Innovation festival releases Mad March program

The _SOUTHSTART//ODYSSEY startup and innovation festival, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary, has just released the lineup for 2023.

Dec 19, 2022, updated Nov 04, 2024

The four-day festival, which is supported by the South Australian government, will run from 7-10 March 2023 to coincide with Mad March.

_SOUTHSTART//ODYSSEY started in 2013 with the goal of bringing together leading innovators, entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

In previous years it has included OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn and the Deputy Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Christyl Johnson.

Next year’s festival will be the sixth program curated by co-directors Craig Swann and Danielle Seymour.

“As our audience continues to grow and mature, we are strengthening our focus on curating targeted programmatic elements that cross over at critical touchpoints,” said Seymour.

“This will enable us to continue to mobilise the cross-sector connections that stand as a critical piece to Australia’s innovation race while strengthening the pillars that will drive the longevity of success.”

It will include a first-time partnership with the Garden of Unearthly Delights, which will be the venue for the START(UP) Academy and CAMP(US) events.

START(UP) is a half-day event aimed at students that includes workshops and talks from entrepreneurs.

CAMP(US) is a one-day event catering to business founders, operators and “change-makers”, with sessions focusing on topics like impact, sales, and fundraising.

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Premier Peter Malinauskas said _SOUTHSTART has cemented its place in the nation’s events calendar alongside the city’s other Mad March activity by attracting innovation thought leaders, investors and founders from across the country to Adelaide.

“It’s a chance to showcase what’s happening in South Australia, including the impact our businesses, research institutes, innovation districts and regions are having on the global stage,” he said.

Swann said that a highlight of the festival will be the Angel Summit at the National Wine Centre of Australia.

“We are so excited to welcome Australia’s leading Angel investors to the ODYSSEY experience to gather alongside a special group of scaleup founders to converse, connect and grow,” said Swann.

There will also be a Scaleup Summit, which will include insights from 80 scaleups, which are companies that have grown at a rate of at least 20% per year over the past three years.

Other events include the VILLAGE, which will be held at Lake Breeze winery, and AFTERGLOW, which will take place at Vale Taphouse.

Tickets to ODYSSEY are now available for $499 and include access to CAMP(US), SOCIAL, the VILLAGE, plus catering.

Registration of interest is also open for the SUMMIT sessions, including ANGEL, SCALEUP & CORPORATE INNOVATION.

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