INCUBATE’s Pre-Accelerator Program Drives University of Sydney’s 2032 Strategy
INCUBATE’s pre-accelerator has launched with student ideas tackling challenges and opportunities linked specifically to the University of Sydney’s 2032 Strategy.
INCUBATE is the University of Sydney’s Flagship Startup Program. In preparation for entry into INCUBATE, we support early-stage startups with our Pre-Accelerator Program, ProtoX. This Program sees founders undertake a 12-week part-time program to develop their idea into a working prototype. With 1:1 support from mentors, exclusive industry engagement, and weekly community support, ProtoX encourages experimentation to help founders validate their idea.
In 2023, INCUBATE rolled out an exclusive student-focused ProtoX: Pre-Accelerator Program designed to specifically support current University of Sydney. ProtoX challenges students to validate their idea into viable businesses that contribute to the common good.
From 39 applications, INCUBATE welcomes 10 student startups into the 2023 Semester 1 cohort of ProtoX Student. The keen interest from Undergraduate and Postgraduate University students further supports the necessity for innovation programs offered by universities. According to Universities Australia Startup Smarts Report (2017), 21.2% of startups are founded by those under the age of 30.
‘Our Community Thrives Through Diversity’
In alignment with The University of Sydney’s 2032 Strategy, we are proud to contribute to the aspiration of our community by thriving through diversity. This year’s cohort is incredibly diverse, with five undergraduate startups and five postgraduate startups across seven faculties, including Business, Law, Medical, Engineering, IT, Design and Science. Finally, we are proud to be leading change to close the gender gap in startups, with five female-led startups and five male-led startups, which is more than double the industry standard.
We look forward to pushing our new cohort into a challenging learning environment, where failing fast is an encouraged guiding principle. This year’s cohort is primarily tech focused, but all share a desire to create meaningful change.
This student cohort are exploring areas such as leveraging AI to help civil engineers locate pipes, sharing intelligent analytics to assist SaaS companies map their customer journey and manufacturing safe and environmentally-friendly underwater robots for users in marine biology and ocean exploration. Their ideas extend into the realms of ed-tech, e-commerce and SaaS.
If you’re inspired by this story and have a startup idea of your own you’d like to advance or you’d like to learn more about the startup ecosystem or share your knowledge and experience as a mentor, we’d love to hear from you. Take a look at our range of courses and programs on our website where you can apply and email us at hello@incubate.org.au if you’re keen to get involved.
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