Pop, rock & deep tech 🎶🤘🧬
Hey Olivia,
From Lime Cordiale’s farm to international defence showcases, UNSW startups are earning recognition that matches their capability. From breakthroughs in health and sustainability to tools supporting mental wellbeing, the momentum speaks for itself.
💡 September’s First Thursdays with Paul Wenham sparked big conversations about scaling without VC. In October, we turn our sights to quantum - more on that down below👇
Here’s what not to miss: 🧪 Impact X Pre-Accelerator – Apps close 19 Sept 🏆 Peter Farrell Cup Finals – 25 Sept, Roundhouse (just 8 days away!) 💡 First Thursdays in collaboration with Quantum Australia – 2 Oct 📋 Workshops – from company registration to no-code builds, content strategy, and founder vitality 🌏 Diversity Week Panels – Not Done Yet: Protecting Inclusion + Gender Equity Isn’t a Panel Topic – It’s a Strategy
Scroll for founder wins, global headlines, and the programs shaping Australia’s startup future ⬇️
Cheers ✌️,
Kristen Phillips,
Senior Manager (Ideas)
UNSW Founders
Words by Dr. Kate Gwynne, Practical AI Program Manager at UNSW Founders What’s the real value of a sovereign LLM? And what does Australia actually need to lead in AI?
Kate unpacks the standout moments from “Australia’s AI Ecosystem,” a packed event hosted by DSAi and UNSW Founders. From open-source rivals to what sovereignty really means, this op-ed explores how Australia can shape an AI future on its own terms.
🏥✨ Expressions of Interest Open
This is a one-day event for bold thinkers in health and medicine. Bring your ideas, and with mentor support, develop innovative, sustainable solutions to revolutionise healthcare.
Compete for a share of $3,500 in cash prizes while shaping the future of medicine.
📅 Save the Date for 16 Oct 📝 Express your interest before 26 Sept
👥 Open to Faculty of Medicine & Health members and affiliated MRIs (individuals or teams).
Build Health Solutions That Reach the Margins
Applications are open for Impact X, our pre-accelerator for founders tackling unmet health needs in marginalised communities. Whether you're prototyping a disability innovation or a wellbeing tool for migrant families, we’ll help you refine your solution and reach those who need it most.
This year includes a new $10,000 Roseus Scholarship for a migrant or refugee woman innovator, supported by TGI and JEINA.
📅 Applications close 19 September at 5pm AEST 🧪 Workshops start 1 October
📅 Tues, 23 Sept | ⏰ 2:00 – 3:30 PM AEST | 📍 MCIC Kens
Feel like you’re already behind before the day begins? You’re not alone. Join Performance & Vitality Coach Sabina Sulovsky for this science-backed session on how to optimise your day with just three simple daily habits. Learn to boost energy, sharpen focus, and build a blueprint for sustainable performance at uni, work, and beyond.
Register now to take control of your energy.
📆 Thurs, 18 Sept, 3:00 - 4:30 PM 📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
Got a big idea but no idea how to build it? This hands-on workshop shows you how to turn your concept into a working digital prototype without writing a single line of code.
You’ll learn to use powerful No Code tools to design user flows, build prototypes, test ideas with users, and join a growing community of makers on campus.
Stick around after the workshop for the first ever No Code Builders & Testers Meetup > meet other makers, see what they’ve built, and help us crown the winners of our Test-the-Thing competition over 🍕 and 🍷.
📆 Wed, 24 Sept | 5:00 - 7:00 PM | 📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
Startups often delay content strategy but great founders know it’s about more than just marketing. In this candid session, award-winning tech journalist Seamus Byrne shares how blogs, newsletters and social media can build long-term credibility and community from day one.
Perfect for founders, side-hustlers and anyone building in public.
📆 Thurs, 18 Sept | ⏰ 4:30 – 6:30 PM | 📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
Celebrate the end of the Start Something with No Code series and connect with the UNSW maker community at our first ever No Code Builders & Testers Meetup. We'll showcase the finalists from the Test-the-Thing challenge, announce the winners, and open the floor to good chats, pizza, and drinks.
Whether you built something or just want to meet fellow no-code creatives, all are welcome.
📆 Mon, 22 Sept | ⏰ 6:00 – 8:00 PM | 📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
Part of UNSW’s Diversity Festival, this edition of Disrupted explores how diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM can withstand political and institutional pressures.
Hosted by Professor Bronwyn Fox AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise), with panelists Wendy Wong and Helena Ng, the session dives into:
Protecting inclusion in a volatile, polarised environment.
The role of universities in holding the line.
Ensuring research and startups reflect the communities they serve.
Fast-paced, audience-driven Q&A.
Bold, informed, and unafraid to ask what’s next.
📆 Mon, 22 Sep | ⏰ 10:0 AM - 11:30 AM| 📍MCIC
Join us for morning tea and a thought-provoking panel on why gender equity must be a core strategy, not a symbolic gesture. Held during UNSW Diversity Festival, this event brings together founders, researchers and operators to explore what real progress looks like and how we get there. Hear from speakers across VC, research, and industry, including Bronwyn Graham, Noga Edelstein, and Beste Onay.
Thurs, 25 Sept | 5:00 – 8:00 PM |📍 Roundhouse, UNSW Kens It’s here, the 25th Anniversary of the Peter Farrell Cup!
Join the biggest celebration of student innovation at UNSW as our top founders go head-to-head for startup glory.
What’s happening: 🚀 High-energy pitches from UNSW’s boldest startups 🏆 Judges' picks, People’s Choice voting and $100K in prizes 🎉 25 years of impact wrapped in one electric night 🥂 Food, drinks and networking with the startup crowd
Whether you're in it for the ideas, the energy or the inspiration, Finals Night is where it all comes together. Come celebrate, connect and cheer on the next generation of innovators.
🗓️ Thurs, 2 October | 🕓 4:00 – 7:00 PM |📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
We’re teaming up with Quantum Australia to bring two powerhouse speakers to the stage:
🔹 David Reilly – Co-founder of Emergence Quantum, ex-Microsoft Quantum 🔹 Christina Giarmatzi – Quantum scientist, Macquarie University
Together, they’ll unpack what quantum computing really is, why Australia’s at the forefront, and how lab breakthroughs become startup opportunities.
Come curious. Stay for the networking. Refreshments provided.
🗓️ Thurs, 16 Oct | 🕥 10:30 – 12:30 PM |📍Warwick Farm
A powerful morning celebrating the voices shaping Western Sydney’s future, featuring trailblazing leaders including:
🌸 Dai Le MP (Federal Member for Fowler) 🌹 Amanda Rose (Founder, Western Sydney Women) 🌼 Maryam Zahid (Founder, Afghan Women on the Move) 🌷 Moderated by Julie Pham (UNSW Founders)
Expect real stories of resilience, leadership and impact. Open to all. Free, family-friendly, and catered.
📆Fri, 3–5 October | all weekend |📍 MCIC, UNSW Kens
A 46-hour challenge to build the worst, weirdest, and most wonderful ideas imaginable – think blinking-only cameras, Vegemite fudge, and soleless jandals. No experience needed. Just bring your imagination, bad judgment, and a questionable sense of taste.
🧃🍕 We'll provide the food, you bring the chaos and your weirdest but completely legal build materials.
Maker Night is your weekly chance to get hands-on, build cool stuff, and meet fellow creators. Whether you’re prototyping hardware, tinkering with tech, or just curious, come hang out, use the tools, and bring your ideas to life. No experience needed, just show up and make something.
New here? See directions 👉 VISIT US
⚡️Coach & Connect
Available for FREE to all UNSW staff, students and alumni with a bright idea for a new startup, or an already established business.
From developing an idea, building a business model, raising capital to merely exploring entrepreneurship, we’re here to help! LEARN MORE 👀
💪 Whether it's learning to code, building a prototype, designing a new product or merely learning a new creative skill, our team at the Makerspace & MCIC have something for you. We are always pulling together exciting workshops & short courses to help you learn and grow.
Explore the latest workshops now! 🗺️
📚 GENE1500 (6 UoC | Undergraduate) Explore the foundations of entrepreneurship through hands-on learning. Validate a problem, recruit a team, prototype solutions, and pitch your startup. Develop real-world skills in business model design, experimentation, and customer feedback while earning course credit.
📚 ZZBU6103 (6 UoC | Postgraduate) Dive into entrepreneurship and innovation by identifying real-world problems and designing solutions for market needs. Learn to apply Customer Discovery, Business Model Canvas, and persuasive storytelling to bring your ideas to life.
🔗 Learn More & Enrol to Earn credits while building the future! 🚀
🌍 CIRCO Challenge: Circular Design Sprint
UNSW students are invited to take part in a one-day innovation sprint to redesign products, services and systems for a more sustainable future. Run in partnership with Planet Ark, the CIRCO Challenge applies circular economy principles to real-world problems.
📆 Fri, 17 Oct | 🕘 9am – 5:30pm | 📍 Teaching Commons, Dalton Building 🥪 Lunch included | 🏆 Prizes on offer 🔗 Register now via Humanitix
Careers with Impact: Pathways That Matter Join UNSW Employability for an afternoon of inspiration, insight and industry connection. Learn how to align your values with your career goals, meet change-making employers (including Charopy), and hear from impact leaders like 10x alum Tom Dawkins.
📅 Wednesday, 1 October 🕒 From 3:00pm 📍 John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW Kensington
🔗 Apply for the panel (3:00–4:30pm) 🔗 Register for the showcase (4:30–6:00pm)
Pitch Your Health Breakthrough Applications are open for Challenger Pitch for Health — a national showcase of breakthrough health research, co-hosted by Proto Axiom and St Vincent’s Curran Foundation. Selected teams will pitch to an audience of investors, industry partners, and healthcare leaders in March 2026. 🔬 Health founders and researchers encouraged to apply. 🔗 More info + apply: https://www.protoaxiom.com/applications/challenger
The Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) is unlocking new ways to accelerate Australia’s clean tech and circular economy through training, funding and industry exchange. Whether you're upskilling, seeking R&D support or curious about working across the research–industry boundary, there’s something here for you:
➡️ Upskill for the Net Zero Future 📚
TRaCE’s online courses are tailored for researchers and professionals who want to deepen their skills in clean energy, recycling, and commercialisation — from renewable fuels to patents and battery innovation.
💡 Not sure where to start? Some courses are free, so you can test the waters before committing. 🔗 Explore the course catalogue
➡️ Matched Funding: R&D Voucher Program 💰
Got an industry partner lined up? TRaCE’s R&D Voucher Program offers up to $50,000 in matched funding for commercialisation-focused research projects. Limited spots are available for 2025. Encourage your partners to apply now.
📄 EOI form and FAQs 📬 Email submissions to: hello@trace.org.au
➡️ Mobility Fellowships: Work Across Research & Industry 🤝
The TRACE Mobility Fellowship Program funds salary or travel costs to support industry-university exchange:
- Researchers can embed with companies 🧑🔬🏢
- Industry staff can work in university labs 🏫🔬
- Short-term travel for commercialisation activities is supported ✈️🌱
🔗 Learn more 📩 Express interest: hello@trace.org.au