Fintech Meetups Melbourne

Bitcoin Basics - Bitcoin for Business

**Bitcoin Basics -** Bitcoin for Business This is a Melbourne based, live event. Limited seating, booking required. Hosted by Craig A Guest Speaker: Kman 2140 form Consensus 21 Nostr Contact: npub1cyla8qgt9gv8y6ydv8s2prt89h8afc0sr2kaz64ryjmlpdrzxm4qwlh53q **What You’ll Learn:** * Business implementation solutions * Payment terminals, cross boarder payments & retained earnings as store of value. * 1st of October 2026 payment surcharge ban & how low-cost lightning transactions can solve the problem. * Worldwide examples of Bitcoin implementation in business. * Bitcoin centric businesses in Australia. * Implementation case study, the Fox Hotel Collingwood. * Implementation considerations and challenges. * Challenges, Training staff, advertising to the market, tax etc. * Melbourne Based Initiatives, the first Bitcoin School, Bitcoin Centre. * Consensus 21 (incubator project) At this upcoming live Bitcoin event, attendees will explore practical ways businesses can implement Bitcoin, from payment terminals and cross-border payments to using Bitcoin as a long-term store of value for retained earnings. We’ll examine the 1 October 2026 payment surcharge ban and how low-cost Bitcoin Lightning transactions may offer an alternative for businesses. Through worldwide examples and Australian Bitcoin-centric businesses, we’ll explore real-world adoption, including an implementation case study of the Fox Hotel in Collingwood. The session will cover key implementation considerations and challenges, including staff training, marketing to customers, tax implications (not tax advice) and practical business integration. We’ll also highlight Melbourne-based initiatives such as the first Bitcoin School and the Bitcoin Centre, alongside Consensus 21, an incubator project supporting Bitcoin-focused innovation. A dedicated Q&A segment will allow participants to ask questions and engage directly with knowledgeable speakers. This is a free community event designed to promote education around Bitcoin and support the growth of the local Bitcoin community. With limited seats available, early booking is highly recommended to secure your spot. Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of Bitcoin in a practical, hands-on setting. (There is nothing for sale and the event is run by volunteers.) Please send us a message if there is something in particular you would like to hear about and we will aim to include it within the presentation on the night. **IMPORTANT** please arrive by 5:45pm to ensure we can let you in at ground level and to access the lifts. Thereafter, we may not have someone available to let you in the building. **Location: Melbourne Connect - Level 7 Manhari Room 7212.** **Address: 700 Swanston St, Carlton VIC 3053** How to get there? Take the tram from Melbourne Central Station, there are multiple bus options or paid parking is available at Ace Parking, Cardigan House. Detailed Directions: [Directions Link](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KL-V_FoEyLkfWzGtFXMNOzSfTI_8K6e/view?usp=sharing) The event will be catered. There'll be some finger food/snacks and drinks available. Please register early so we can allow for everyone. If there is something in particular you would like to learn about, send us a message and we will do our best to include it in the presentation. *\*Final details are subject to change.*

Melbourne BitDevs

Melbourne BitDevs is an in-person meetup held monthly for discussing: Bitcoin software, tools, research, protocol upgrades (BIPs), mining and more. ⚡💻 Held on the last Thursday of the month. Current venue is upstairs at the Fox Hotel in Collingwood. Arrive anytime from 6pm, with a **prompt start at 6:30**. Website: https://bitdevs.com.au Telegram: https://t.me/btcmelbourne Discussion topics (please add!): https://github.com/MelbourneBitDevs/MelbBitDevs/issues/

Naarm Solarpunk Meetup + Merri-bek.Tech AGM

[Merri-bek Tech](https://www.merri-bek.tech/), a group in the inner northern suburbs of Naarm (Melbourne), invites everyone involved interested in tinkering with grass-roots technologies in support of a **Sustainable**, **Resilient** and **Just** future to join us for the **Naarm Solarpunk Meetup**. This month we have special guest speaker, **Anastasia Beasley**, with the presentation, 'Land shapes the internet'. ***Land shapes the internet*** Margo Ngawa Neale calls songlines "corridors of knowledge", and Internet infrastructure follows those same paths through Country to transport information through cable-sized corridors. The Internet is made of Country - even the fibre optic cables in the NBN are made of Queensland sand - but its protocols are very different to those that govern knowledge sharing in Indigenous systems. I am an ally with settler heritage, and I have no authority to speak about traditional knowledge, but I'd like to share some context about the Internet's history in so-called Australia and recommend some readings by Indigenous computer scientists. *Anastasia is a research fellow at auDA, the Australian not-for-profit organisation responsible for administering the .au domain.* After the presentation, at the end of the Meetup we will be running the Merri-bek.tech Annual General Meeting (AGM), presenting the annual report and nominating and confirming the committee members for the next year. This is a great opportunity to get further involved with the organisation; to become a member, or as a member to nominate as, or vote for committee members. If you do none of these things is a a good chance to see how a grass-roots organisation can be organised and run. **About the Naarm Solarpunk group** Some of us are technologists, and will be showing off software or hardware projects, and others are more interested in community organizing, responding to the climate crisis, or building local resilience. Whatever your area of interest, or your level of skill, you're absolutely welcome to dive in. At the meetups we'll have a show-and-tell time for any projects that you're working on, as well as occasional short presentations. The space will be hosted by volunteers, and we'll actively work towards inclusion through applying a [code of conduct](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct/). Merri-bek Tech has some projects that you might be interested in updates from, including our attempt to build P2P mesh network based community hosting on Raspberry Pis, and our project to run a local fediverse social network. We aspire to keep this meetup **Solarpunk** as fuck. We support the hackers, tinkerers and makers and misfits. There are plenty of other spaces for big corporate green tech, so bring your hobby project, not your day job, unless that job is firmly rooted in the solidarity economy. We are not value neutral. We'll start with Merri-bek Tech's [values](https://www.merri-bek.tech/about/values/) and [principles](https://www.merri-bek.tech/about/principles/), and build from there together. In particular, in the context of ongoing genocide, we will ask you to leave if you're associated in any way with the weapons industry. This meetup will be hosted on the stolen, unceeded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. **Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.**

AI & Tech Networking Event in Melbourne by Ascent Valley

Join founders, investors and tech talent at this curated **startup networking event in Melbourne.** Meet ambitious builders, exchange ideas and discover new opportunities in a dynamic community environment. **RSVP: [Use this link](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-tech-networking-event-in-melbourne-by-ascent-valley-tickets-1999727725458?aff=oddtdtcreator)** **Please note that RSVP is managed via Eventbrite to control attendee lists — don’t ignore it to avoid issues with on-site payment.** **🚀 Meet investors, founders, AI experts, operators, and immigrant entrepreneurs building the next generation of global companies.** * Share your project and get feedback. * Connect with capital. * Expand your network. * This is where conversations turn into partnerships. * Use our participant mini app to keep every contact and insight from the event — nothing gets lost. 👥 Who You’ll Meet • Startup Founders • Angel Investors & VC firms • AI Experts • Entrepreneurs from Europe, Asia & the UK • Marketers, Sales leaders & Business Advisors • Builders & Game Changers Startup Pitch Session Selected founders take the stage for a focused 5-minute presentation in front of active investors and tech leaders. Each startup receives: ⚡ Professional evaluation ⚡ Investor feedback ⚡ Visibility inside our global ecosystem **Why You Can’t Miss It** • Meet Tech & Business professionals, founders, and active investors • Gain real feedback from venture capitalists and angel investors • Discover new opportunities in AI, Tech & early-stage startups • Build meaningful connections in a global entrepreneurial community If you’re serious about startups — you should be in the room. 📈 Want to Pitch? Send your deck to: 📧 events@ascentvalley.club or fill [form](https://ascentvalley.com/pitch) Limited spots. Curated selection. 🏆 The startup recognized as “Most Investment-Worthy” will be featured across our social media and included in our investor newsletter. **🌟 About Ascent Valley** [Ascent Valley ](https://ascentvalley.com/infrastructure)is a global ecosystem connecting founders, innovators, and investors. We believe great ideas shouldn’t stay hidden — they deserve to be heard, challenged, and supported by the right people. Our mission is to create environments where ambitious builders connect, collaborate, and grow together.

🌍 Thursday’s Melbourne International Language Exchange & New Friends Event

Startup Pitch & Themed Networking Melbourne | Unlock Your Idea

Join founders, investors and tech talent at this curated **startup networking event in Melbourne.** Meet ambitious builders, exchange ideas and discover new opportunities in a dynamic community environment. **RSVP: [Use this link](https://luma.com/n5wg2yi1)** **Please note that RSVP is managed via luma to control attendee lists — don’t ignore it to avoid issues with on-site payment.** You've been running the idea past AI. AI has never once told you it wouldn't work. Tonight you get a room that will. Five founders, five minutes each, The Duke of Wellington in Melbourne. Friday. **Three reasons people come back:** * You get a table, not a lap of the room. You pick a topic the room voted on and stay there for the hour, instead of wandering with a drink looking for a gap in somebody else's conversation. * You get a stage short enough to be honest. Five minutes each, no slides read out loud, then the room asks questions. The questions are the good part. * You get the hour after. The stage ends, nobody's performing any more, and the floor stays open. That's the hour people actually remember. **Your ticket is also a login:** Most events end when you walk out. This one hands you a link: your profile, who else is coming before you get there, a group chat for this specific Friday, and a recap afterwards of who you actually met. Then you land in the Melbourne space and stay there. That's where the second conversation happens, the one you meant to have before the room got loud. Free with your ticket, on the web or in Telegram: [ascentvalley.com/community](https://ascentvalley.com/community) **Is this your room?** Yes, if you're building something, anywhere from the first line of code to Series A. Or you run a function at a company that's scaling, write the code, do the hiring, or you're still deciding whether to start. Probably not, if what you're picturing is a room full of investors. How that actually works is further down, and it's better than the picture. Want the stage? [Apply ](https://ascentvalley.com/pitch)at Five founders an evening, and we answer everybody, including the people we don't pick. Applying is free, but you do need a ticket, because we check the order number. Never pitched before? Five minutes is short enough that it's over before the nerves have finished arriving. **What we don't promise, and what we do instead** We don't promise an investor will be in the room on any given Friday. Angels and people who work at funds come, some Fridays several of them, and we won't tell you in advance who's coming, because we don't know. **We don't run a judging panel, hand out a prize, or keep a leaderboard.** Here's what doesn't depend on who walks in that night. Your application to the stage becomes your profile in our startup directory, and a person reads it, not a scoring script. Once you're verified, that profile sits in front of the funds and angels in our network, and they ask for the introduction themselves when your company matches what they're actually looking for. You choose whether you're in the weekly digest and you can leave it any time. We never sell your details, we don't take equity, we don't take a cut of your round, and we don't give investment advice. Which means the room on Friday isn't the whole opportunity. It's the part you can see: [ascentvalley.com/pitch](https://ascentvalley.com/pitch) Why it's worth a Friday * Watching somebody explain their company in five minutes teaches you more about explaining yours than another evening alone with the deck. * You'll hear the question you've been quietly avoiding get asked out loud to somebody else, and you get to watch how they handle it. * That skill travels. It works on a first date, in a performance review, and at the dinner where somebody asks what you do and you've got twenty seconds before their eyes move on. So bring the friend who keeps saying they have an idea. Five minutes on that stage is the shortest distance between having an idea and finding out what a room full of strangers thinks of it.

Monday night badminton @ Beyond Badminton Centre - Clayton

AWS Kubernetes Security Using Actionable Insights

What can Kubernetes security data tell you about what’s really going on in your environment? And how can you turn that data into something useful beyond just spotting threats? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore how to collect and analyse Kubernetes security data, spot patterns you might otherwise miss, and uncover risks hiding in plain sight. We’ll also look at how to take that data beyond security, using it to understand risk, prioritise work, and make better business decisions. Through practical examples, we’ll bring together Kubernetes security, observability, and analytics to see what happens when you connect the dots between technical data and the bigger picture. Expect practical examples, real-world use cases, and ideas you can take back to your own Kubernetes environment. Less theory, more digging into the data! Food and drinks will be provided. **Important:** Make sure to bring your laptop, you will also need to have an AWS account you can log into.

Startup Networking Melbourne: Founders, Investors & Talent Mixer

Join founders, investors and tech talent at this curated **startup networking event in Melbourne.** Meet ambitious builders, exchange ideas and discover new opportunities in a dynamic community environment. RSVP: [Use this link](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-networking-melbourne-founders-investors-talent-mixer-tickets-1987629760118?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true) Please note that RSVP is managed via Eventbrite to control attendee lists — don’t ignore it to avoid issues with on-site payment. **💡 Why This Event Is Different** Most networking events end with exchanged LinkedIn profiles. This one focuses on real conversations and real opportunities. We bring together founders, investors, engineers, operators and talent in a curated environment designed to create meaningful connections. Through interactive networking rounds, open conversations and pitch opportunities, participants can share challenges, exchange insights and build relationships that last beyond the event. 🤝 What to Expect * **Interactive Networking** Structured networking rounds where participants briefly introduce themselves, share current challenges and explore collaboration opportunities. * **Talent Corner** Recruiters and hiring managers can briefly share open positions, while engineers and operators can introduce their skills and interests. * **Startup Conversations** Open discussions about fundraising, product development, growth and startup challenges. **👥 Who Should Attend** • Startup founders • Investors and angels • Engineers and builders • Operators and product managers • Recruiters and HR professionals • Sales and business development professionals • Job seekers interested in startups • Newcomers to the Melbourne tech ecosystem

TechWalking after Working - Networking Event for Tech Professionals

**"TechWalking" - Networking + Walking** Are you a tech professional looking to network beyond the screen? Look no further than my upcoming #TechWalking event! ‍♀️ Join us for a refreshing Yarra River Short City Loop. It’s the perfect chance to connect with industry peers while getting in some steps! I know many of you have been tuning in to my online events, but we've never had the opportunity to meet in person. Let's change that! Check out the video from the last event: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z955MaRHSqI We'll kick things off at **5.30 pm sharp** at Federation Square. Please, don't be late! We're hitting the trail around the river as soon as we gather. And trust me, you won't want to miss it – unless you're up for a bit of a sprint to catch up! (we're going clockwise) Meeting point: Mamas Gozleme, 14 Birrarung Marr Walk, Melbourne VIC 3000 https://maps.app.goo.gl/wDruvccNUzSWkV8y5 This event is pet and kid-friendly, as long as your little ones and furry friends can manage a 3 km walk, they're more than welcome to join. Looking forward to meeting you all in real life! **TechWalking is free, and always will be.** But keeping the community going takes time, effort, and a few ongoing costs. If you enjoy TechWalking and would like to help us keep it growing, any donation is greatly appreciated: [https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/donate](https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/donate) Join the TechWalking group on LinkedIn! [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/) **TechWalking Community page: [https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/](https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/)** \*\*\* Follow me on LinkedIn for more information: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/) Just moved to Australia? Grab your FREE guide to land your tech job! [https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/](https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/) Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia](https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia)

VC Networking: Pitch Day — Melbourne

**Nomad Global Hub** brings together builders, founders, and tech professionals for a night of curated networking and high-impact startup pitches. **Community Pass spots are limited — reserve yours before they're gone.** **RSVP: [Reserve your spot](https://luma.com/tc9459dw)** With a track record of **235+ events** across **23 global cities** worldwide, we have welcomed over **5,000 attendees** and featured **1,200+ startup pitches** on our stages. We intentionally keep our meetups intimate because the best partnerships happen in focused, high-quality conversations, not in loud, overcrowded halls. **What to Expect** * **Live Tech Startup Pitches**: Watch selected early-stage founders present AI & Tech projects followed by sharp audience Q&A. * **High-Quality Networking:** Connect with a hand-picked audience of founders, investors, engineers, and tech leaders who value substance over small talk. * **Global Exposure:** Join a community that bridges **23 tech hubs worldwide**, providing you with a network that extends far beyond a single city. **Who Should Join** * Founders & Co-Founders looking for peers, feedback, investors and collaborators. * Tech Professionals & Builders seeking a high-quality community. * Ambitious Individuals ready to dive into the AI & Startup ecosystem. **For Investors** Active investors and VC partners are welcome to join the event and scout for early-stage talent, meet other investors, and see what teams are building. To access the startup database, please fill out the **[Investor Application Form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUkSdbmDb_tchKrZNf2A4c6HjrPLd87Ub3W-5WPfOgsszI9Q/viewform)** and ensure you have purchased a ticket. **For Pitching Startups** Selected startups gain live stage time and visibility within our global network among our database of investors. Purchase a Speaker Ticket to pitch, submit your **[Pitch Deck](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZ1fGVQ-br2hQQnSsq7zz5XCAEvN5FfaYfJ7VSppMkujV8YQ/viewform)** and ensure it is accessible for viewers. **Nomad Global Hub \| 235\+ Events \| 23 Cities** *Note: To support our venue partner, we kindly encourage every guest to purchase at least one drink at the bar during the event.*

Building, Testing & Deploying AI Agents

**Generative AI for Developers Meetup 2026** ***Building, Testing & Deploying AI Agents: Agentic AI, GenAI Workflows & Multi-Agent Systems*** We’re gearing up for another big night on Thursday 12 November. We’ve lined up a great set of speakers and a hands-on agenda. Our wonderful MC, Annemarie Boicovitis, will guide us through the evening. 📅 Agenda 1️⃣ What’s Making News Host Dr George Vossos (netlifestyle.ai) opens the night with a round-up of the latest in AI: 48 model releases in a single month, a price war between the big labs, and a trillion-dollar IPO filing. 2️⃣ Sovereign Foundry: Client Showcase Andy Lamrock and his team return to demo live builds they’ve delivered with customers. Everyone who attends in person will get a FREE Sovereign Foundry account with starter credits. 3️⃣ When Agents Break Loose: The AI Agents Manifesto + Roundtable Dr George Vossos (netlifestyle.ai) presents the AI Agents Manifesto, a practical framework for stopping AI agents from breaking loose in the first place. Every principle comes with an evidence test, so firms can check an agent before they trust it. Everyone attending will receive the free Manifesto Kit 2026 on the night. Then we open the floor to continue our community-wide debate: what happens when AI agents act beyond their intended boundaries? 4️⃣ 2-Minute Speed Talks Working on an exciting AI project? Bring your laptop and show the room what you’re building in two minutes flat. Facilitated by co-host Samuel Klett Navarro. Why attend? If you’re building, testing or deploying AI agents, this is the room where you’ll pick up reusable patterns, avoid common traps, and meet others shipping in the same space: developers, data folks, founders and technical leaders.