Startmate secures $300,000 from LaunchVic to welcome over 320 students into fellowship program

A partnership between Aussie accelerator Startmate and Victoria’s startup agency LaunchVic will see $300,000 of new funding invested into a fellowship program that will set the course for university students who want to make startups into a real career path and pave the way to launching the careers of the next generation of tech talent.

Over two years LaunchVic’s $300,000 grant will see at least 320 Victorian students get the confidence, knowledge, connections and skills they need to launch their own startups and gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities in the ecosystem through the Startmate Student Fellowship.

During the three-week intensive program, students will hear from successful founders, learn how to find the right co-founder and hear from investors in order to gain a front-row seat in understanding the investor’s mindset, learn how investment works and how to secure funding.

Students will also get a sneak peek behind the scenes of what it’s like to work at a startup and get life-long access to Startmate’s community, as well as learn how to develop an MVP product, build using no-code tools, iterate quickly, and gain skills in customer discovery, problem validation and learn how to take a ‘product mindset’ approach to build a product.

Finally, students will compete in a ‘Founders Challenge’ where they will take an idea from zero to one and pitch their solution to high-profile investors. The winning team will each receive free participation in Startmate’s next Launch Club.

Startmate CEO Michael Batko said he wishes a pathway into startups like the Student Fellowship existed when he was in university.

“It’s crucial to make startups a real career path for students,” he said. 

“Programs such as the Student Fellowship are extremely hard to finance as students are short on cash, so we need organisations like LaunchVic supporting them to make a new future possible where our brightest minds build the companies of the future.”

Batko said surrounding students with the right community to support them will empower them to dream bigger and increase their chance of success, in turn strengthening, developing and growing the startup community and fostering the next generation of founders.

“Right now, so many ambitious, hungry, determined students are on the cusp of a great idea,” he said.

“They can see a different future for us all but have no clear path forward. Without crucial support, many of the best and brightest ideas will never get off the ground, and many that do will fail much too soon because the barriers of success are stacked too high.”

Supporting the next generation of founders

Startmate has run four successful Student Fellowship cohorts to date, involving students from Victorian-based universities Deakin, LaTrobe, Monash, RMIT, Swinburne, University of Melbourne, and Victoria University.

LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick said the startup agency is delighted to continue its partnership with Startmate to fund the Student Fellowship program.  

“The program asks young people to look beyond a traditional career path in the world of startups,” Cornick said.

“We’re proud to say 363 Victorian students have been through the Student Fellowship to date, and more than 160 have gone on to either work at a startup or found one of their own.

“More broadly, we’d love to see working or founding a startup become a mainstream career path for students and young people.”

Cornick said LaunchVic’s recent Talent Report with the Tech Council revealed startups are facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining business, operations and design talent. 

“These shortages are not driven by a lack of suitably skilled people. For every vacancy, there are approximately 25,000 Victorians with relevant skills and experience,” she said.

“So, it becomes an issue of attraction, and that’s why programs like the Student Fellowship are so important in creating that pipeline of future talent to support the sustainable growth of our ecosystem. 

“They provide a supportive environment to road test a startup career and make sure our best future tech talent doesn’t get lost to the Big Four.”