Register you Students' Interest
Pre-Accelerator
A free program for students to continue building
a better prototype and find more evidence of desirability.
What is it?
Student Startup Pre-Accelerator pushes students to prove the value they create in their products or services is desirable by their customer segment.
FREE
The Pre-accelerator is a free 5-week program* over the course of a term. Students get custom support from tech school facilitators to help them take their startup to the next level.
This is the stepping stone for students to keep working on their business or social impact idea and produce a higher fidelity prototype, and run further discovery experiments.
This stage is ideal for students who have completed Introduction to Entrepreneurship or any of the Tech School programs and wish to convert their findings into
business or social impact initiative.
Students will have the opportunity to pitch to internal and/or external stakeholders.
* Students are expected to attend 5 weeks in a given term.
BUILD A BETTER PROTOTYPE
Students will have full access to the state of the art tech in our STEM hub to create a higher version of their prototype and marketing collateral eg cardboard to laser-cut or 3D printing.
VALIDATE
The program is ideal for those students who are already working on an idea and are keen to run tests to prove their idea has desirability.
Our Alumni
Our Alumni Share their Experiences
Program Outline
Custom support from tech experts to help students develop their business idea.
Higher Fidelity
Prototype
Throughout the term there will be a weekly drop in time for students to visit the Tech School to build their prototype or get support on any aspect of their business. Students need to commit to 5 weeks throughout the term.
Customer
Interviews
Between drop in sessions students are expected to continue working on other parts of their business: eg customer interviews, marketing or surveys that do not require access to hard tech.
Individualised
Support
Each student will have a access to tech school facilitators to provide individualised support. They will be provided with an online workspace where they can get feedback as they progress on their business.
Pitching
Event
Students will have the opportunity to pitch their business idea to internal and external stakeholders at the end of the term or holidays.
Dates
Semester 2
Term 2
@Banyule Nillumbik Tech School | Tues | Start 18 Jul | 4pm to 6pm
@Whittlesea Tech School | Wed | Start 19 Jul | 4pm to 6pm
September Holidays (10am to 2:30pm) Mon-Fri | 4pm to 6pm
Term 3
@Banyule Nillumbik Tech School | Mon | Start 9 Oct | 4pm to 6pm
@Whittlesea Tech School | Thurs | Start 12 Oct | 4pm to 6pm
Dec/Jan Holidays (10am to 2:30pm) Mon-Fri
Student Reviews
Enjoyable
Interesting
New Ideas
Uniqueness
Teacher Reviews
The program allowed them to develop an MVP as they received personalised expert guidance and advice on their business idea. They enjoyed the applied learning experience and gained valuable IT, communication, problem-solving and presentation skills. An overall, great introduction into entrepreneurship that fosters student voice and agency in learning.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Open to all students in our partner network and those in the Government Local Area network.
Parental or school supervision will be required for work shared on online platforms.
The Pre-Accelerator program is suited to those students who have completed the Intro to Entrepreneurship or any other program in the Tech Schools. There are no restrictions on what the idea is: it can be technical, creative, business or mission oriented. It can be product or an online service.
If you are new to entrepreneurship or don’t have a business idea yet we recommend you join our Introduction to Entrepreneurship Program that has much more availability throughout the school year.
When you participate in the program:
- Your will learn critical entrepreneurial and employability skills, such as problem solving, customer centric design, business model development, and branding and presentation skills.
- You will learn about the value proposition map and business model canvas – two important tools used in the startup sector globally.
- Depending on student numbers you may work independently or in teams to design an original product prototype to address a real-world problem.
Workshops will be facilitated by startup experts from the Tech Schools, Melbourne Innovation Centre and mentors from our partners.
Students need to get their parents/guardian and teacher/schools permission before booking. Parents and teachers can use the booking form below to book directly. If you have any issues please use this link to leave a message or get a call back from the Program Manager.
Apart from the minimum 5 week drop ins at the tech school students are expected to continue working on their idea between sessions. Especially finding evidence of desirabiltiy by their customer segement.
In Person
Please click on the book now button and start the form. The most current information about dates is found in the form.
From time to time we may change the offering to reflect demand and other operational reasons. If you’re looking for something outside these dates please click this link for a response or call back by the Program Manager.
Forward this website to the student’s teacher and ask them to book a consultation with the Program Manager at this link to discuss further.
The session will be open from 3:30 and run till 6pm. Students can arrive at any time that is convenient.
Applications open throughout the year. Limited spaces.
Admission into program by application only.