OpenAI equips Aussie SMEs with $5.5 million in startup credits for AI use

Australian founders and entrepreneurs, including two high school students, have landed more than $5.5 million worth of API credits from OpenAI since the global AI giant launched in Australia in December 2025.

OpenAI has bookmarked Australia as part of its top 10 global markets for developers building on its platform.

The credits milestone was marked at OpenAI’s recent Sydney Founder Day, which saw roughly 150 builders gather to discuss the technology.

Year 12 students Peter Starodubtsev and Steve Zhu both attended the event and received credits for their AI-backed platforms.

Starodubtsev, whose gaming and advertising startup Petrex has secured six-figure pre-seed backing, uses OpenAI’s Codex to create immersive branded experiences on gaming platforms.

“Raising funding was a huge learning experience, but what I enjoy most is building the product, testing new ideas and growing our team,” said the founder, who has already partnered with the likes of Samsung and NBC Universal Studios.

Meanwhile, Zhu said his platform Workwise is designed to assist Australian small businesses coordinate intricate systems across existing tools.

“We’re building Workwise so running a business doesn’t require the owner to constantly hold the whole business in their head, giving them more time and space for the decisions that actually move the company forward,” Zhu said in a statement provided to SmartCompany.

Wulfie Bain, OpenAI’s International applied AI lead, said AI is “lowering the barriers to building and giving Australian entrepreneurs new ways to compete on the world stage.”

“For Australian founders, that opportunity also depends on getting more useful work from every dollar they spend,” Bain added.

Australian technology businesses are increasingly using AI to build their companies, while others that are facilitating the use of the tech, like AI data centre infrastructure startup Firmus, are reaching multibillion-dollar valuations.

Firmus’ valuation of $15 billion (US$10.5 billion) came after the company raised $2.85 billion (US$ 2 billion) earlier this month for its $73 billion national roll out, named Project Southgate.

A new parliamentary inquiry was also opened this month to investigate the barriers preventing small and family businesses from effectively using AI technology.

The inquiry opened as research revealed the use of enterprise AI tools is concentrated among the largest firms.

Back in July SmartCompany reported Australian businesses are hiring chief AI officers at a growing rate.

According to Datacom research, more than two in five Australian firms have already appointed chief AI officers (CAIOs), and that number is expected to swell to almost two-in-three by 2027.

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