10 February 2017
Would-be entrepreneurs and start-up founders from all over South Australia will be learning and sharing the latest in business growth expertise during StartUp Weekend Adelaide at the University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC).
The ICC is a strategic partnership between the University of South Australia (UniSA), the South Australian Government and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), working to support technology-based incubation and business growth startups.
Manager of the Innovation & Collaboration Centre, Ms Jasmine Vreugdenburg, says often the hardest part of starting up is starting out and at StartUp Weekend people at all stages of their start-up journey will be immersed in the ideal environment for startup magic to happen.
“The Innovation & Collaboration Centre is excited to be a key sponsor for StartUp Weekend which brings entrepreneurs together around an idea, helping to transform these into a viable business concept, over the course of a weekend,” Vreugdenburg says.
UniSA has also sponsored 30 students from the Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment studying ICT to participate in the event.
UniSA Industry Liaison Manager, Gail Jackman, says connecting students with opportunities like StartUp Weekend helps them join the dots between study and their careers.
“Developing relationships and collaborations with industry, government and associations through events like StartUp Weekend, our students expand their employability skills, connect with industry and ultimately gain graduate employment,” Jackman says.
“Both undergraduate and postgraduate students are participating again this year including two high achieving ICT students - brothers Saverio and Domenico Tripodi.
“We have had some great outcomes recently like Analytix a team of students who developed their own startup and were a Venture Catalyst winner at UniSA’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC).
“Analytix is a cloud based machine learning company providing technology solutions to meet industry needs, supporting companies to make use of existing data for more effective decision making.
“StartUp Weekend is a great example of where UniSA provides the connections and support to our students so that they can be involved in exciting and unique opportunities with the potential to develop themselves as leading professionals in their field and develop skills for their future careers that will positively impact on our communities and the world.”
By leveraging world class technology through HPE and UniSA's expertise in business growth, creative thinking, commercialisation and technology, the ICC supports the startup lifecycle from idea generation to growth and expansion for students, business and industry.
StartUp Weekend Adelaide allows attendees to jumpstart their business ventures within 54 hours and has a strong reputation for creating social initiatives and businesses that bring impactful change to the South Australian economy.
More than 20 mentors, judges and speakers will be attending the event with 80 participants, including students, creatives and professionals who have registered for the event.
Manager of UniSA’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre, Jasmine Vreugdenburg, is also one of three startup specialist judges who will be awarding more than $20,000 worth of prizes to participants after a busy weekend of brainstorming, business planning and basic prototype creation.
More information about the ICC or StartUp Weekend is available online.
Media contact: Katrina McLachlan 0414972537 katrina.mclachlan@unisa.edu.au
