Not on the Panel
Unpacking what works when building in ███ ██████, GovTech, and the █████████ market.
👋 Welcome
A quick hello to our new subscribers who have joined this week.
You’re here because you suspect what we know to be true: the real power, the real scale, isn’t in consumer tech. It’s in the $2.3 trillion global government market.
Most founders and investors see the government as a blocker. We see it as a broken system, full of backdoors, waiting for someone with the correct map.
Not on the Panel is that map. Each week, we track the deals, decode the jargon, and expose the opportunities in Australia’s $80B B2G sector. We’re here to help you break in, not just knock on the door.
That is also why we’re building what we believe is Australia’s first B2G angel syndicate. We are backing the founders who see the system for what it is: the biggest platform for innovation that no one is talking about.
Think you have what it takes? Let's build.
In this week’s edition, we explore:
xAmplify’s $158m Secret: A local AI firm secured ~$158 million in government contracts since 2019, growing at a staggering 172% per year.
The 42-Day Exception: How Dedrone Defence landed a $2.5 million 42 day deal using a rarely applied government exemption.
And in our major feature:
We unlock Myth 4: revealing the invisible market where thousands of fast government deals are won on a credit card, with no tender required.
🤝 If you value our unique perspective, help us grow by sharing it with your network. Every new subscriber brings us closer to delivering more in-depth coverage of the overlooked and undervalued B2G market.
📰 This Week in Global GovTecch
🇦🇺 Australia
🚓 Victoria Police Deploys ePINS Mobile App
Victoria Police commenced the deployment of a new mobile application developed in collaboration with Outsystems and Phoenixdx to enhance efficiency in issuing electronic penalty infringement notices (ePINS).
Source: GovTech Review
🏙️ Superloop Selected for Bradfield City Centre Infrastructure
Superloop was appointed as the sole statutory infrastructure provider for the Bradfield City Centre in Western Sydney. The company will build the city's fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, delivering critical infrastructure to up to 10,000 new homes.
Source: Bradfield Development Authority
🌐 Global
📊 Pennsylvania Senate Passes AI Deepfake Bill
The Pennsylvania Senate passed legislation criminalising the dissemination of AI-generated deepfake images presented as real. This move aims to address concerns over misinformation and protect the integrity of digital content.
🏛️ Ohio State Launches AI Fluency Initiative
Starting in the fall semester, Ohio State University will implement an AI Fluency initiative to educate all undergraduates on AI applications relevant to their fields. This program includes a new course, "Unlocking Generative AI," available to students across all majors.
💼 This Week in Australian B2G
(Week Ending 13 June)
📄 $671.58m in total reported contract spend
🖥️ $98.45m in software + digital services + I.T
Breakdown by Service:
💾 Software: $51.74m
☁️ SaaS (Cloud): $8.56m
🛠️ Software maintenance & support: $2.39m
🧱 Platform SaaS: $1.23m
⚙️ Software/hardware engineering: $0
💻 I.T $34.53m
Breakdown by Procurement Method
📢 Open Tender: $46.60m
🗃️ Prequalified Tender: $0
📩 Limited Tender: $51.9m
GovTech Flex (Our selection of last week’s contract announcements)
Dedrone Defence secured a new 42-day $2.5 million contract, taking their total to $7.2 million since June 2024. The government awarded the first deal using a rarely applied exemption intended for urgent or exceptional circumstances. In April 2025, it awarded another $1.66 million under an exemption designed to support prototyping. Despite repeated commitments to sovereign capability and local R&D, here is another contract awarded to an offshore provider.
Squiz, a long-term provider of web content management, search, intranet, and customer portals, secured a $529k contract with Geoscience, its 13th with the agency over 16 years. Since 2008, it has secured $26.6 million in federal contracts across 36 agencies.
xAmplify, a local artificial intelligence, automation, digital transformation and cyber security provider, secured a new $441k contract with the Clean Energy Regulator. Since 2019, they have secured ~$158 million (CAGR 172.4% as at 23/24FY) of government contracts. Around $97 million (61%) relates to digital services and IT services.
🧱Build Better
🔑 You Must Win Overseas To Matter.
The quickest route to earning your first six figures could be an $80 billion government market that many find too dull to grasp.
What if your first major customer wasn't in Washington, London, or Brussels?
What if the validation you are chasing across oceans was already here, hiding in plain sight, waiting for you to see the real game?
We tell ourselves stories about selling in Australia: that the sales cycles are brutal, that only giant corporations win, and that the entire system is a tangled mess designed to keep startups out.
And yes, the noise is loud. The United States pours billions into GovTech. The United Kingdom builds shiny accelerators and pathways. They make the front door obvious.
Australia’s system seems quiet by contrast. Its signals are faint.
But that is the opportunity.
Here’s what the insiders know: in the 2023/2024 financial year, the Commonwealth awarded over 57,000 contracts, with more than 32,000 of them valued at less than $80,000.
Beneath this lies an invisible layer. A world of small contracts under $10,000 that never appear in public reports. These deals can be approved on a government credit card. No complex tender. No panel. The entire process can take days.
This speed is not an accident. It’s a feature! Government must consider value for money, and that includes the cost of its own time. No one will spend fifteen weeks on paperwork to buy a $50,000 software license. Small deals are designed to move fast.
Askable saw it. They began with two small contracts, worth $16,500 and $11,000. They built trust, proved their value, and earned more. They found the real door. (We wrote about this Australian start-up back in Issue 6 here)
For Founders: Stop waiting for validation from an overseas flight. The prize is here. The door is open. You just need to learn the language and find the right handle.
For Investors: The market isn't broken. It's just misunderstood. While other capital chases the same overheated deals, the alpha is here, in an $80 billion ecosystem few have the playbook for.
🗺️ Our Government Market Map
For founders, the journey starts with a simple truth: Government can buy from you.
To prove it, we've built Part 1 of our market map: a live logo board showing the Aussie startups, by category, that are currently engaged in government contracts. Not all are landing huge deals; some are just getting started. But it’s the definitive proof that a pathway exists.
We're already working on successive layers of intelligence, such as adding contract values so you can see the scale. We are also still building a sister map of the overseas competitors you're really up against.
This market deserves sharper focus, better data, and real momentum. We are here for all of it.
📣 Are you a Startup Selling to the Government, or want to?
Each week, over 1,500 federal contracts are published on AusTender. We track what we can, but we cannot review every supplier to identify which companies are startups.
If you’re:
Tendering for government work
Already delivering to a government customer
Recently awarded a contract
We would like to hear from you.
You don't need a press release; leave a comment below or get in touch with us.
We’re always looking for stories that help explain what is actually happening in the B2G and GovTech markets.
📄 Method and Scope
AusTender publishes thousands of contract notices each week across a broad range of categories. While we rely on this data as our primary source, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of individual listings.
We do not aim to cover every sector or supplier. However, if a startup is awarded a contract and we can verify it, we will include it, regardless of the classification. These stories help highlight where momentum exists and where future opportunities may lie.
✍️Meet the Editor
Hi, I'm Mat, a Startup advisor, former bureaucrat, investor, and lifelong procurement tragic.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked on four of the Commonwealth's most significant non-defence contracts. I remain frustrated that early-stage companies are often excluded from the government market.
This Substack is part of how I’m building in public. I work with founders and investors who see the $80 billion business-to-government opportunity in Australia.
We also support founders in essential but often overlooked areas, such as governance, risk, and strategy.
If you’re a founder looking to break into government or seeking opportunities to back generational companies in this space, please don't hesitate to reach out. I’m always up for a coffee.