The Victoria State Government has announced more support for Victoria’s start-up sector with a $500,000 boost for the state’s co-working spaces.
LaunchVic, Victoria’s start-up development agency, has unveiled a new program to encourage co-working spaces to appoint high-calibre, experienced start-up professionals to support their residents.
Through its “Expert-In-Residence” (EIR) program LaunchVic will invest up to $25,000 per successful application to support growth and learning opportunities for resident start-ups by attracting EIRs that will provide business guidance, mentorship and support for start-ups to improve their business capabilities. The program will favour experts who have either founded and grown a start-up, have had strong experience as a start-up executive (CEO, CTO, CMO, COO) at a technology-based company, or are recognised as an international start-up sector leader.
“We’re giving Victoria’s start-ups the opportunity to become globally connected,” said Victoria’s Minister for Innovation and Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis. “Having an Expert-in-Residence program will encourage global thinking and knowledge sharing between experienced start-up experts and early to mid-stage start-ups.”
Victoria is home to approximately 170 co-working spaces, with Startup Genome’s recent Melbourne’s Startup Ecosystem report calling the state the “co-working capital” of Australia.
“Victoria’s co-working spaces are an essential part of Victoria’s start-up infrastructure, providing hubs of collaboration and networks that support start-ups to grow,” said LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick. “Mentorship and international connections are key drivers of start=up success and we expect this program to have a considerable impact across our ecosystem.”
Applications for the EIR program are now open for established co-working spaces. The funding round will remain open until the total funding pool is allocated.
