The best opportunities for founders rarely sit inside one city or one market. They show up when ecosystems start connecting to each other. That's where new customers, partners and capital get unlocked, and it's how the ecosystems themselves grow stronger, more open, and better wired into the world. The businesses moving fastest already know this. They build relationships across borders early, in person, and grow alongside them.
That's the thinking behind Cremorne Connect: Singapore Meets Melbourne.
When Singapore Came to Melbourne
Singapore has been one of the world's key innovation hubs for years now. It's home to the APAC headquarters of many of the world's leading companies, a thriving startup scene, and a government that actively backs its founders in taking their ideas global.
For one evening, we had a slice of that ecosystem right here in Cremorne.
In partnership with Haymarket HQ and Enterprise Singapore, we brought 12 of Singapore's most promising startups to Cremorne Digital Hub. What followed was one of those nights that reminds you why in-person still beats everything else.
Twelve Founders, Sixty Seconds Each
Each of the 12 founders had one minute. One minute to tell the room who they are, what they're building, and why Australia is the next move. It sounds tight, and it is, but a one-minute pitch has a way of cutting through the noise. Here are the founders who took the floor:
- Vishnu Saran, CEO, Invigilo. Looking for high-risk industries where workplace safety is a top priority.
- James Miles, COO, TalentHero. Looking for Shopify, ServiceNow and Salesforce partners, and companies building tech teams in Southeast Asia.
- Rohini Krishnamurthi, Co-Founder, Eight Vectors. Looking for 3PL operators, warehouse operators, and service providers.
- Johnny Slattery, CEO, EarthTrack. Looking for distributors and connections into the mining and heavy industry sector.
- Joo Seng Wong, CEO, Spark Systems. Looking for banks and institutional trading firms needing e-FX solutions.
- Raymond Moh, CEO, iCOMPASS. Looking for compliance advisory firms and regulated businesses.
- Glenn Tan, CEO, Zavior. Looking for organisations wanting to streamline governance and compliance.
- Dr. Billy Yu, Chief AI Architect, PadmaAI. Looking for multilingual enterprises wanting to simplify how they search and access knowledge.
- Helene Mayne, Director of Customer Success, AIQURIS. Looking for enterprises deploying AI systems, and tech vendors.
- Jonathan Tostevin, CEO, Muuse. Looking for high-footfall hospitality venues ready to ditch single-use packaging.
- Joshua Errett, Founder & CEO, Friends & Family Pet Food. Looking for pet food distributors, retailers, and influencers.
- Ivan Mun, Founder, ELLO. Looking for channel partners in the assisted living and elderly care space.
Want to connect with any of them? Find them on LinkedIn and start the conversation.
After the pitches, the founders took the floor for a panel and went deep on the things that actually matter when you're entering a new market. We covered the gaps in Australia's industrial tech stack, what it really takes to work with Australian financial institutions, and where the AU and SG consumer markets line up versus where they genuinely diverge.
We wrapped with open networking, which is where the real value lived. Founders connected directly with potential partners, distributors, and collaborators from across Victoria's startup ecosystem. New relationships, new conversations, new doors, all opened over drinks.
What the Night Proved
The Australia and Southeast Asia opportunity is real, but access has always been the gap. Events like Cremorne Connect exist to close it by putting the right people in the same room and letting the conversations do the work. The night proved what we already suspected. When you bring motivated founders together with a curious, open ecosystem, good things happen fast.
The strongest ecosystems are built on genuine connection, not just locally but globally. Shaping a community that looks outward, welcomes the world in, and grows together is at the heart of what we do at Cremorne Digital Hub.
