The NSW Government has named Stone & Chalk as the operator of the Tech Central Innovation Hub at 477 Pitt Street in Sydney. 

The move follows the decision to transition the services of the Sydney Startup Hub from 11 York Street, centralising resources in a district already home to giants like Atlassian and Canva, Venture funds, and Universities.

Fishburners is also joining the new hub as an anchor partner, with a specific focus on nurturing early-stage companies. 

The partnership aims to provide a clear pathway for startups from their earliest days through to global scaling, all under one roof.

The new hub, located at 477 Pitt Street, is being positioned as a cornerstone of the broader Tech Central precinct, a sprawling area the government hopes to mold into Australia's premier innovation engine. 

The relocation is a strategic bet on density, with the government moving startup services away from the city's traditional financial district to where it believes the true "centre of gravity for tech" now lies.

Chris Kirk, CEO of Stone & Chalk, said of the shift. “The Sydney Startup Hub at 11 York Street helped tens of thousands of innovators turn their ideas into reality. But beside banks and professional services firms, the centre of gravity for tech is no longer in Wynyard,” he said. 

“Today, Australia’s leading tech companies, venture funds, and ecosystem enablers are clustered in and around Tech Central. The NSW Government’s decision to back this precinct is a bold investment in the future of our economy”.

The collaboration between Stone & Chalk and Fishburners is designed to cover the full founder journey. “For more than a decade, Fishburners has been a go-to home for early stage founders, while Stone & Chalk has built the infrastructure to help ventures scale,” Kirk explained. “Together, we’re creating a seamless pathway for NSW innovators—from idea to global growth”.

Fishburners CEO Majella Campbell said the move is about placing founders in a “high-performance environment, right in the heart of Sydney’s innovation ecosystem” to ensure they are “surrounded by the best people and opportunities to accelerate their growth”.

The government is also relocating its International Landing Pad, which supports overseas tech companies exploring an Australian launch, and its Regional Landing Pad into the new 8,000-square-meter facility. For startups on a budget, workspaces will start from as little as $25 a day.

This initiative is part of a much larger government strategy, backed by a previously announced $38.5 million investment into the precinct. The government recently released its Tech Central Economic Development Strategy, a roadmap intended to cement the area's status, drawing inspiration from international hubs like Station F in Paris and MaRS in Toronto.

The district already boasts a significant concentration of tech firepower and VC funding, including unicorns like Afterpay, Airwallex, and Safety Culture. Several tech companies have have recently announced impressive workspaces including Afterpay/Block’s Chippendale-based retro-fitted brewery, Atlassian’s new flagship building over Central Station, and Canva’s new Sydney Campus.

Additionally, some of Australia’s most active accelerator programs are based at Tech Central. This includes Antler, Tech Ready Women, Techstars, Startmate, Blackbird Giants, and Cicada Innovations.

UTS Startups recently unveiled its new workspace in the Bon Marche building, located just 700m from Stone & Chalk at Tech Central. This new space will be open to the public with affordable workspace prices and heavy discounts for UTS students.

Regarding frontier technology, Tech Central already houses significant clusters of the talent, resources and institutions required to develop emerging technologies like AI, MedTech, Quantum, and Clean Energy. Notably, there are over 150 research institutions within the boundaries of Tech Central. 

55% of Australia's MedTech and BioTech companies call Tech Central home, and half of Australia's universities with quantum capabilities are located in the Tech Central area. 

Jackie Vullinghs, a Partner at Airtree, called the new hub “the gravitational centre for innovation for the next decade”.

“For us, it’s about making life easier for founders so they can focus on building, and access to the right community and workspace is a big part of that,” Vullinghs said. “We believe the best startups are forged in community, and spaces like this spark ideas, create serendipity, and help founders accelerate their growth”.