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HIF26 Partnerships

24 YEARS

24 November

HUNTER INNOVATION FESTIVAL RETURNS · 24 NOVEMBER 2026 · NEX NEWCASTLE

Partner with the Hunter Innovation Festival to meet the people building the Hunter’s future economy and remain visible in the ecosystem before, during and after the Festival.

Compare partnership options
Discuss a partnership

24Y

years of Festival history

600+

attendees in 2025

60+

speakers

30+

exhibitors

95%

intend to return

A DIFFERENT KIND OF FESTIVAL

CONNECTION FIRST. CONTRIBUTION ALWAYS.

Kara Sullivan Head Honcho Guts Creative

For 24 years, Hunter iF has created neutral ground where industry, government, researchers, founders, investors and community can meet without the hard sell. Our partners do more than place a logo. They help make the room and the possibilities inside it… possible.

  • Put your people in the room and make it easier for the right attendees to find them.

  • Stand beside useful ideas, practical conversations and the people doing the work.

  • Show what you are building and contribute something valuable to the wider ecosystem.

Three Principles

Choose your level

Choose the level that matches how prominently you want to show up. Both options include a real presence at NEX and a discoverable profile inside the Festival’s Entegy platform.

TWO WAYS TO PARTNER.

Best for influence + reach

Festival Partner

$10,000

Be part of the program, the platform and the room.

  • Prominent recognition across the Festival website, Entegy platform, communications and venue

  • Premium exhibition or showcase position at NEX

  • Featured Entegy organisation profile and nominated team members

  • Meeting and connection opportunities, plus consent-based lead capture

  • Association with one agreed program moment, activity or theme

  • One dedicated editorial partner story

  • Dedicated e-news and social media exposure

  • Six Festival passes

  • Approved event photography

  • Post-Festival delivery and engagement report

Discuss Festival Partnership

Innovation Partner

$3,000

Show what you are building and meet the people who can help move it forward.

  • Exhibition or showcase space at NEX

  • Entegy organisation profile with team contacts and links

  • Consent-based Entegy lead capture

  • Website logo and partner listing

  • Shared partner announcement across social media

  • Recognition in Festival e-news

  • Two Festival passes plus two exhibitor passes

  • Approved event photography

  • Basic post-Festival engagement summary

Choose Innovation Partnership

POWERED BY ENTEGY

YOUR PARTNERSHIP STARTS BEFORE THE DOORS OPEN.

The Festival’s digital platform helps attendees discover your organisation, find your people and continue the right conversations.

  • Build your organisation profile, introduce your team, share useful links and become discoverable before attendees arrive.

  • Support meetings, office hours and in-person connection throughout the day. Use the interactive directory, floorplan and lead-capture tools.

  • Follow up with consented connections and receive an engagement summary that shows what your partnership delivered.

FOR A LARGER ROLE

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS FROM $20,000.

Looking for deeper integration across the Festival, Regional Roadshows, major program conversations, original content or year-round ecosystem activity? We build a limited number of tailored strategic partnerships.

Start with your objective.

Tell us who you want to reach, what you want to contribute and what a successful partnership needs to achieve. We will shape the right involvement around it.

Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge City of Newcastle

A YEAR THAT EARNED THE ENCORE

CREDIBILITY YOU CAN STEP INTO.

225K

digital impressions in 2025

4K+

newsletter subscribers

47%

director or c-suite

45%

average e-news open rate

86 🚀

NPS Rating

Common questions

Useful things to know.

  • Not automatically. Program positions are selected for audience value and editorial fit. Where a partner has the right expertise or story, we will work together to identify the most useful format.

  • No. This is a no-hard-sell environment built around useful ideas, generosity and meaningful connection. Partner showcases should invite participation, demonstrate something real or help attendees learn.

  • The $10,000 and $3,000 options have defined core inclusions so delivery stays clear. Larger or more complex involvement can be developed as a strategic partnership from $20,000.

  • No. Entegy supports consent-based connections and lead capture. Partners receive their own consented connection data and relevant aggregate engagement reporting, not an unrestricted attendee database.

  • The earlier you confirm, the more pre-Festival visibility and connection time we can deliver. Partnership opportunities and suitable showcase positions are limited.

LET’S BUILD THE RIGHT PARTNERSHIP

Tell us what you want your organisation to contribute—and who you need to meet. We’ll come back to you with the clearest pathway.

Zara Crichton
CEO & Festival Director
zara@hunterif.com.au

Be in the room

  • "The Festival is a great opportunity to bring together all different parts of an innovation ecosystem from all over the country into a great place like the Hunter region."

    Vu Tran | Founder of BlackSky Industries, OneMRI and Co-Founder Go1

  • "I'm the founder of By Storm and we are making beauty and makeup accessible for the 700 million women who have been completely locked out of the beauty world."

    — Storm Menzies | Founder of By Storm

  • "The Festival is important just to bring people together from the from manufacturing in the region."

    — Oliver Kleyn | Founder Grolia

  • "This festival is really important as it brings everyone together across the Hunter and actually even broader than that. So it's really important that we're connecting, sharing and learning from each other."

    — Caroline Booth | Economic Development @ Cessnock City Council

  • "I feel that this festival is really important because it brings together like-minded people and we can share ideas and and think towards the future of what we can change."

    Jess Hodge | Founder of Resourceful Living