Plenty of brainpower but no cash.
That's serial entrepreneur John Medved's diagnosis of the Australian tech startup scene on the day his crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd, launches here in a bid to fix it.
In the 12 months since it first launched in Israel, OurCrowd has financed 32 startups to an average tune of about $US1 million ($A1.11 million) each.
And Medved sees big potential locally.
"Australia has really been overlooked as a source of innovation," he says.
Despite a handful of "earth-shattering" technological innovations such as Cochlear implants and Wi-Fi, he says, the country has lacked the ecosystem to sustain entrepreneurship.
The two pillars of funding - angel investors and venture capital - have been in short supply, prompting the country's best and brightest escape early to Silicon Valley.
OurCrowd, he says, offers a "third leg".
It employs a crowdfunding model in the mold of recognised companies such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
But while those are free-for-alls, OurCrowd is restricted to backers who are accredited investors.
Startups fortunate enough to pass a vetting process are handed a small investment of around $US50,000.
OurCrowd then aggregates other investors - there are over 3000 on the books - to build a larger deal. They must invest at least $10,000.
"Typical campaigns are no longer a couple of hundred thousand or half-a-million dollars, Medved says.
"We're doing rounds that are a million dollars plus."
And unlike typical crowdfunding campaigns, which end when the money is raised, OurCrowd connects successful applicants with mentors and industry experts.
"Who's going to sit on the board, who's going to give advice to the company, who's going to review the business plan and the direction, who's going to make those key introductions to the US or Chinese distributor?
"Most people forget about that when they think of crowdfunding," he says.
The best contenders, he adds, will have global ambitions and experience with failure.
"By definition if you've tried and failed you make a better candidate for funding than someone who has never tried."
