Individuals, businesses, groups and even countries can benefit from the power of community. So it’s probably no surprise that in recent years, community has become a rising star, growing in importance in innovation and R&D circles too. While cash is essential for start-ups and other businesses to stay afloat, communities have become gateways to long-term success, particularly for innovation businesses. In this blog, we’re unpacking why innovation communities and ecosystems have become increasingly important. We’re also diving into what makes an effective innovation ecosystem, and how the hidden power of community could elevate your innovation business, if you let it…
Understanding innovation ecosystems and communities
Some founders are confused by the concept of an innovation ecosystem or community. Often, these business owners worry these are vague collectives that will overpromise, underdeliver and ultimately cost them time and money. But the facts and data don’t support this perception. Indeed, innovation ecosystems and communities have three distinct elements that identify them.
- They include high-growth innovation-based businesses, for example, start-ups and scale-ups.
- They feature partners, for example, service providers, corporations and government entities.
- They have enablers (individuals or organisations), for example, investors, incubators, accelerators, venture studios or universities.[1]
Crucially, businesses that are part of innovation ecosystems and communities are more likely to succeed. Take, for instance, the outcome of start-ups belonging to incubators and venture studios. The five-year survival rate for start-ups that joined an incubator is 87% compared to 44% for those that didn’t.[2] Most venture-studio start-ups (84%) raise Seed capital, and 72% of this group go on to have successful Series A rounds, compared to 42% of traditional Seed-backed ventures. Venture studio start-ups succeed faster, too. It takes the average venture-studio start-up 25 months to go from founding to Series A, while conventional start-ups take 56 months to make the same journey.[3]
Finding the right communities for you and your business can be tricky for time-poor founders and their ventures. So that’s why we put together our quick-reference guide, How to find a start-up ecosystem and why it’s important. If you haven’t joined a start-up ecosystem or community yet, our article will help you get started.
The value of community
Staying in business beyond the five-year mark is one thing. But hitting your innovation, business growth goals, and ideal exit strategy is a whole different ball game. And that’s where the hidden power of community comes in. Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025 drills down into what makes an ecosystem most effective at a macro level. This report ranks ecosystems worldwide using six different metric categories. These include performance data, such as the number of start-ups with successful funding rounds across each growth stage (Seed, Series A and so on) and the number and value of exits. Access to funding, the availability of talent and experience, knowledge and market reach within an ecosystem, and the extent to which an ecosystem encourages AI-start-ups are the other four metrics.[4]
As Australia’s market-leading expert in innovation finance, we agree with Startup Genome’s quantitative measures of ecosystem and community success. But, beyond the dollar signs and six-figure sums, we’ve noticed that the best start-up communities hold hidden powers. These X-factors often add immediate intangible value, helping founders feel more supported and less alone in their journey. And over time they can lead to significant business outcomes, such as meeting a major investor or making connections that lead to a successful exit.
“Radium’s community events stand out because they connect us with businesses that align with ours and that could become future partners, channels, or generate referrals for our company.”
– Movendo Director Jose Mantilla
Supporting innovation in different ways
When Radium Capital started funding innovation in 2017, we saw how valuable trusted networks and support systems were to our clients and other innovation businesses. Powering innovation is about more than money: it’s about bringing people and businesses together, and we understood the importance of adding value and providing benefits to our clients and our business. While Australia is blessed with a range of phenomenally effective start-up communities and ecosystems, they either cater to certain industry verticals or are limited to specific regions. There was a gap for a sector-agnostic, Australia-wide, inclusive community of innovators, partners and enablers that Radium could bring together and connect. Creating this unique community was a natural progression for us as a way to support our clients, while also being able to provide partners, founders and other innovation businesses the opportunity to organically become part of the Radium network.
Insights from innovation community members
Having the time, money and people in your business to invest in an innovation community is important. The adage ‘you get what you give’ holds true to a greater or lesser extent. Then, there’s the phenomenon of ‘community fatigue’, which founders and even the very best communities can experience if the relevance of, and return on investment from, the ecosystem starts to wane.[5]
We’ve heard from our community that bringing together businesses at different stages and from different sectors that are committed to investing in R&D is a winning formula. So we continue to make sure this happens. Since our organic community is a ready-made part of Radium’s More than Money approach to powering innovation, it’s ideal for time-poor founders and start-up leaders.
“We knew the Radium Capital community would be perfect for our networking and information needs because it’s designed for businesses that are eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive refund. And it has ended up being invaluable to Movendo, reassuring us that we’re not alone on our R&D journey and helping us forge connections that benefit our business.”
– Movendo Director Jose Mantilla
People are the heart of any community and at Radium, we’ve always been committed to ensuring that our clients do business with real people when they engage our services. This human touch has been important for our community members over the years as they make the long and challenging journey from idea to impact and commercialisation.
“I discovered Radium in 2020, and the team has stayed in touch and continued to check in on me and celebrate my success ever since. Radium treats clients like family, and this unwavering support, knowing that the people there genuinely care, has meant so much to me and my team.”
– NeedleCalm Founder and Managing Director Lauren Barber
Unlocking the hidden power of community
Whether you’re already part of a community, thinking about joining one or looking at other ecosystem options to support your innovation dreams, our message is simple. Support for your venture must involve more than money. We want to see you succeed. And if we can’t provide you with finance, we’re committed to connecting with the people and players in our network who can. So, make sure you seek out and unlock the hidden power of community wherever that community or ecosystem is for you and your innovation business. It could make the world of difference to your future success.
[1] Pahwa, A. (2022). What Is A Startup Ecosystem? How Does It Work? [online] Feedough. Available at: https://www.feedough.com/what-is-startup-ecosystem-how-does-it-work/
[2] Business News Daily. (n.d.). How Incubators Help Startups Survive. [online] Available at: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/272-incubators-increase-small-business-success.html.
[3] marty@gan.co (2022). 2022 Startup Studio Data Report – Morrow. [online] Morrow. Available at: https://morrow.co/2022-startup-studio-data-report/
[4] Startupgenome.com. (2025). Startup Genome | Building world-class startup ecosystems. [online] Available at: https://startupgenome.com/report/gser2025/
[5] Tchop.io. (2024). Overcoming community fatigue – Community Building Glossary | tchopTM. [online] Available at: https://tchop.io/resources/glossary/community-building/overcoming-community-fatigue
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