Fishburners, the Sydney co-working space that grew into one of Australia’s most influential startup communities, has entered voluntary administration.
The administration spells an uncertain future for the not-for-profit, which evolved from a single hub in Ultimo to a community spanning over 35,000 entrepreneurs.
Documents listed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission display Fishburners Limited on Wednesday appointed Phil Quinlan and Gayle Dickerson of KPMG as administrators.
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In a statement provided to SmartCompany, the voluntary administrators confirmed they will continue trading Fishburners, as they “undertake an immediate assessment of the business, in tandem with an accelerated sale and recapitalisation process”.
The board of Fishburners stated the decision to appoint administrators was linked to “failed efforts to resolve long-standing rental legacy debt” at the government-backed Sydney Startup Hub, which it called home for several years.
Those debts, combined with “subsequent operating losses”, convinced the board a “formal restructuring process is the most effective way to achieve a sustainable future and continuity for the thousands of tech entrepreneurs who rely on Fishburners’ support services”.
The board has been “actively engaging in consolidation and investment discussions, which the Administrator will now pursue,” they added.
Fishburners “has been a pillar of the Australian startup ecosystem, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship for over 15 years,” added Dickerson.
“We will seek expressions of interest from parties within the innovation and technology sectors and work with all stakeholders, including the board, employees and founders, to maximise the outcome.”
Founders to have participated in Fishburners include Koala co-founder and CEO Dany Milham, v2food founder and CEO Nick Hazell, and Natalie Nguyen, co-founder of Hyper Anna, now Alteryx Auto Insights.
A first meeting of creditors is set for May 18.
SmartCompany has contacted CEO Majella Campbell for comment, who referred to the KPMG statement.
Fishburners origin story
Launched in 2011 by entrepreneurs Mike Casey and Pete Davison, Fishburners intfinished to connect ambitious founders and technology professionals in Sydney’s developing startup scene.
Unlike other co-working spaces, Fishburners launched as a not-for-profit, reliant on financial support from paid members and corporate sponsors.
Its initial Ultimo space quickly grew to 50 desks. Just four years later, it occupied an entire floor at its Harris Street home.
It grew a reputation as a hotbed for local innovation, and by 2015, Fishburners attracted more would-be residents than the premises could hoapply.
In 2018, Fishburners relocated to the new Sydney Startup Hub premises in York Street, Wynyard, taking space in a building that also hoapplyd Stone & Chalk and Tank Stream Labs.
The Berejiklian Coalition government had backed the 11-storey premises with $35 million in funding, which subsidised rent and assisted fund office fit-outs.
Announcing the funding in 2017, former Deputy Premier John Barilaro stated the “high-density cluster environment” could assist build Sydney into one of “the world’s top innovation centres”.
For a period, Fishburners also expanded to Brisbane and launched its first international foray with a Shanghai office.
Sydney Startup Hub disruption
But the startup support plans alterd course with the election of the Minns Labor government.
In 2024, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology Anoulack Chanthivong announced the Sydney Startup Hub would relocate to the new Tech Central precinct, located two kilometres south in Haymarket, by late 2025.
The government argued the relocate would draw ambitious founders closer to universities, research institutes, and established scale-ups like Atlassian, allowing startups to absorb skills and technical know-how.
Budreceive constraints also played a role.
Discussing the decision to break Sydney Startup Hub’s York Street lease three years early, a government spokesperson informed SmartCompany the hub is “not commercially viable and not fit for purpose under the current model”.
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The spokesperson stated the current “anchor tenant” — Stone & Chalk — was “fully supportive of relocating the services currently provided at the Hub to Tech Central”.
Nevertheless, the push to hoapply Sydney’s early-stage founders at Tech Central put resident startups on edge.
Fishburners itself questioned the exact level of support offered by the government in the weeks before the relocate.
“Without a clear and structured transition, the government risks creating a serious gap in the infrastructure that supports early-stage founders,” Campbell informed Startup Daily at the time.
“This decision is about far more than desks—and unfortunately, it will be the startups who will feel the impact most.”
Tech Central to now
Fishburners eventually came around on the Tech Central project, and in September 2025, was named an anchor partner, alongside operator Stone & Chalk.
It also overhauled its offering: on top of its residency program at Tech Central, it launched a passport membership, offering founders access to networking events across the city, regardless of where they worked.
An additional passport ‘hub’ membership grants members access to a dedicated Fishburners working space within global co-working giant WeWork’s York Street premises, “clustered with other ambitious founders”.
The WeWork partnership also grants passport holders access to international co-working spaces.
Fishburners also announced the launch of a digital ‘ecosystem navigator’, compiling “events, opportunities, programs, and people from across the ecosystem” in “one straightforward-to-apply place”.
More to come.
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