Perth co-working space seeking big ideas to back with scholarships

Co-working space Spacecubed is offering five start-up founders the opportunity to access its resources through Intensify Scholarships in a bid to foster a culture of entrepreneurialism and risk-taking in Perth.

The Intensify Scholarship offers five start-ups with full access to the space from December to February for free, and an annual membership.

Spacecubed co-founder Brodie McCulloch told StartupSmart the program was designed to launch founders headfirst into their start-up journey.

“It gives them confidence that we’ve done some due diligence and believe in what they’re doing. It also takes away their excuse to not give it a go,” McCulloch says, adding they’re looking for ideas that tackle big markets.

The team at Spacecubed are seeking one social entrepreneur, one environmental entrepreneur, one creative entrepreneur and two technology entrepreneurs.

“It’s designed for really early stage companies, even those just at the idea stage, which otherwise wouldn’t be at the stage where they could access these resources,” McCulloch says.

There is a lot of entrepreneurial activity happening in Perth as people look for new careers as the mining boom cools.

McCulloch says there is also a lot of activity in social enterprises, with the state government pouring a lot of money into grant programs.

“It’s been interesting and a lot of groups have launched, but the issue that’s created is a lot of these groups are now grant-dependent and not generating enough revenue to stay afloat, because their business models didn’t have to evolve,” he says.

Eligible start-ups will need to demonstrate some initial work on their idea such as a website, sales or a prototype; that they have the time to use the space and invest in their idea; and that they are willing to share their experiences and lessons with the Spacecubed community.