Elevate your startup with Ventures Empower.
Calling all entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of founding their startup to be part of the 2025 UQ Empower women's entrepreneurship program.
Open to solo women founders or founding teams with at least 50% women, this is a transformative 10-week experience to accelerate your startup. You'll join a cohort of inspiring founders and get the support, knowledge, and confidence you need to reach your business goals.
Applications for the Ventures Empower program close 12pm 5 February.
As part of the Ventures Empower program you will:
- Experience 10 weeks of engaging content crafted to resonate with the unique experiences and aspirations of women who are innovators and entrepreneurs.
- Connect with like-minded women, learn from each other's experiences, and form bonds that will extend beyond the program.
- Learn from successful entrepreneurs and mentors who've navigated similar paths, offering insights, advice, and a supportive network.
- Polish your pitching skills and showcase your unique vision with potential supporters at the Ventures Empower demo day.
The program will be delivered in-person in Brisbane.
Program: This program runs on Tuesday evenings with two Saturday intensives from Tuesday 4 March to Thursday 15 May 2025.
Information session: Online
Date: Thursday 16 January 2025
Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Register to join the information session
Information session: Meet and greet
Date: Tuesday 21 January 2025
Time: 5-6pm
Venue: Ventures Studio, Long Pocket campus, Indooroopilly
We are looking for passionate and committed women and gender diverse founders who have validated their value proposition, an initial sustainable business model and a solution.
To be eligible to apply, Ventures Empower teams must have:
- Individual women founders or startup teams with at least 50% women ownership
- Active founders who are over the age of 18 years and who are committed to the full length of the program
- A strong connection with The University of Queensland (UQ) as evidenced by one of the founders meeting one of the following criteria:
- be an undergraduate or postgraduate student of UQ in 2024, including PhD candidates.
- be an alum of UQ; or
- be a current UQ staff (research/academic/professional) member.
The balance of the founders who do not meet the above criteria need not have any relationship with UQ.
Semester 1 program
Applications for Ventures Empower will close Wednesday 5 February 2025 at 12pm.
The selection committee will decide on the final cohort based on written applications and selection interviews.
Apply to Empower
Join our newsletter to stay up-to-date for our next program dates
“The Empower program gave me the tools and confidence to move forward with my startup. The connections I made and the knowledge I gained were truly invaluable. I can’t thank the team enough!” – Madinur, Co-founder of Madina
“I highly recommend the Ventures Empower program to all female startup founders. The weekly support from fellow female founders inspired me to work harder, and the mentoring and workshops were invaluable. With exceptional leadership and engaging guest speakers, this program fosters strong camaraderie among women founders.” – Amber, Co-founder of Photrove
“Empower is a fantastic program for any prospective or early-day startups looking to acquire in-depth understanding of and coaching through the intricacies of getting a business up and running, whilst gaining an incredible network of supportive, like-minded people. We could not recommend more.” – Suzy and Andrew, Founders of Tide Pool Designs
Latest news
Ventures Connect
Want some advice on where to get started? Ventures Connect is your chance to come together with Ventures staff, student innovators and industry experts.