As we bid farewell to 2023, we’re proud to look back on a year filled with incredible growth, impactful programs, and remarkable milestones that have propelled us forward towards our mission of fostering innovation and empowering entrepreneurs and changemakers across Australia.
National Programs expansion
To kick off the year, we launched our Office Hours program as a year-round offering for our members, providing 1on1 opportunities to meet with mentors, investors and business professionals. In 12 months, we have facilitated 258 1on1 sessions across Australia!
Throughout the year, She Codes hosted workshops across Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, where women of all ages were able to learn a new skill in tech. The She Codes Plus program, designed to supercharge the tech career of its participants, also ran in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney throughout 2023. We also successfully launched the Female Founders program in Perth and Brisbane, and through this 5-week program, women were able to grow their skills as a founder.
Plus Eight Accelerator ran for the seventh year, as we welcomed 11 startups into Phase One of the program, with 6 teams making it through to Phase Two and receiving their share in over $480,000 in seed-funding. To celebrate the end of the program, we held the 2023 Demo Night, and we saw 350+ founders, investors, and supporters come down to hear the startups' pitch. Read the full recap here.
In 2023, we hosted the 19th edition of Startup Weekend in Perth, engaging over 70 aspiring entrepreneurs. Spacecubed has proudly hosted Startup Weekend since 2013, where we’ve witnessed numerous individuals and teams turn their entrepreneurial visions into tangible realities within just 54-hours. Over the course of the weekend, six innovative businesses emerged, passionately pitching their newly conceived startups to the audience.
A year at the Western Sydney Start-up Hub
In Western Sydney, we launched our first pre-accelerator program with the support of Investment NSW and had an overwhelming response of applications from local founders looking to grow their businesses. This program ran alongside three WA-based pre-Accelerator programs, including City of Canning, City of Joondalup, and City of Perth.
We also hosted in Western Sydney a range of great events throughout the year, including Pitch for Good Parramatta, run by StartSomeGood and the City of Parramatta Council, supporting early stage social entrepreneurs get their impact ideas off the ground in the Parramatta Council area and a Fireside Chat on Raising Capital with AirTree, The ASE Group and Niceto.
In late November, we commemorated another huge milestone as we celebrated the 1st Anniversary of the Western Sydney Startup Hub, where Spacecubed members, government officials and local residents came together to reflect on the achievements of the past year.
In Western Sydney, we’re looking forward to hosting our Christmas Celebration this Friday, 15th December from 3pm where Spacecubed members and the wider community are invited to come along and bring in the holiday season over food, drinks, music and festive games (find out more here!)
The Hub Bentley expanded our events capability with high-facilities
Expanding our impact, it was announced that DevelopmentWA was appointing Spacecubed to operate The Hub, Bentley Technology Park, an innovation hub designed to provide SMEs and startups access to state-of-the-art event spaces, conference facilities, and workshop areas, equipped with the latest in AV and digital communication technology.
Since this announcement, Spacecubed has successfully run a range of events at The Hub, including Plus Eight Boosted, which featured Al Bentley, Founder and CEO at Simply Wall St, and the Meshpoints Congress, where over 120 innovation leaders attend to develop collaborative partnerships and new initiatives to better support entrepreneurs in WA.
Member success
Throughout 2023 we have witnessed countless member successes, with some of the most notable including Matilda Health, who was a part of the 2023 Plus Eight Accelerator cohort. Last year they began their journey at Spacecubed by winning the Golden Ticket Pitch at Freo Startup Fest, winning entry into the bootcamp of our accelerator program. It has been amazing to witness their incredible growth throughout the program this year.
IDEA Academy, who took part in the 2021 Plus Eight Accelerator program, has also seen great success and growth throughout this year, where they recently won the RAC WA Emerging Business Excellence Award at the Australian Institute of Management Pinnacle Awards. This year they were also awarded $50,000 through the Innovative Society Initiative, supported by Lotterywest, to support students going through the IDEA Academy internal entrepreneurial incubator in developing their early-stage ideas. IDEA has grown from under 15 students a couple of years ago to 60 students this year, and they have already received more than 100 applications for next year.
Innovative Society Impact & MIT Reap Program
In its first 12 months since launching, Spacecubed’s Innovative Society Initiative, supported by Lotterywest had funded over $1,000,000 in local innovation projects, from growing indigenous businesses to supporting over 87 early-stage innovative ideas through incubator programs and implementing circular economy practices (view our 2023 WA Innovation Ecosystem Report).
Spacecubed was also proud to host over 90 global visitors to Perth as part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, including a great breakfast event with MIT Management, Dr.Phil Budden, as he shared key insights into how we can future-proof the WA innovation ecosystem.
We organised a range of events and initiatives throughout West Tech Fest last week, including hosting the Golden Ticket Pitch at Freo Startup Fest, where the winner, Sound Asleep, has won entry into the Bootcamp of the 2024 Plus Eight Accelerator program.
We also hosted our 2023 Demo Night, where Minister Stephen Dawson announced investment into Plus Eight through the New Industries Fund, allowing us to double our impact in the coming year to continue supporting local founders go global.
To celebrate the end of 2023, we hosted our Christmas Celebration in Perth in Fern Courtyard, where we saw over 100 members come down to celebrate all our wins for 2023, and look forward to what the next year has in store.
A huge thank you to the Spacecubed team, our members and our program partners, Betterlabs, Woodside Energy, Capricorn Society, the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, adapt, Vici Ventures, Hawaiian, Jackson McDonald and DFK Gooding Partners for your support throughout 2023.
Looking forward, 2024 is set to be a year of great impact as we continue to support local founders through our range of flexible workspaces and growth programs. If you’re interested in getting involved as a Spacecubed member, you can join for as little as $50/month + GST and access a range of member benefits. Explore our membership options here.