Funding helps turn students’ start-up business ideas into reality

Universities have invested more than $70m on programs and facilities to help students turn business ideas into reality.

James Alexander, co-founder of Incubate. Picture: Jeff Camden

Universities have invested more than $70 million in developing student entrepreneurship in the past five years, spending on programs and facilities to help students turn business ideas into reality.

“In five years, we’ve gone from virtually no investment from a university perspective — and this isn’t investment into companies, just investment into program and staff — to multiple millions,” said James Alexander, co-founder of Incubate, an early student accelerator based at the University of Sydney.

“By our count, over $70m has been poured into this space in a variety of different initiatives.”

He said Incubate had now invested more than $500,000 in student start-ups, which had led to a portfolio of companies worth more than $50m.

“I think a lot of people don’t see students as creating valuable businesses, and what we’ve showed is that’s completely not true,” Mr Alexander told the Research Forum. There was a variety of students involved, with 20-30 per cent being higher degree research students, he said.

Types of university entrepreneurship support.

University of Queensland Business school dean Julie Cogin said her university had a three-stage model for student entrepreneurship.

Initially there was iLab, a “pre-incubator” that offered a six-week program to students to help them validate their ideas with the assistance of mentors and coaches.

Following that, they could apply to be part of the business school’s start-up academy.

“That’s another structured program. It’s offered every year and has more of a business slant,” Professor Cogin said.

The academy helped budding entrepreneurs find the answers to questions such as: how do you create an idea that is solving a big enough problem; how do you have a business model that is sustainable for the future?

“There’s a lot of intense coaching and workshops, and that finishes each year with a pitch competition. I suppose it might be similar to the Shark Tank, but we call it Dolphin Tank,” Professor Cogin said. Funding of $10,000 is up for grabs, as well as three months of intense coaching and a spot on iLab’s Germinate accelerator program.

“These programs are open to all students across the university and I think some of the really good ideas that have thrived in that environment are where you get students from business, students from science, students from engineering working, working together,” she said.

Mr Alexander said that when he was setting up Incubate in 2012 there was advice saying “don’t bother because students aren’t interested”. But their first event was packed out with students and was standing room-only.