Writing

When I first met Mariam Succar, she was knee-deep in allergy research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne. Her days were spent analysing data and chasing down molecular patterns.

When I caught up with Akiko Orui, she was in motion. Fresh into a master’s in fintech in Singapore, working remotely with an Australian startup and spending weekends in an entrepreneurship bootcamp.

When Lisa Thomson joined the Female Founder Bootcamp, she already had something brewing. An idea that started (as most good ones do) from a problem close to home, literally.

GreenPay: a payments platform built on a deceptively simple idea: what if every transaction, every coffee, every invoice, every energy bill, every online checkout, could help protect nature?

The new structure introduces Stream Leads, experienced founders who’ve lived the journey themselves, to guide startups through tailored 12-week programs focused on AI, hardware, B2B & Consumer.

“Spend your days talking to customers, mentors, anyone who’ll give feedback. Build at night. You’ll absorb so much more wisdom that way.”

Geoff often introduces founders to the concept of “revealed preference”, the gap between what people say they want and what they actually do.

If there’s one theme that runs through Tom’s mentorship, it’s this: stay obsessed with your customer, not your tech.

Everything you need to know before applying to Startmate — from who we fund, to how we pick, to what you actually get out of the program.

Marcus is the founder of Ninja AI, an AI-powered inbox that doesn’t just help you write emails; it actually does the work inside them.