Ventures

Curiosity

  • Matt Anderson and students from Bananza: Dikri, Alawy, Nilahtuzzahra and Diah.

    Why Mentors Show Up: The Power of Supporting Young Founders

    Matt Anderson and Theia Gabatan, both three-time Curiosity mentors, share why they dedicate time to guiding young founders through UQ Ventures. They emphasize the importance of supporting diverse, bold students at pivotal moments in their entrepreneurial journeys. Mentoring, they say, is a two-way exchange—offering insight, energy, and hope. Their reflections highlight how mentoring benefits both students and mentors, enriching the innovation ecosystem.

  • Celebrating Curiosity: Meet the 2025 Shane Chidgzey Award Winners

    Ventures is thrilled to announce the three projects selected by Ventures to receive the 2025 Curiosity Shane Chidgzey Award! Each team has been awarded $350 in seed funding to help bring their ideas to life and take their Curiosity projects to the next level.
  • Curiosity Protostars: Stories of Student Founders Who Are Shaping the World

    Curiosity Protostars: Stories of Student Founders Who Are Shaping the World

    On 7 August 2025 at UQ St Lucia, this partnership came alive at the Curiosity Protostars Panel, organised by Mayu Komukai (UQ Ventures) and supported by Theia Gabatan (Protostars, Blackbird Foundation). The goal? To show students just starting out that entrepreneurship isn’t about waiting for the future it’s about building it now.

  • Making waves from within: My first experience as an intrapreneur

    Entrepreneurship often gets the spotlight, but intrapreneurs can be just as impactful. Elly Dai shares how her intrapreneurial journey has been both exhilarating and transformative.
  • Person on street wearing sneakers stepping in chewing gum

    Idea to upcycle chewing gum takes ‘most creative idea’ prize at Ventures Curiosity program

    Published on: 14 June 2023
    Born out of an activity to try and sell the worst product – used chewing gum – a pair of PhD candidates, Michaela George and Max, flipped their thinking.
  • Group students awarded prize in front of tv screen

    Podcasting platform wins prize for most creative idea

    Published on: 8 December 2023
    A startup to improve the podcast experience takes Most Creative Idea at the Ventures Curiosity program. Podcast streaming platform, Podlight, aims to help creators and listeners easily discover new and curated content, engage with communities, and store information from your favourite shows.
  • Naajihah Mahmood headshot with concrete wall background

    UQ alum builds her halal food startup after completing all Ventures’ programs

    Published on: 12 June 2023
    Naajihah Mahmood is a true Ventures superstar. She’s completed the full suite of Ventures opportunities, from the introductory Curiosity program, all the way to the penultimate ilab Accelerator where she presented her startup to 350+ people at the annual Pitch Night event earlier this year.
  • Women clothing store

    Dressing-down the fashion industry

    Published on: 20 December 2022
    With UQ ball season fast approaching, software engineering student Sarah Abdulkhalek got the inspiration she needed for an idea to take through the Ventures Curiosity program.
  • Tom Bizzell and Lara Berge in the great court sandstone in background

    What's it really like to launch a startup at UQ?

    Published on: 8 August 2022
    At The University of Queensland, we’re continuously impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and startup ideas that come out of our UQ Ventures community.
  • Aislinn Sharp wearing 'R U OK?' yellow tshirt in front of Brisbane skyline

    Tackling mental health stigma through the power of music

    Published on: 12 May 2022
    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.

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