Pre-Accelerator
INCUBATE’s Pre-Accelerator Program is a free part-time mentoring program created to support individuals and teams from within the University of Sydney community and beyond who are committed to building a startup or delivering impactful research.
Delivered by INCUBATE, the award-winning Pre-Accelerator Program is backed by 1:1 mentorship with industry-leading professionals and facilitated by our Program Managers with a wealth of experience in startups and research commercialisation.
Our Pre-Accelerator Program has a range of specialised program streams:ProtoX: Students – exclusively supporting early-stage founders who are current students at The University of Sydney.
ProtoX: Arts – in collaboration with Australia Council for the Arts to provide members of the Australian arts community with the knowledge, skills, and network to test and scale their startup ideas into businesses.
ProtoX: Ideation to Creation – supporting early-stage startup founders from the University of Sydney community (student, alumni or staff) within any sector develop their business ideas into businesses.
ProtoX: Research to Impact – supporting the translation and commercialisation of research from The University of Sydney.
ProtoX: First Nations – supporting Indigenous & First Nations entrepreneurs within The University of Sydney community with a focus on cultural awareness to amplify the impact of Indigenous-owned businesses.
ProtoX: Female Founders – in collaboration with the Investment NSW Boosting Business Innovation Program, INCUBATE Female Founders supports early-stage startups with greater than 50% female identifying founders to develop their startup ideas into businesses. The program focuses on empowering female founders to overcome the obstacles they often experience in the startup space.
“I absolutely would not have made the progress I did without ProtoX. It gave me the confidence, opportunity and motivation to conduct my first customer interviews and get my first paying customers. The program made me accountable, and gave me an opportunity to pitch my ideas and demonstrate my progress.
During ProtoX I was able to ask for support or ideas from the Program Manager and the other founders, who came from different industries, experiences, and stages of life. It gave me a more rounded view than just working alone.”
Victoria Edghill, founder of Relievables (ProtoX Alumni; INCUBATE Accelerator Class 15)