Day: December 21, 2022

Melbourne, Australia – Draper Startup House, a global network of spaces connected to resources for entrepreneurs, opened its first Australia location in Melbourne in partnership with student accommodation provider, Y Suites, on 30th November.

“This collaboration with Draper Startup House and Y Suites is the first of its kind in the world – to turn a private student accommodation space into a startup incubator,” said Vikram Bharati, founder and CEO of Draper Startup House. “This is significant because the student ecosystem will now have the ability to build businesses while they are studying in university. Hopefully many of these students will become employers and create jobs when they graduate. This is a new model for economic development for the city of Melbourne, and we are very excited to contribute to the community with our efforts.”

The facility provides the university students of Melbourne with a global network of resources and a vast startup ecosystem to tap into while they are studying. Draper Startup House’s considerations for entering the market were the Australian Government’s support of tech ecosystems and industry collaborations through initiatives by institutional bodies such as Startup Victoria and FinTech Australia, and agreements such as the Australia-Singapore FinTech Bridge Agreement.

James Goh Wee Shian, General Manager of Y Suites, said, “With the development of Australia as a regional tech hub as well as a major education hub, this partnership is well positioned to leverage on the incredibly talented pool of international and domestic students. [The partnership] will seek to achieve [the vision of a world-class technological hub] in four distinct ways, as encapsulated by the acronym, ‘ACES.’ We will serve as an anchor hub for community events, collaborate with all stakeholders and start-ups, engage stakeholders to understand their needs and build truly meaningful programs and partnerships, and support start-ups through fundings, resources, networks and other channels.”

The launch was supported by Melbourne-based education technology company HEX, a partner of Draper Startup House and portfolio company of Draper Startup House Ventures.

Draper Startup House Melbourne is located at 183 A’Beckett Street, in Melbourne’s North-Central city area, and joins a network of 31 other Draper Startup House locations throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania. Interested parties can visit draperstartuphouse.com for more information.