It is incredibly exciting to share that we have another $15,000 to share with Validate teams in 2026, thanks to the incredible support of Luke Anear, Founder and CEO of SafetyCulture.
For the past two years, Luke has been guiding our founders in person, focusing on one key principle: building confidence in a founder’s ability to execute.
How it started
“Is this Tom? It’s Luke from SafetyCulture.”
Two hours later, Validate had a new direction. A program that doesn’t teach theory but helps you discover the version of yourself that executes ambitiously.
Who is Luke Anear and what does SafetyCulture do?
Luke founded SafetyCulture from his garage in Townsville in 2004, and built it into a $2.5bn global company. SafetyCulture builds technology that helps teams improve workplace safety, quality, and performance.
If you haven’t caught Luke’s documentary on YouTube, you should check it out. Founder is a four-part series profiling Australian tech entrepreneurs and founders including SafetyCulture, Canva, Finder, and Brighte.
His message was simple and powerful: building a project starts with building yourself.
The Philosophy? Figure it out
Validate now integrates Luke’s insights into its structure. As Luke shared early on:
“In the beginning, there is no marketing team. This is an individual challenge, this is all you.”
This mindset underpins everything we do in Validate.
- Your Goals as a Catalyst: Our 90-day challenge moves you from planning to doing. Fast.
- The G.O.N.G. Milestone (Go or No Go): Instead of a final pitch event, you’ll have a one-on-one investor deep dive halfway through the program—a clear reflection of the work you’ve done so far.
- Milestone-Based Funding: Funding is tied to 30- and 90-day execution goals, ensuring accountability and momentum.
The Results: 2.0x Capital Velocity
Does this self-accountability approach work? The numbers say yes.
In our 2025 Semester 2 cohort, we deployed $20,000 in micro-grants with those teams generating over $40,000 in revenue - a 2.0x capital multiplier. For every $1 invested, founders created $2 in commercial activity.
Highlights from recent cohorts:
- Strive Academics (Pasindu Bandara): Achieved a $5k+ annualised run rate by prioritising systems over manual labour.
- Krepko (Agajan Babayev and Rahil Mehta): Incorporated and secured a $10,000 B2B contract by solving a critical operational challenge.
- Vero Meets (Vicky Jacques): Pivoted from an expensive app build to a community-first model, growing 130% organically without marketing spend.
Your time to take action
Validate is your dedicated time to work on your project - on your timeline, not the university calendar. Our new weekly intakes mean you can start when you’re ready.
- Start any week: If you’re ready to move, we’re ready to support you.
- $25,000+ in total support: Meet your 30- and 90-day goals to unlock funding.
- Revenue mode: Navigate customer challenges and supply chain issues to reach your first sales.
Whether you’re launching your first idea or scaling an existing project, Validate helps you discover what you’re truly capable of building.
Ready to start? Apply for Validate here and accelerate your venture.