Deakin urges startup aspirants to follow entrepreneurial dreams
Media releaseDeakin University has urged aspiring startup founders to seek support from its innovative programs as a new national report confirms universities are the driving force in Australia's startup economy.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander AO said the new report – Startup Smarts: universities and the startup economy – was a reminder of the central role of universities to create new jobs and develop new parts of the economy.
“Young people today must be prepared for lives and careers in a 21st Century world - where entrepreneurial instincts, knowledge and knowhow will be the currency for success,” Professor den Hollander said.
“Startups are projected to create more than half a million jobs in Australia over the coming decades and are already contributing more than $160 billion to the Australian economy.”
Deakin has a number of programs to support startups – and is partner of Carbon Revolution, one of Australia’s great startup stories – reflecting a key finding in the national report that there are now more than 100 startup support facilities and entrepreneurism centres at Australian universities.
Professor den Hollander said Deakin plays an important role in Australia’s largest job creating sector.
“Through our programs including SPARK@Deakin, ManuFutures, support for edtech accelerator network EduGrowth and professional credentialing through Deakin Digital, we provide the skills, training, support and the physical space to nurture the next generations of entrepreneurs,” Professor den Hollander said.
“The Victorian Government recently supported a new Cyber Security Incubator through a Deakin collaboration with Dimension Data, and we will also launch a new incubator in the creative arts and media area later this year, so there is much more to do.
“We are shaping our courses and support centres to equip aspiring startup founders for a future in which many more of them will seek to launch their own business. Deakin is a great fit for aspiring startup founders who want to start on their entrepreneurial path.”
The University Australia report – which draws on a Startup Muster survey of 600 startup founders in 2016 – revealed that around one in five founders had benefited from an acceleration or incubation program, and that more than four in five startup founders in Australia are university graduates.