Wollongong: The coastal city leading an entrepreneurial revolution
In recent years, Wollongong has become a hub for start-ups and the young entrepreneurs who want to build their businesses in a forward-thinking supportive community.
For starters, launching a start-up away from the major cities is more cost-effective, which reduces the risk of scaling a business. And entrepreneurs can get stuck into creating their business while still enjoying a thriving coastal lifestyle. Wollongong's smaller size also lends itself to a supportive business community, where people genuinely want to network and build things together.
Then there's the University of Wollongong (UOW), which creates a steady pipeline of high-performing research, tech and engineering graduates ready for the hire.
Leading this revolution is iAccelerate. Established in 2016, iAccelerate is one of Australia's largest and longest running business accelerators providing entrepreneurs with the skills, mentorship and business connections to be successful. Located at UOW's Innovation Campus, the world-class business incubator has been instrumental in supporting more than 385 start-up and scale-up companies, and was named as a finalist in the prestigious 2024 Asia-Pacific Triple E Awards. iAccelerate director Dr Tamantha Stutchbury describes the program as a 'lightning rod for innovation'.
'Central to our values is the belief that anyone can be an entrepreneur,' says Stutchbury. 'That's why the program actively supports underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship, from women to First Nations, and culturally and linguistically diverse entrepreneurs.'
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