Innovation and entrepreneurship have been given a boost in the Casey Cardinia Region thanks to a $198,250 State Government grant.
The City of Casey and Shire of Cardinia jointly applied for the funding through LaunchVic.
The INNovation Crowd, a start-up ecosystem initiative, will offer meet ups, hackathons, master classes, monthly themed training sessions and boot camps.
Casey mayor Geoff Ablett said in early 2016 the neighbouring shires recognised the economic value in keeping local start-up talent in the region.
“In recent years we have seen significant growth in business start-ups, and alongside that growth we have seen many support mechanisms in the form of co-working spaces, meetups, incubators and mentor networks, but unfortunately most of these supports are very Melbourne CBD centric. This means that local entrepreneurs either travel to the CBD to network and meet like-minded people, or they do it on their own,” Cr Ablett told an audience gathered at a launch function on Saturday 14 July.
“The INNovation Crowd is here to change that for our region, with the vision to build a ‘place-based’ start-up ecosystem that is recognised as the number one destination in the south east region for local entrepreneurs to start their journey.“
A working party was established 18 months ago. Members included representatives from Federation University and Casey Tech.
“The goal is that the INNovation Crowd will come to represent the start-up community in the region, to build a lasting sustainable ecosystem that will identify, nurture and build the capacity of start-ups and entrepreneurs by providing the support and tools needed for them to become successful,“
The first INN Crowd meet up will be held on Wednesday 8 August from 6pm at Bunjil Place. Cost is free.
On Tuesday 21 August the first Lunch and Learn event will be staged at Federation University with the theme ’Big data – what does it mean for your business?’ BYO lunch to the free event between 12.30pm-1.30pm.
