Community
17 December, 2023
Have an idea and need funding
ASPIRING South West entre-preneurs have the chance to pitch for a share of $23,000 in seed funding as part of the next round of The Ideas Place.
A ‘pitch night’ will be held on March 21, 2024, with applications for the pre-pitch training course, dubbed the Ideas Place Boot Camp, now open.
The Boot Camp involves three one-hour sessions to help participants refine their ideas and prepare their pitch.
Upon successful completion of the Bootcamp, up to eight of the best ideas will be chosen to take part in the Pitch Night.
A judging panel will select the winners and runners-up who will share in $18,000 in funding thanks to LaunchVic.
The Fletcher Jones Family Foundations will provide up to an additional $5000 to the idea with the best potential for a positive social impact.
Ian Tebbutt and Jon Wright completed the 10-week Ideas Place Ignite program before finishing the Boot Camp and being chosen to take part in the inaugural pitch night in July this year.
Their idea, Citizen Data, was awarded $5000 in funding from the Fletcher Jones Family Foundations.
Mr Tebbutt said the pair aims to help smaller organisations, such as community groups, bridge the gap between the large volumes of open data available and the lack of tools available to interpret and use this data.
“Everyone knows the data is there, but actually analysing it and getting it to the point where it’s something useful, is hard. And it’s that hard bit that we want to make easy for community groups,” he said.
“One of the great things about The Ideas Place is that it brings together such a mix of people with different talents from around the area. There’s a rich seam of ideas here,” he said.
“Initially we were looking at targeting small businesses and councils, then people were saying they’d been writing grants for their community group but could have done with better data - and that was a development that came from the room.”
Fletcher Jones Family Foundations executive officer Carly Jordan said while the concept of start-ups were often linked with profit-making business, there are definitely opportunities for ideas with a social purpose.
“Citizen Data is a website that we can see making a significant difference for local community groups and organisations that we partner within our region,” she said.
“As a funding body, we recognise the importance of using data to tell your story, and also as a tool to identify service gaps to ensure programs are helping those that need the support most.
To find out more and to apply for The Ideas Place Boot Camp, visit www.theideasplace.com.au/programs
The Ideas Place is a program to help south west entrepreneurs and start-ups bring their innovative ideas to market.
Made possible via LaunchVic funding, other partners include the Warrnambool, Moyne and Corangamite councils, South West TAFE, Great South Coast Food and Fibre and What Your Customers Want.
