Get Connected @ River City Labs, Brisbane (29/06/2016)

Having spent some quality time checking out startup opportunities and student talent in the more southern states, the massive drop in temperature seemed like a good time to shoot north and check out Brisbane’s entrepreneur scene.

And just shy of the new financial year, we launched Get Connected Brisbane, in partnership with co-working powerhouse, River City Labs. RCL founder and Shark Tank Australia ‘Shark’, Steve Baxter, was in on the action, firing up the assembled masses just prior to speed dating kicking off.

Steve was especially delighted with the levels of female representation, commenting that he’d never seen so many women founders in a room. He also added how important it is to focus on the next generation of will-be entrepreneurs.

“We need to celebrate the entrepreneurial mindset and look at ways to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and encouragement to start their own businesses,” he said.

With around 20 startups and 50 students, it was a big night which may just launch even bigger things – after the speed dating wrapped up, every startup commented that they had found some student matches!

As The Beatles famously sang, we also got by with a little help from our friends, with several industry mentors lending us their expertise for the night.

A big thanks to Jordan Duffy from Buckham & Duffy, Angelique Richmond from Queensland State Government, John Sheridan, CEO of Digital Business Insights and Elliot Duff from Data61 who all provided valuable and objective on-the-fly wisdom for our students.

Brisbane, this is just the beginning.