The University of Queensland’s newly appointed Entrepreneur in Residence, Yotam Rosenbaum, brings decades of experience in the music industry, founding and selling a music-streaming app, and working with hundreds of startups to help UQ founders accelerate the growth of their own ventures.
Yotam says UQ’s accelerator program, ilab, will take early stage ventures and by the end of three months get them ready and well-positioned to start discussions with potential investors.
“ilab is a great opportunity for early startups to get the right guidance from seasoned domestic and global founders,” said Yotam.
“And, to minimse the mistakes that can cost a lot of money!
“I enjoy helping founders on different fronts of their business while drawing from my own experience of building and scaling a startup in the US market.
“Prior to starting our music-streaming app, Earbits, I was a full time musician and never imagined myself becoming a startup founder.”
“My perception of a startup founder was someone wearing a hoodie, eating Ramen and writing code.”
In 2010, world renowned Silicon Valley accelerator, Y Combinator, backed Yotam and his co-founders for Earbits. Acquired by You42 in 2015, it remains home to a wide variety of underground and commercial music, videos, original content, and podcasts.
“During my six years with Earbits, I had the opportunity to be involved and learn about all aspects of the business, even coding,” Yotam said.
“Learning new skills and constantly being pushed out of my comfort zone was extremely gratifying.”
Yotam graduated magna cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a major in composition.
Between 2017 and 2019, Yotam worked at QUT bluebox as Chief Entrepreneur in Residence. While there, he helped hundreds of startups turn their ideas into viable business ideas, such as an app that tracks wellness for up-and-coming athletes, and an outdoor autonomous robotics startup that can help farmers pick avocadoes off their trees all night long or automating the construction of solar farms, to name a few.
UQ’s Head of Ventures Nimrod Klayman said Yotam’s experience as a founder who was part of Y Combinator – the number one accelerator in the world – and his years working and learning the local ecosystem means he will bring so much expertise, knowledge and global connections to UQ Ventures.
“He’ll help make ilab one of the most attractive university-based accelerators in the country.”
The winner of ilab’s 2020 pitch night was Kurin Organics, a startup building practical and ethical solutions to laundry detergents.
UQ Ventures accelerator program, ilab, runs for three-months and offers $10,000 equity-free funding to each team.
Applications for the ilab Accelerator 2021 are now open
For more information on UQ Ventures, please contact Mr Nimrod Klayman, ventures@uq.edu.au, +61 (0)7 3443 2739.
