.

A strong innovation ecosystem is not defined only by how many ideas are generated, how many start-ups are formed, or whether one of them becomes a unicorn. It is defined by whether enough organisations can move through the harder middle stage where innovation is tested by growth, customers, talent, systems, execution, and market discipline.

That is where the missing middle comes in.