The University of Wollongong’s iAccelerate was recognized as a runner-up for the 2024 prestigious Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activators award at the Triple E Asia-Pacific Awards. Since its inception in 2016, iAccelerate has supported entrepreneurs through various pathways to success, offering educational programs, expert residencies, seed funding, and other opportunities for innovative ventures.
iAccelerate also supports students through entrepreneurship events, modules, subjects and internships and has a researcher pathway helping PhD students and Academics spinouts. iAccelerate Director Dr. Tamantha Stutchbury said iAccelerate is where UOW students and Illawarra residents create and invent for positive global impact. “iAccelerate is thrilled to be recognized at the prestigious Triple E awards, reflecting the huge impact our team makes”.
“As a regional university we continue to build entrepreneurship and innovation opportunities for the people in our region. We are a lightning rod for innovation, providing a unique end-to-end offering that is a leader across the Asia-Pacific and globally. Our values of inclusivity, excellence, curiosity and empowerment underpin all we do", he added.
“Central to our values is the belief that anyone can be an entrepreneur. We actively support underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship, with 52 percent of companies having at least one active female founder. Regional entrepreneurs from across Australia, as well as First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse entrepreneurs are also supported through our programs".
iAccelerate continues to expand and support its community, having assisted 69 startups in 2023 alone. During the same period, it employed 322 full-time, part-time, and casual workers, and secured $28.3 million in investment through equity capital, debt capital, and grants. Professor David Currow, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research and Sustainable Futures) at UOW, commented that the recognition at the Asia-Pacific Triple E Awards highlights the hard work and dedication of the iAccelerate team and the dynamic entrepreneurial community they have fostered.
“Since 2016, iAccelerate has been engaging academics, students and community members with its unique end-to-end offering of education programs and lively startup community. In the process it has become one of the largest and most established innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Australia, transforming lives and local economies in our region”, Professor Currow said.
“iAccelerate’s unique approach, including its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the development of new courses, has significantly shaped the entrepreneurial culture at UOW”. The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts towards the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. The Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.
