Is Australian Search Space Growing Fast?

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August 07, 2025

by a searcher in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

I have been seeing a lot of posts by searchers from Australia seeking advice, connections, etc. Curious to know if the Australian Search Space is growing fast, and if there is any specific reason behind it.
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Reply by a searcher
from University of Technology Sydney in Sunshine Coast QLD, Australia
Access to capital, especially debt, is a major handbrake for the Aus search space. No SBA like program here unfortunately. There’s certainly growing interest + activity, more can be found at this hub https://etacentral.com.au/
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Reply by a searcher
from INSEAD in Melbourne VIC, Australia
There is undoubtedly a growing trend in Australia off those seeking freedom, and giving up corporate life by seeking to pivot and buy a small business via a search fund or those self funded. That being said, small business activity here has always dominated. I relocated back here to Australia 6 years ago ( after 25 years in London, the US and Asia) and immediately noticed how activie the small business M&A space is. Driven by a number of things, smaller market downunder, dominating property sector ( so many construction, construction adjacent trades, transport) smaller business sizes and less ASX listed companies. I gained robust insight into this via my corporate business card/ payments platform that serves small businesses. Small business M&A here has always been active with valuations sub $5-10m EBITDA and it starts to get pointy above that with those businesses able to pay for advisors. While a fragmented market here, with numerous players and searchers, I notice there is less of a formal ecosystem set up like in the US with numerous podcasts, channels and ETA networks so as the tide of business graduates and ex corporate professionals start to consider ETA as a pathway, we are seeing increased reach out for information, case studies, intelligence to facilitate their new journey as we see in Searchfunders here.
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