{"id":39864,"date":"2023-10-20T15:04:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/launchvic-awards-4-9-million-to-projects-working-to-make-victorias-startup-sector-more-diverse-and-accessible-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:04:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:53","slug":"launchvic-awards-4-9-million-to-projects-working-to-make-victorias-startup-sector-more-diverse-and-accessible-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/launchvic-awards-4-9-million-to-projects-working-to-make-victorias-startup-sector-more-diverse-and-accessible-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"LaunchVic awards $4.9 million to projects working to make Victoria’s startup sector more diverse and accessible – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SheHacks<\/div>\n

From disrupting the disability sector to increasing\u00a0entrepreneurial opportunities\u00a0for women, several\u00a0innovative projects have received $4.9 million in funding from LaunchVic.<\/p>\n

This is the second round of funding to be awarded as part of the Victorian government’s\u00a0$60 million innovation fund<\/a>. Seven grant recipients have been revealed with details of larger projects to be announced soon.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, minister for small business and innovation Philip Dalidakis was joined by LaunchVic chief executive Dr Kate Cornick and LaunchVic chair Ahmed Fahour at the State Library to reveal the seven grant winners.<\/p>\n

The projects in round two were selected for increasing the diversity, accessibility and scaleability of the state\u2019s startup sector, with the largest investment ($500,000) going towards the establishment of a disability and health care innovation hub and incubator.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the programs that will help young companies and ideas develop to create jobs and industries that will support our state for decades to come,\u201d Dalidakis says.<\/p>\n

Victoria’s first state-wide hackathon for women<\/h3>\n

Among the grant recipients is Girl Geek Academy, which received $300,000 to run the first state-wide hackathon for women that will bring together innovative thinkers from the outskirts of Victoria through to Melbourne.<\/p>\n

SheHacks bootcamps will run in regional centres including Geelong, Shepparton, Wodonga, Ballarat, the La Trobe Valley, Bendigo, Warrnambool and Warragul, with any woman aged 18 or over able to get involved.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Why Victorian innovation minister Philip Dalidakis brought his daughters to an all-women hackathon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Girl Geek Academy chief executive Sarah Moran tells StartupSmart<\/em> LaunchVic\u2019s funding will not only help the academy spark new opportunity for women in entrepreneurship, it will also elongate the support they can provide to get real businesses off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost hackathons are ‘wham bam thank you ma\u2019am’ and its over in a weekend,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In addition to checking in with the teams after the weekend hackathon, Moran says the academy will help\u00a0them get ready for a SheHacks Demo Day where new startups will showcase their products and reflect on what they\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n

Startups in the arts sector<\/h3>\n

One of Australia\u2019s first startup co-working spaces to be established by a cultural institution has also received funding in this round, with ACMI X winning $398,000 to launch a creative tech startup lab where four teams will be taken through an intensive two-month program under the leadership of an experienced professional in the creative-tech startup sector.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Meet the first residents of ACMI\u2019s huge new co-working space<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The funding will also enable ACMI X to leverage its international networks and bring in guests from overseas to speak to its co-working community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe established a really great physical environment and co-working space for our tenants and we\u2019ve been running a program alongside those tenants for networking activities,\u201d ACMI chief executive Katrina Segwick tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we haven\u2019t been able to do to date is structure a more focused business development and mentorship program. This is something we quite specifically avoided to date because we just didn\u2019t have the resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funding will help establish an ongoing business pogrom, not just to residents but the broader community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the next step of the co-working space.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaunchVic chief executive Dr Kate Cornick\u00a0says LaunchVic will reveal more funded \u201cground-breaking projects\u201d in coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaunchVic is supporting new opportunities to boost Victoria\u2019s reputation as a global destination for startups,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will invest and partner in ideas, expertise and infrastructure to grow Victoria\u2019s thriving startup ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet the grant winners:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Seeva Plus ($500,000)<\/span><\/strong>: To develop an innovation hub and incubator for startups and entrepreneurs driving change in the disability and health sectors;<\/li>\n
  2. ACMI ($398,000)<\/strong><\/span>: To set up a creative tech laboratory at its new co-working space ACMI X;<\/li>\n
  3. Startmate ($384,000)<\/strong><\/span>: For a Victorian-exclusive accelerator program that will support 16 startups over the next two years, and include an annual roadshow to engage tech entrepreneurs across regional Australia;<\/li>\n
  4. Girl Geek Academy ($300,000)<\/strong><\/span>: To host the first state-wide hackathon for women and run bootcamps in Melbourne and regional Victoria where any woman will have the opportunity to join a startup, build a minimum viable product, access mentoring and showcase their efforts at the #SheHacks Victoria Demo Day;<\/li>\n
  5. Frankston Foundry ($154,500)<\/strong><\/span>: To grow a regional innovation hub that will provide a conduit between Melbourne\u2019s startup ecosystem and the state\u2019s southern regions;<\/li>\n
  6. Outcome.Life ($94,510)<\/strong><\/span>: To run a range of collaborative industry programs and internships targeting startups by international students in Victoria; and<\/li>\n
  7. Education Changemakers ($87,000)<\/strong><\/span>: To facilitate education startup clusters through its Edupreneurs program, a three-day event and regional roadshow.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From disrupting the disability sector to increasing\u00a0entrepreneurial opportunities\u00a0for women, several\u00a0innovative projects have received $4.9 million in funding from LaunchVic. This<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,24,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}