Liverpool Innovation Precinct Health Entrepreneurship Program

Helping South-West Sydney turn ideas into impact.

Our mission is to respond to the changing needs of the society we serve. To support that mission, UNSW is announcing the Liverpool Innovation Precinct (LIP) Health Entrepreneurship Program, alongside a body of work across the Greater Sydney region as part of our “Greater Sydney Strategy”. The Greater Sydney Strategy has a critical focus on social impact and aims to develop UNSW education and research activities that complement the region’s strengths and leverage the university’s resources, in partnership with local stakeholders.

Learn more about the programs and workshops below 👇

The Program

LIP HEALTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM

Designed and delivered by UNSW Founders, the LIP Entrepreneurship Program will:

  • Support South-West Sydney-based researchers and entrepreneurs with starting and scaling their ventures 

  • Encourage more women and other underrepresented founders from CALD backgrounds into entrepreneurship, with a specific focus on supporting social enterprises that solve unmet needs in communities across the South-Western Sydney area.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE 

The LIP Entrepreneurship program is a suite of offerings aimed at activating entrepreneurship activities across the region by providing education, mentorship, and access to networks via a suite of UNSW Founders programs delivered out of the City of Liverpool. 

The LIP Entrepreneurship Program 2024 will consist of: 

  • Breakfast Workshops Series 

  • Pitch Competition 

  • New Wave Program 

  • Impact X Program 

Workshop Series

1. Translate your insights into clinical innovations

In a rapid session, you will gain real insights and practical tools to assess your commercial pathways and opportunities.  

Have you ever wondered how you could apply your research to create better results? This is your chance to learn from the Australian leading university-based Health program about exploring that potential. 

Who is this for? 

Anyone from South-Western Sydney who: 

  • Is curious about the different options for taking something from the lab to the clinic. 

  • Wants to understand the commercialisation processes and support available through the Liverpool Innovation Precinct (LIP) Entrepreneurship Program. 

  • Wants to learn how to assess if you should pursue an idea. 

  • Has an idea, process or tool you think could improve current practice or patient outcomes and wants to understand the next steps. 

What you will learn: 

  • What is MedTech? What are the Australian and global contexts and trends? 

  • How do you know if an idea is worth exploring? 

  • What frameworks can you use to assess your work and opportunities? 

  • What Rapid ways can you use to test an idea and build a foundation for success? 

  • What are the pathways and standard journey of health innovation commercialisation? 

  • Where can you go for support and guidance? 

This is workshop ONE of a three-part Innovation Breakfast series. You are welcome to attend all three individual events.

Date: April 30th  

Time: 9-10am 

Location: Level 6 (Boardroom), 35 Scott Street, Liverpool, NSW, 2170

2. Amplify Your Impact: The Art of Communication

The impact of your work is only as good as your ability to communicate its value.  

In this interactive session, embrace the opportunity to receive direct feedback and readily apply practical tools to improve your communication skills. 

These skills will support your approach to: 

  • Grants and funding 

  • Professional networking 

  • Pitching your ideas for commercial application  

  • And so much more! 

 Effective communication skills are not soft skills but are essential for all aspects of life. 

This supportive session is designed to meet everyone where they are and provide practical guidance.  

What you’ll gain: 

  • Reflect on your communication style, identify areas for improvement, and create a plan for ongoing development of your communication skills. 

  • Analyse your key stakeholder groups and develop tailored communication strategies for each audience. 

  • Understand the importance of nonverbal communication in academic and professional settings and develop strategies for using nonverbal cues effectively in different contexts. 

  • Develop a template Gaddie pitch to establish a foundational introduction to draw upon. 

  • Explore tools to increase practical oral communication skills for presenting research findings, including creating engaging presentations, using effective body language and tone of voice, and fielding questions from an audience.  

This is workshop TWO of a three-part Innovation Breakfast series. You are welcome to attend all three individual events. 

Date: May 7th 

Time: 9-10am 

Location: Level 6 (Boardroom), 35 Scott Street, Liverpool, NSW, 2170 

3. Health Innovation: Expert Panel

Moving from publications to public impact – hear how others have found their commercial pathways. 

If you’ve ever wondered how people translate research and navigate the move from benchtop researcher or lab manager to CEO – this is the event for you.  

Hear from a panel of health and medical researchers as they share honest advice and insights and answer your questions on how they navigated the commercial pathways to translate their research into direct impact for patients.  

From licensing and clinical trials to figuring out how to talk about it with your lab manager, this is your opportunity to hear from and ask your questions directly to people who have already walked this path.  

Panel members: 

  • Dr Joseph Po: 2x startup founder, PhD in Medical Science, UNSW Founders Health 10x program manager 

  • Dr Dorsa Morshedi Rad: founder of CellSync, PhD in Biomedical Sciences 

  • Dr Sam van Bohemen: co-founder of Nuroflux, PhD in Biomedical Engineering 

  • Dr Anthony Sunjaya: co-founder of BantingMed, PhD in Medical Sciences 

Panel Format:

Panel Discussion: Bridging the Gap 
Navigating the Entrepreneurial Journey Publishing to Public. Gain insights from clinicians who have successfully navigated different entrepreneurial pathways. 

Interactive Q&A Session: 
Ask your questions directly to a panel to gain the most value for your journey 

Networking Session: 
Connect with like-minded Liverpool-based researchers and clinicians. 

This is workshop THREE of a three-part Innovation Breakfast series. You are welcome to attend all three individual events. 

Date: 21 May 

Time: 9.30 -10.30 (with networking up to 11 am) 

Location: Level 6 (Boardroom), 35 Scott Street, Liverpool, NSW, 2170 

Pitch Competition

Join us for a Community Pitch Competition where bright minds collide to showcase your idea.  

Have an idea that could change the world? Then wait no more and pitch it at the UNSW Liverpool Community Pitch Night! This will be a friendly competition where you can pitch your idea to an audience of your peers and a judging panel. 

This event is an opportunity to: 

  • Meet other like-minded people from the community 

  • Hone your entrepreneurial skills 

  • Gain feedback on your ideas and take the next steps 

MORE DETAILS COMING SOON

New Wave

UNSW’s New Wave program empowers female founders with the right professional network and industry experts and helps them up-skill to launch their own startups. UNSW startups feature female founders at twice the industry average. The New Wave made this possible!

Female founders from South-Western Sydney are invited to apply to Cohort B (Sept to Oct 2024).

ELIGIBILITY 

There are 3 pathways into New Wave: 

  • Apply without an idea (looking to join a team)  

  • Apply with an idea (looking for teammates)  

  • Apply with an idea as a solo founder / fully formed team (ready to go).  
     
    Please note that each team can have a maximum of 4 members, and all team members must fit the eligibility criteria below.  

To be eligible for New Wave, you must: 

  • Be 18 years or older; and 

  • Identify as a woman; and be an  

  • Resident of the South-Western Region, 

  • Existing UNSW student enrolled in an Undergraduate, Masters or PhD program; or an 

  • Alumni of UNSW (i.e. graduated from an undergraduate or postgraduate UNSW program); or  

  • UNSW academic staff (it is advised that you seek approval from your manager and seek guidance on ownership of any Intellectual Property); or  

  • UNSW professional staff (it is advised that you seek approval from your manager and seek guidance on ownership of any Intellectual Property). 

KEY DATES 

The program will be delivered virtually. 

  • Mon, 8 Jul – Applications open    

  • Mon, 26 Aug – Problem Discovery & Ideation night (UNSW Sydney)  

  • Wed, 4 Sep – Applications close    

  • Sat, 7 Sep – In person orientation event & networking ((1-4pm)  

  • Mon, 9 Sep – Online Orientation event & networking  

  • 16 Sep - 11 Oct (Programming with online workshops – Mon, Wed evenings, 6:30pm-8pm)  

  • Wed, 16 Oct – Hybrid Speed Mentoring night (In-person and online)  

  • Thu, 14 Nov - Live Showcase  

For more information and apply, please visit the link below:

Impact X

Building upon UNSW Founders’ highly successful Health 10x Accelerator program, the Impact X Pre-Accelerator is a new pathway specifically designed for early-stage start ups and teams that are looking to address unmet health needs of marginalised and underrepresented communities.

We identify and nurture those in the early stages to form, refine and test their start up ideas with the potential to drive real impact. 

Impact X offers applicants the necessary tools, skills, guidance and support to take their ideas from that initial light bulb moment to test and pitch, and potentially launch a real business.

By offering mentorship, resources, and a network of like-minded individuals and organisations, we empower these ventures to scale their efforts and reach the communities that need them most. 

ELIGIBILITY

Founders and Co-Founders must reside and are establishing their entity within NSW.

Our ideal candidates are in the early stages of developing their ideas and recognise the importance of acquiring additional skills and knowledge to take their idea to market.

Whether you feel the need for guidance in strategic planning, market validation, or building a robust business model, our program is here to empower you on your entrepreneurial journey.

We extend a warm welcome to founders from underserved communities, fostering an inclusive environment that embraces diversity. Our program is open to individuals of marginalised groups or identities, diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, as well as those returning to work. At our core, we believe that diverse perspectives enrich our community and empower all entrepreneurs to thrive.

No prior experience is required in order to apply.

KEY DATES

To be announced soon.

Got questions?

Get in touch with the UNSW Founders team at founders@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Founders has the only university-based health-specific entrepreneurship and commercialisation program and has been supporting health tech researchers and entrepreneurs since 2018. In 2019, UNSW Founders partnered with The George Institute for Global Health to launch the Health 10x program, which has successfully supported over 150 teams and provided investment for 27 health-tech startups, who further raised capital, created jobs and launched their solutions to the market. 

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