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    5 startups about working at Stone & Chalk startup hubs

    From fintech to edtech, web3 to AI, some of Australia’s most exciting and diverse startups and scale-ups have enjoyed great success since joining us Stone & Chalk.

    It takes a village to build a startup and a unique community of bright sparks to scale one up. That’s the raison d’être behind innovation hubs like Stone & Chalk, which connects founders with the people and services they need at all stages of startup growth.

    Stone & Chalk has Australia’s largest innovation community and has the numbers to back that claim up: their residents and alumni have raised over $1 billion in capital and created over 100,000 jobs since joining the group. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, Stone & Chalk has over 515 startups within its community – and counting.

    They have the perks you’d expect from a startup hub: draft beer, free coffee, and atmospheric, plant-filled co-working spaces where lightbulb moments happen (often at ungodly hours). However, the founders point to something much deeper: the sense of community, level of support, and unparalleled access to employees, partners, and investors that you might not get elsewhere.

    Why startups choose Stone & Chalk

    Stone & Chalk is the cradle of technological disruption and tailors programs and services for both early-stage start-ups And increases in scale. For younger startups, they offer growth, marketing, and strategy programs to successfully take an idea to market. Scale-ups have access to tailored capital and financing programs, such as the Investor Ready program, which provides access to a global network of potential investors.

    For startups of all stages, the networking opportunities are immense. There are regular networking events with industry leaders, companies and employees, as well as mentoring, masterclasses and informal Founder Circles and Chalk Chills every two weeks.

    Stone and chalk

    A group of Stone & Chalk residents of Stone & Chalk Melbourne. Image: Delivered.

    stone and chalk innovation hub

    Founders at Stone & Chalk in Sydney. Image: Delivered.

    While the scope of startups in the Stone & Chalk universe is broad, web3 is a major area of ​​focus right now. In December 2022, Stone & Chalk launched the first in Australia Web3 Innovation Centers in their hubs, in collaboration with the Australian DeFI Association, to connect web3 founders with investors, media, companies and governments. It is a move that aims to help web3 startups develop more stable, successful and competitive Australian blockchain, crypto and digital asset technologies.

    What startups are saying about Stone & Chalk

    Paytron

    Global payments platform Paytron helps businesses and accountants simplify their expense management. Co-founder Francois Henrion says they first came to Stone & Chalk looking for desk space, but stayed for the community.

    “It’s the two sides of the community, it’s the Stone & Chalk employees who are really supportive and the contribution they make to the wider community, but also to the people who sit around you,” says Francois. “The guys sitting a few feet away from us were literally our first customers. So it’s these friendlies where you can test the waters and get feedback from.

    “It is a highly collaborative and transparent environment. You can let your guard down, you can share your trade secrets and your technology and you know it’s a safe place to talk about your challenges and get some feedback from the other guys.”

    full

    A recent resident of Stone & Chalk’s hub in Melbourne, cleantech startup Fulle has created fast universal chargers for e-bike batteries that operate more sustainably with less waste. Founder Molly Fullee says the structured support and networking opportunities at Stone & Chalk helped them overcome some of the common hurdles of early-stage startup life.

    “Being part of that community was like a dream come true for me,” says Molly. “During my residency, I had access to top-notch facilities, a network of mentors and investors, and a host of other entrepreneurs who were as passionate and driven as I am.

    “It was so energizing to have other people bounce ideas and see all the amazing projects being developed right before my eyes.

    “Being in an environment surrounded by other entrepreneurs who were all pushing the boundaries of what was possible allowed me to rocket to the moon. I started thinking bigger, pushing harder and taking risks I might not have taken otherwise.”

    Perfect education

    Education Perfect is an edtech company with an online digital learning platform used by more than 1.2 million students and 50,000 teachers in 50 countries.

    “We felt this place suited us because we wanted to be around like-minded people,” says Heather Rizzo, Head of Operations at Education Perfect. “We felt it was a space where innovation and collaboration and diversity are celebrated and that was a space that really speaks to our company’s values.”

    Heather says their team participates in regular networking rituals like Sweet Spot, where founders share wins and updates together. “It really brought our team together,” she adds.

    The flexibility of the space has also been helpful for their dispersed workforce to get in and out of and to host special events.

    “We have had customer events here. We’ve been able to bring our entire leadership team to Sydney from all over the world and it’s been a space that has given us the flexibility to do that in addition to a lot of support that’s been given by the staff here.

    More from Heather here:

    Digital trajectories

    Melbourne-based startup Pathways Digital is on a mission to simplify contract management for small and medium-sized businesses. Co-founder and CEO Andrew Tiernan says Stone & Chalk helped accelerate the growth of their early-stage startup.

    “Joining the residency program at Stone & Chalk was a major milestone for Pathways Digital,” said Andrew. “Moving our business away from our kitchen tables, lounge areas and home studies gives us more than just an office location. Stone & Chalk immerses us in an ecosystem of other startups, mentors, and support, including legal, marketing, technology, and more. This step has really helped us to accelerate our development.”

    Andrew adds that having access to people who have done it before has been a huge asset. “Startups need to solve problems at a fast pace, and because we are in this community, by the end of the day we can be connected to someone else who can help us solve the problem by contacting the community manager.” , says Andrew.

    “We also love the opportunity to have hallway conversations with peers. If you’re a startup and working from home, you can’t bump into people and ask for advice. That’s why moving to a community like Stone & Chalk helps foster that environment where we can converse in an organic and ad hoc way. And that is very powerful.”

    Lateral view

    Located in the Adelaide hub of Stone & Chalk, Lateral Vision creates interactive and immersive digital experiences for businesses. Using virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D modeling and drone operations, the team has created experiences for The University of Adelaide, The Ghan and Seppeltsfield Barossa, among others.

    “What we love most about Stone & Chalk is the community,” says co-founder Laura Tolson. “We have made really good friends with the Stone & Chalk team and all the other companies that are here as well. Immersing yourself in a recognizable community is very important, especially as a founder with a small team.

    “If we worked in our own office somewhere in the city, we just wouldn’t have that community and we would feel very small. But being immersed here with hundreds of other people makes us feel much bigger.”

    Join Australia’s largest innovation community at stoneandchalk.com.au.


    This article is brought to you by Startup Daily in partnership with Stone & Chalk.


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