From MVP to Mega Round
On Friday 27 February 2026, we gathered 80 of our most ambitious builders for the 2nd instalment for the Hunter iF 2026 Innovator Lunch Series. Our goal was simple: deconstruct the mechanics of moving from a $75k MVP Grant to the kind of capital that positions your business for global scale.
🔥 Fireside Chat 🛠️
Zara Crichton and Justin Bain (3ME Technology) delved into the execution mindset. Justin is proof that focusing on the extreme edge of quality forces the world to take notice.
Insights:
❄️ Forging Safety: 3ME wins by building for the most unforgiving environments on Earth.
🏭 The Industrial Edge: Our regional strength is Industrial Tech. We aren't building apps; we are building mission-critical sovereign capability.
🚀 Tim Owen AM JP highlighted the National Reconstruction Fun (NRF) has $2B of the $15B fund ready to invest in manufacturing of products intended for use in, or in connection with, Australian defence capabilities.
🌏 Global Collaboration: Huge news shared by Justin regarding 3ME Technology signing a Letter of Intent with South 8 Technologies. They are co-developing an extreme cold-weather variant of the EdgeVOLT® battery system, utilising liquefied gas electrolyte that performs below -100°C. This is the Hunter solving gaps for global giants like Lockheed Martin and Porche.
💰 Investment Panel
Alex Retzlaff, Carolyn Breeze GAICD & Viv Jayachandran. Expertly led by Siobhan Curran (University of Newcastle) , deep diving into the investment landscape.
Insights:
😎 Investor Lens: Carolyn Breeze (Scalare Partners) challenged founders with two vital questions: "Why you? and Why now?"
⚡️ Capital Velocity: If an investor cannot write a cheque this month, move on to one who can. Speed is a founder's best friend.
🤝 Proximity Advantage: Alex Retzlaff (Unify Ventures) highlighted our industrial backyard as an unfair advantage for regional founders.
1️⃣ Global Benchmarks: Viv Jayachandran (Jaegersoft) challenged us to set world-class standards from Day 1. Elite talent only follows elite standards.
🔥 The After-Party: How to blow $50k overnight?
🚀 A community stays strong by sharing its scars. A fascinating side-conversation emerged regarding the fastest ways to waste an MVP grant. Some lessons were shared on the floor:👇Hiring a sales team 👨💼
👇Paying for complex tax 🤑 structures before earning the first dollar of revenue.
👇Engineering a "Ferrari" 🏎️ when the customer only needed a bicycle to solve their problem.
Supported by Franke Hyland & NTP Talent
It Takes a Tribe to Build the Future
One more thing...
The Hunter is undergoing its biggest industrial shift in a generation. We have the lifestyle, the grit, and now, the data to back it up and Hunter iF is committed to ensuring this region becomes a global beacon for innovation.
Lock it in: Our mission to ignite innovation continues every month. Block out 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM on the last Friday of every month for the HiF Innovators Lunch Series.
Don't just watch the future happen.
