Start-up coach and mentor Jasmine Batra is one of the forces behind the Big Leap Incubator Program, taking tech-led Australian migrants with a start up in-hand to test out their strategies in hot technology markets like India.
Working also in the program is La Trobe University’s Cerasela Tanasescu and Investible’s Elisa-Marie Dumas.
The program itself is also supported by the Australian Department of Industry, Sciences, Energy and Resources along with AusIndustry.
The first cohort which launched in June featured 12 start-ups and their founders across a variety of sectors targeting agriculture tech, real estate and mentoring and coaching platforms.
“Most of them are early stage but they are seasoned founders so it’s not their first venture and have done start-ups before,” Batra said. “So they’ve been through programs like this before and they are quite advanced in terms of where they’re at, which also makes it really exciting in terms of the contribution they’re making between each other and that cross-collaboration has been the most fascinating part for us.
“Participants from the cohort are getting together and seeing how they can contribute and add value, but also collaborating and maybe creating something which combined, is more powerful than the single solution.”
The cohorts in the program go through a validation phase before making a pitch to a panel to go through to the acceleration phase, and from there three start-ups will be selected to go on to the stage of the program where they receive one-on-one mentoring with a sector expert in India.
“The mentor can help them get beyond the validation phase in terms of some either some pilot programs or beta testing launches so they can start to see what the uptake of the technology will be in the market,” she said.
“We’ve had expert sessions focusing on different aspects – how to nail their niche, how to build their teams – what sort of team do they need to have around them? And so on.” Read more…
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