iTWire

Wrike founder and chief executive Andrew Filev said the company had achieved 697% growth in the APAC region over three years, and had selected Melbourne for its regional office because it is "an amazing city" that provides "access to talent".

That observation was picked up by Invest Victoria acting executive director Daniel Bisignano, who pointed out that Victoria is the third biggest "education city" in the world, and provides 40% of Australia's ICT graduates.

The State Government is committed to the technology and start-up ecosystem, and has already attracted Zendesk, Slack, Square, Alibaba and others to Melbourne, he said.

Philip Dalidakis, the former Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade, suggested that with so many tech companies choosing Melbourne for their regional headquarters, they can't all be wrong.

"We're competing with the world", so the government will continue to invest in attracting companies operating in this sector, he said.

Photo: YBF Ventures

Dalidakis was re-elected to Parliament in the recent state election, but lost his place in Cabinet in the subsequent shuffle. The Innovation and Trade portfolio has gone to Martin Pakula, along with Jobs, Tourism, Sport, Major Events, and Racing, while Adam Somyurek becomes Minister for Local Government and Minister for Small Business.