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Grant to inspire startups at ACU Co-Lab

Student-inspired entrepreneurship will benefit from Australian Catholic University landing a $252,000 grant from Victorian startup agency LaunchVic.

The investment, announced by Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs Danny Pearson, will drive pre-accelerator programs to be delivered through ACU Co-Lab in partnership with Startmate, one of Australia’s leading startup accelerators and venture funds.

Launching in 2026, the new two-year program will support four cohorts of early-stage entrepreneurs drawn from ACU’s student, staff and research communities.

Each 8-week cohort will be provided targeted support covering key topics including customer discovery, minimum viable product (MVP) development, and investment pitching.

“ACU Co-Lab is a place where academics and industry team up to share ideas and drive innovation,” Interim Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law and Business, Professor Alison Parkes said. “Thanks to LaunchVic’s support aspiring student entrepreneurs can access expertise from the Co-Lab community to help turn ideas into reality.”

The pre-accelerator is designed to integrate with ACU’s broader Enterprise ecosystem. Promising projects—particularly those where ACU is a stakeholder—may progress to the ACU Enterprise Clinic for commercialisation, and potentially access follow-on support from ACU’s co-investment fund with Breakthrough Victoria.

The initiative aims to strengthen ACU’s innovation pipeline by helping participants build validated MVPs, connect with mentors and investors, and prepare for follow-on funding opportunities. It also supports broader university goals around research commercialisation and student engagement in entrepreneurship.

The program aligns with ACU’s Vision 2033 strategy and enhances the University’s presence in Victoria’s $132 billion startup ecosystem.

ACU’s funding boost will be part of a $3.75 million LaunchVic investment designed to strengthen that ecosystem.

LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick said the funding was designed to create a whole-of-ecosystem lift.

“Victoria’s startup ecosystem continues to grow and this targeted support will help it to reach its full potential,” she said

“This latest funding will provide whole of ecosystem support across many areas including strengthening the venture capital landscape, backing startups emerging from universities and fostering a diverse and thriving grassroots community.”

Read more about ACU Co-Lab here