Chirriger Aboriginal Runway; Innovation Inspired through Collaboration

Samantha Harris, and Peter Farmer at Telstra Perth Fashion Festival

Samantha Harris, and Peter Farmer at Telstra Perth Fashion Festival

Innovation and creativity from collaborations are exceptional in any format and it was inspiring to be at the outstanding Chirriger Aboriginal Runway fashion event.

Leading figures speaking at the event included Jerrie Demasi of Channel 9 News, community leader Barry McGuire and 2016 West Australian of the Year Award Aboriginal Category Winner Rishelle Hume.

The event featured the integration of Aboriginal Artist Peter Farmer’s stunning Noongar designs into a resort-wear fashion line by Red Opium's Sandra Rives. 

It was also supported by leading indigenous models. International model Samantha Harris led the the runway show. Samantha had earlier stated her commitment toto supporting the project to promote, nurture and develop indigenous creative industries through the language of fashion. 

Hannah Collard was another leading indigenous women to walk in the show. In a prior news article she had said;

“To me it’s important to be involved, I think it’s important they (young indigenous girls) have someone to relate to and show them it is possible to do something good and change people’s minds. We need to challenge the ideas of beauty in the fashion industry in Australia – it’s not just one look.”

With designs inspired by the oldest living culture in the world, the runway event was part of the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival. With so many positives and people from diverse backgrounds working together to showcase quality Australian products, hopefully the event will become central to future festivals

Exquisite Chamber Music set to fill the Basement

Come and be a part of this unique musical experience where ENSEMBLY is launching with their first chamber music series in the edgy, historic Studio Startup Basement

 

ENSEMBLY Founder Louise McKay playing Cello in Studio StartUp Basement

 

There are four performances over four Sundays. The setting is intimate. You will be right up close and enveloped by the music. And the historic basement venue is very cool.

Each Ensembly performance runs for approximately one hour, where the musicians will give you an insight into their interpretations of the works they are presenting.

The talented ENSEMBLY artists only perform pieces they are truly passionate about, sharing with you an experience, energy and connection generated by their exquisite chamber music and the intimate setting is just the way the music was originally intended.

This special event will run for four SUNDAYS @ 1:30pm starting on September 10 with a String Trio

THE DARLINGTON ENSEMBLE

Semra Lee-Smith (violin)  Sally Boud (viola)  Jon Tooby (cello) perform a lively folk music-inspired string trio, contrasted with another masterpiece for the same instrumentation from some 110 years earlier.

The location is The Studio StartUp Basement at 143 Barrack Street, Perth. (Enter through Toastface Grillah cafe from 1:15PM)

To get your limited edition tickets go to ENSEMBLY EVENTBRITE

Proudly sponsored by The City of Perth

Studio Startup Official Launch

Studio Startup was officially launched by Councillor Reece Harley, representing The City of Perth

Peter Rossdeutscher introduces Studio Startup and explains the origins of the historic 143 Barrack St, Perth building

"Supporting the growth of creative, youth and social impact businesses is essential to building a broader ecosystem of entrepreneurship.  Studio Startup plays a key role in that process so we are excited with the line up of events and community activities completed and upcoming" - Peter Rossdeutscher

"Our early tenants have said they love the unique environment, blending high energy startups and a heritage listed space. The business incubation support and connections that have come through Studio Startup have already made this a great success for us" - Naomi Rossdeutscher

STUDIO STARTUP is a Perth based incubator offering co-working and private office spaces with fast internet, in a positive work environment for individuals and growth businesses, based in an exclusive Perth city location

Set above Toastface Grillah café at 143 Barrack Street, Studio Startup offers hot-desks, fixed-desks, private office spaces and fast internet access for individuals, growth businesses and accelerator programs

Desks are available but we only have a few full offices currently available. Contact us to find out more

 

How to Successfully Commercialise Research and Innovation

 

Early indicators for commercialising research and innovation are very clear. Successful entrepreneurs focus on adding value and good will. They drive the process with personality and determination. They follow a process not dissimilar to lean startup frameworks; tackle a big problem, hypothesize, test, pilot, iterate, build a diverse team.

Australia's 2016 Startup Muster Report identified that Universities and their graduates are the driving force in the national startup economy. Also that Founders with a PhD are more likely to be create ventures in medtech, healthtech or biotech.  Last week I was privileged to speak alongside leading scientists in those areas who have each had exceptional commercialisation success. 

Professor Cassandra Berry related learnings from her research-to-industry journey with her Innovative Avian Influenza Marker Vaccine. Her research startup in Australia began with 3 researchers, a hypothesis and a chicken. A case study of success through pilot testing and proof of concept in Hong Kong, capital raising via grants and industry, culminating in global commercialisation of an immunisation strategy to tackle Bird Flu at its peak and without the need to cull farm birds.

With major research in vaccines and immunotherapies for infectious diseases, Professor Berry has been a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards and WA Inventor of the Year Awards, National Director Australian Society for Medical Research and Deputy Director Centre for Biomolecular Control of Disease.

Her top points were;

1.      Is there a market?   Market research your idea before over-committing resources to building it.

2.      Validate, does anyone really care?  Investigate the market to be sure that it will really solve a problem and that there is a demand for the problem to be solved. In Cassandra’s case the markets were countries that were struggling with the Bird Flu in Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia and China).

3.      Test small and iterate.   Proof is needed to support your hypothesis and provide confidence in your innovative solution so market testing and validation are the baseline of your investment pitch.

4.      Build a team.   Blended skills are needed to build the product, raise investment, and increase credibility for research and business development.

5.      Get great at pitching.   Learn to pitch in non-scientific, persuasive language to sell your compelling case. 

6.      Start small and build up.   Cassandra started with the premise that birds don’t get tetanus and then built up a vaccine marker using tetanus toxoid for use with Bird Flu vaccines. She formed a hypothesis, which was validated and iterated repeatedly until it gained scale and momentum.

7.      Commit and persist.   It will most likely take longer and cost more than originally planned so only those who are diligent and committed with drive and persistence succeed. Too many give up half way.

Professor Simon McKirdy added insights from his broad background in the Plant Biosecurity Research Centre plus at Chevron in Biosecurity Science and Commercialisation. His excellent advice focused on how researchers can overcome the industry to researcher divide

Simon noted that researchers shouldn’t wait for industry to come but instead meet half way to build mutually successful projects. As the new Institute Director of Biosecurity and Sustainable Development at Murdoch University he will help lead that process.

We finished by overviewing Innovation Cluster's Start Something research commercialisation accelerator which runs at Murdoch University in June and July. Having trained more than four hundred researchers in commercialisation skills, Start Something builds impact pathways by combining training with industry engagement, http://www.innovationcluster.com.au/start/. It is open to all Universities and government research departments and is delivered with Atomic Sky (www.atomicsky.com.au)

The event was organised and led by Dr Kate Brooks, Murdoch University Lead Advisor for Staff Development and former President of the Astronomical Society of Australia. Kate's has also been awarded the CSIRO Chairman’s Medal for revolutionising astronomy, Commonwealth Women in STEMM and Entrepreneurship funding.

iPREP PROJECT AND CSIRO HELPING ASTRONOMERS VIEW THEIR DATA

Three lucky PhD students from Curtin University and Edith Cowan University had the recent opportunity to work with a cutting edge space telescope to develop a software framework that will change the way astronomers view the data being produced.

CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS) provides technology and services for radio astronomy, spacecraft tracking and space sciences, and undertakes world-leading astronomical research. Their newest radio telescope, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), creates enormous terabyte datasets that require processing and analysis with high performance computing. It is important to be able to analyse the facets and present this information in an appropriate way for telescope operators and science teams. This formed the basis of the iPREP project.

Read more HERE

Business Improvement Grants

 

The Business Improvement Grants (previously known as Matched Funding Business Grants) provide up to $20,000 in matched funding to businesses who invest equally in their specific business project.

With Council approval of the budget, the City of Perth will allocate $100,000 for Business Improvement Grants; open until 12 May 2017.

For further information, visit HERE

 

Why Asia's Startups Need To Start Hiring More Interns

Interns are priceless in the startup equation, and are a perfect fit to the “stay lean and grow fast” mantra. However, interns remain mostly in the domain of established companies rather than startups.

Graduates are quick to learn and provide extra hands, but do interns contribute enough to justify the extra mentoring and administration at a fledgling business that might already have its hands full? I’m of the opinion that tapping into the open minds and fresh approaches of youth is never a bad idea, as is talent-spotting for your company’s future.

Startups always have too much to do, and never enough time... Read More

ECCENTRIC UNDERGROUND VENUE

Innovation Cluster and Atomic Sky joined to deliver an interactive presentation on commercialisation to the current team of iPREP PhD researchers, in an eccentric underground venue in Perth CBD.

What makes a good pitch? Andy Lamb from Atomic Sky spent the first part of the session running through the elements of a successful pitch.  Andy’s Lesson #1: Put the Audience first. What do they want to hear and what’s important to them? Not everyone can understand technical talk, it will fly right over the heads of the audience and attention will be lost, unless of course you're pitching to the technical team at the organisation. Know your audience. Andy also suggested to ‘Get to the point’ and ‘Practice, Practice, Practice.’   Read More...

PERTH'S WEEK OF INNOVATION

West Tech Fest

The West Tech Fest conference & the OzAPP Awards is gearing up to be a fantastic event! With a great line up of speakers, the event will also feature pitches from 5 of APAC's top startups competing for the opportunity to pitch at CES Las Vegas for XTC.

Date: Thursday 8 December 2016
Time: 8:00am to 6:00pm
Venue: Perth Town Hall, Cnr. Hay and Barrack Streets, Perth WA

Find out more & register attendance here

2017 WORLD WIDE WEB CONFERENCE PERTH

The 26th International World Wide Web Conference promises delegates a sustainable, relevant, innovative and memorable program and is the centerpiece of Perth's Festival of the Web eight days of social events from dawn to dark, focusing on Four Themes that address the significant challenges of our era and beyond.

In Perth from 3 to 7 April 2017... Find out more

FIVE FAB IPHONE HACKS

By Andrea Kovszun at Sporteluxe - iPhones, can’t live with them, can’t live without them! It seems with every new iOS update comes a stream of new, sometimes frustrating-to-get-use-to features. What can I say, most of us are creatures of habit. Yet, this little marvel of technology seems to be evolving every day, and it can sometimes be hard to keep up with everything it can do. There are, however, a few hacks to make your life that much easier. We played around with our phones to let you in on a couple tricks... Read iPhone hacks you can use every day read

WA ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR CLINTON HOUSE SHARES BUSINESS TIPS

CLINTON HOUSE

"When you do make the decision, and for me that decision was putting everything into insights and letting go of everything else, you just feel liberated. You’re able to deliver a better product and a better experience” said Clinton House... Read more

To make sure your business doesn’t make costly mistakes, CCI can provide the right advice. Enquire today about becoming a CCI Member

SOCIAL VENTURES AUSTRALIA

MARNIN STUDIO, a social enterprise in Fitzroy Crossing, has become the first venture partner of Social Ventures Australia’s (SVA) WA Venture Philanthropy Fund

Marnin Studio is an arts and therapeutic studio operating out of the Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre.

Venture Mission

Marnin Studio is committed to supporting women to turn the things they love into projects that provide a source of income, as well as enable skills transfer and therapeutic aid. The studio empowers local Indigenous women to become leaders and change agents in their community.

Goals of the partnership

As part of their partnership with SVA, Marnin Studio will receive a combination of funding and capacity building support with a view to ensuring that the studio becomes a sustainable enterprise that will continue to offer healing and growth for the Fitzroy Crossing community... Read more

CURTIN UNI HEALTHHACK THIS WEEKEND

Curtin University are running HealthHack, a product-building event that runs from a Friday evening through to Sunday. Teams work on problems that have been submitted by Problem Owners- typically medical researchers, medical organisations, hospitals or government.
 

HealthHack gets going on Friday the 14th of October at 6pm and continues all day and night on Saturday 15th concluding in the evening on Sunday 16th. Festivities wrap up on the Sunday at 4pm with judging and prizes ... HealthHack

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

Mental health is currently a topic of intense focus in the global community and many are struggling to provide proactive and effective solutions. Governments are under constant pressure to increase the funding for mental health services and programs. Yet there is a lack of available and effective early intervention strategies. This award will go towards developing applications for parents and care workers (e.g. Doctors and Counsellors) to complement our existing applications for schools and workplaces.

The State Government awarded the winners of Start IT Up WA Challenge.

With mental health week in full swing, it is currently a topic of intense focus in the global community and many are struggling to provide proactive and effective solutions... Read more

ATOMIC SKY INNOVATION THINKING WORKSHOPS

Tailored for corporates to drive innovation by thinking like a Startup

Launched this week, the corporate Innovation Thinking Workshops will provide their staff a common language and platform for corporates to elevate their innovation thinking, by applying startup thinking techniques.

The program is run by Atomic Sky CEO Andy Lamb, who holds a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and is an Honorary Fellow of Innovation at UWA... Read More

WA INNOVATION SUMMIT SPEECH

Jack’s Labs is a startup studio and development house in Jakarta. We turn ideas into tech businesses that solve problems for the Indonesian market. Why Indonesia you ask? 

Well, admittedly, at first glance it doesn’t seem like the most obvious place to spend three years of your life, especially with three young kids in tow… but for the few Australians building businesses in that market it is an obvious choice. 

Let’s take a look at the numbers. 250 million people, most under the age of 30. A growing middle class and economic growth rate of +5% for the last ten years. And of course, most exciting for tech entrepreneurs, a massive mobile market to sell to ... Read more

WA VENTURE PHILANTHROPY FUND

The WA Venture Philanthropy Fund helps social purpose organisations in Western Australia to become stronger, more sustainable and more impactful. The fund provides ventures with the strategic funding and hands-on support to build their capacity and deliver more sustainable impact, at scale.

SVA is committed to using evidence to drive systemic change. We conduct extensive research and work closely with our local partners and WA Advisory Group to identify and support high impact venture partners. We measure and report on the outcomes generated to build an evidence base of what works... Read more