News

Sometime after 2024 Siobhan Coster’s company Eclipse could be using a “wonder nutrient” to cash in on the baby health market that has catapulted companies like Bubs on to the global stage.

At The University of Queensland, we’re continuously impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and startup ideas that come out of our UQ Ventures community.

On 20 July, Ventures hosted the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation awards ceremony, recognising the incredible achievements of UQ’s startups, the emerging talent of current students, and the ongoing support of the broader ecosystem.

A commitment to paying forward past success has propelled UQ Ventures to become a world-leading hub of innovation. Over six years, UQ Ventures has worked with students, researchers, academics and alumni to develop ideas that create genuine impact in the world.

Daniel Dunn was just 14-years-old when he started his first business.
Eight years and five business ventures later, the now 22-year-old graduates this week from the University of Queensland Bachelor of Advanced Business Honours.

In 2022, Ventures launched the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards. The Awards celebrate and showcase the diverse talent across entrepreneurship at The University of Queensland, from exceptional mentors and student entrepreneurs to startups solving local and global challenges.

Valiant Space have received a grant for $750,000 to develop their manufacturing capability, which will support the development of their non-toxic chemical satellite propulsion system.

Siobhan Coster—the founder of startup Eclipse and winner of the Judge’s Award at the Ventures ilab Accelerator Pitch Night—is working towards a more sustainable future for global nutrition.

Communications student Aryan Rustagi has taken out first place and the top prize of $4000 at last month’s Ventures Validate pitch competition for his startup Verichain.

Combining her passion for music and mental health, UQ alumnus, singer-songwriter and psychologist, Aislinn Sharp is looking to roll out a music and mental health awareness concert nationwide.

UQ alumnus Hailey Brown is collecting plaudits from around the world for Vacayit, an audio storytelling app she’s developing for blind and low vision tourists. Vacayit users can access real stories and sounds from destinations across Australia to help them make informed and independent decisions about where to travel.

In March, 49 students from across The University of Queensland came together to devise novel solutions in the community health space. Over the intensive two-day event, 14 teams innovated and pitched for a share in $7000 responding to the challenge – how can we improve access to health and wellbeing services to enable our communities to thrive?

A Queensland startup being created by the CSIRO has announced a $3 million investment round to commercialise a synthetic version of lactoferrin, an immune-boosting protein found in breast milk that is rarely included in baby formula as it takes 10,000 litres of cow's milk to produce just 1kg.

If you’re considering an MBA program because you want to transform your career and land a new dream job, you’re not alone.

A University of Queensland (UQ) alumnus aiming to sustainably create vital nutrients from plants instead of animals using precision fermentation, has taken home the Judge’s Award at the annual ilab Accelerator Pitch Night.

What would you do with $10,000 equity-free funding? It’s a big question! And something the 2022 UQ Ventures ilab Accelerator participants have had the pleasure of pondering. 

Dr Anh Tran has a very personal reason to try to make life better for women and children living in refugee settings around the world.

Ventures, the entrepreneurship division of The University of Queensland (UQ), is partnering with the Vietnam Institute of Science Technology and Innovation (VISTI) to develop a collaborative centre in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Go into the draw to win either a $100 gift card of Instax Camera Kit by just joining Ventures programs and events!

Commerce and law student, Tom Bizzell, is no stranger to the world of startups. In 2020, he co-founded WakeShare to help the shipping and trucking industries reduce their carbon emissions, which won multiple global startup awards and he currently works as a product analyst for Layer, a video game product placement startup.