Six local founders accelerate their businesses with I2N

Six local founders accelerate their businesses with I2N

Six local founders have pitched their start-ups at the Integrated Innovation Network (I2N) Accelerator Demo Night, sharing their ideas and growth trajectory.

From developing sustainable furniture made from recycled plastic waste, to creating an online health screening service the start-ups are as varied and diverse.

Over the last 10 weeks the founders have undertaken an intensive journey as part of the I2N Accelerator program to help them move the needle on developing their idea into a reality.

Assistant Director I2N, Siobhan Curran said the program had helped unearth and accelerate some incredible ideas.

“The diversity of the businesses and ideas from our founders shows that Newcastle is well placed in developing innovative ideas and translating these ideas into a viable business,” Siobhan said.

“It’s been a tough 10 weeks for our founders who have worked through customer interviews, business model validation, and marketing experiments, but the great news is that they’ve risen to the challenge.”

University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alex Zelinsky said it was wonderful to see the hard work of these founders come to fruition with support from I2N.

“With the support through the I2N Accelerator program it shows what our local people are truly capable of,” Alex said.

“Congratulations to all six of our founders, who are all ready to take the next steps for scaling their businesses – it has been incredibly exciting to see them grow through this program.”

Founder of Resourceful Living, Jess Hodge said the program had honed her focus and got her working on the business rather than in the business.

“Being challenged to bring focus to our product range and narrow down on a well-defined segment of customers has been transformational for us,” Jess said.

“As a team we are now working more effectively week-on-week to grow Resourceful Living and redefining the way consumers think about and engage with recycled plastic.”

“By having access to knowledgeable and inspiring mentors who understand what we’re doing and why has been such a tremendous help. And the chance to work through an accelerator program alongside other founders building equally amazing and inspiring businesses has made the last few months incredibly special and rewarding.”

The University of Newcastle’s I2N supports start-ups and entrepreneurs in our region to get new ideas and businesses off the ground.

To date, I2N has helped accelerate and incubate 136 start-up and innovation teams, creating 125 new jobs.

IMAGE | Six local founders have pitched their start-ups at the Integrated Innovation Network (I2N) Accelerator Demo Night.

University of Newcastle

The University of Newcastle is ranked in the top 3% of universities in the world according to two global independent ranking systems, and in the top 200 universities in the world for medicine. 

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