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The final week at the Sydney Startup Hub was punctuated not by champagne toasts but by Slack threads littered with crying emojis. Tech founders hauled monitors into Ubers, along with cardboard boxes stacked with office documents and half-used whiteboard markers. For many, the move felt abrupt and disorienting: after seven years, the NSW government shut down the York Street hub, breaking its lease three years early.
The official line was blunt. The tenancy was costing taxpayers $15 million a year, and government ministers deemed it "not commercially viable and not fit for purpose". In an era of fiscal restraint and question marks around the relevance of physical office spaces, that was enough justification. For many of the 600-odd entrepreneurs and start-up employees who called the hub home, however, the announcement landed like a thunderclap.
"It's no secret it has not been well received," says Carolyn Breeze, chief executive of ASX-listed Scalare Partners. "It has been a cornerstone of Sydney's innovation ecosystem. The hub provided space, connection and opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs. Its absence creates a void that risks slowing momentum at a time when supporting founders has never been more important."
Breeze, whose company has since acquired co-working provider Tank Stream Labs to offer displaced founders with an alternative home, argues the government underestimated the hub's symbolic and practical role. "The hub has been more than just a building ... it's been the beating heart of our start-up ecosystem."