iAccelerate - empowering entrepreneurship

Celebrating 10 years of iAccelerate

If you wind back 15 years, the Illawarra and Wollongong was really different, and it was at the time when most people were still leaving the Illawarra to commute to work

or to get jobs. So the vision of iAccelerate was to try and build something that allowed people to start their own companies here and to grow global companies locally from the Illawarra.

Day one, iAccelerate was just an idea, and then it moved into a proof of concept in which Wollongong City Council gave some office space in the centre of Wollongong. The Illawarra really deserves a startup ecosystem.

I think building the building was an incredible moment. We were across the road waiting for this building to start, and we could see it out the window. The startups that were with us at the time were watching it build up from the ground up.

It kind of went from a small program that was a little bit ad hoc into a really sophisticated

program. Scale just completely changed overnight when this place came online.

Being in a space with lots of different perspectives, lots of different backgrounds, we're talking early graduates from university, we're talking with people who've been in their careers for 40 years. It's great to just have all these ideas to be able to bounce it off people.

Really gave us a base of operations to both start and then build from. We were lucky

because we were able to sort of breathe and we used it as an opportunity. So we had support, which we probably wouldn't have had in other places. I still remember going in

to see John when we were going through things and just being very unsure of where we were as a company at the time, and him pulling out a graph saying, "Oh,

no, you're right here." And just that alone sort of set us at ease and put us back on the right path. So just the direction, being around people, I think was the biggest piece.

Having those quiet side conversations is just as important to find out what's going in people's lives and people's businesses as it is to celebrate those big national and global wins.

Truly, truly love iAccelerate. It is a home for things that are possible.

I think it's been a great thing for the Illawarra and for the region to really grow that startup mentality.

To share that journey with students. Also, to get the reverse mentoring, which is the students actually challenging us with questions and ideas.

And having that opportunity to work with 600 startups. As a startup, there's always a missing piece of the puzzle, and to have that opportunity to be able to give them

that missing piece of the puzzle, to me, that's probably the biggest thing that I love seeing.

Often, the role that the university had in this vision and in continuing to back this is under-recognised, and the reason this is so successful is because of that vision and because of the continued support for it.

We've spent the last 10 years sort of proving ourself and building our reputation and being a

trusted place where people can build innovation. I think where I'd like to see us transform into

is being the innovation centre of choice in Australia, and I think that that's a highly achievable goal for this entity and for this region and will be a legacy long into the future.

Innovation begins with human ambition, but it flourishes when supported by collaboration,

mentorship, and shared purpose. That's what iAccelerate represents for UOW.

From the beginning, it was never simply about creating the incubator building, but it was about creating the ecosystem. It is turning ideas into industries,

research into real-world impact, and potential into opportunity. Universities generate ideas

every day, but the real challenge is translating those ideas into solutions that improves lives

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and transforms society. That's exactly what iAccelerate has done and continue to do.

Welcome to iAccelerate - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success

At iAccelerate, we are passionate about empowering startups, scaleups and nurturing entrepreneurial spirit. As a leading innovation hub, we provide a vibrant ecosystem where ideas turn into successful businesses.

iAccelerate supports all growth stages of your business with our pre-accelerator, accelerator, incubator programs and support facilities. So whether you're just starting out or looking to scale, we are here to support you every step of the way.

Australia's largest university-backed startup hub

Celebrating 10 years of iAccelerate

Welcome to iAccelerate - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success

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