Mentor & Investor Network
Mentorship is an incredibly powerful part of a founder’s journey and can take many forms.
As a key part of Canberra Innovation Network’s mission, we connect a wide range of mentors & investors with relevant experience to entrepreneurs with the goal of empowering those entrepreneurs to have more impact.
Chat to us today to join the network and support businesses of the future.
For Mentors
Engaging as a mentor is flexible and driven by your capacity, expertise and interests. Mentoring can look like different things, some of the ways we offer engagement include:
We help facilitate introductions where we think there are synergies between your experience and the founder’s challenges and opportunities. This provides a flexible way of meeting potential mentees and understanding what options are available to engage with founders.
Immerse yourself in the world of a hackathon! Meet with emerging talent, help prospective entrepreneurs build skills and be rewarded with a new and energizing experience. The Canberra Innovation Network facilitates hackathons with corporate sponsors across a number of sectors including AI, space, manufacturing and arts.
Meet other enthusiastic mentors in the Canberra ecosystem, learn from peers and share experiences.
Work with a group of experienced mentors to accelerate a cohort of ambitious startups in our annual Griffin Accelerator program.
Be part of a focused session with a progressed business to help them work through specific challenges and opportunities in an intensive session. These are incredibly rewarding and offer the chance to make a huge impact in a short amount of time.
Leverage your experience and business knowledge and participate as part of an independent panel to help select companies for programs (e.g. Innovation Connect Grant).
Reach out to the Growth Team to discuss how to get involved.
Benefits of being a mentor
Meet ambitious and purpose driven entrepreneurs with interesting projects
Join and contribute to the growing innovation community here in Canberra
Get new insights from your mentoring experience
Be invited to exclusive events, including Mentor Networking and the Canberra Investor Showcase
About You
You enjoy working with passionate founders and engaging in new problems and opportunities;
You’re trustworthy, honest, and respectful;
You’re looking to empower and inspire entrepreneurs; and
You have experience and knowledge relevant to start-ups and innovation.
Guiding Values of Mentoring
For Investors
Whether you’re a seasoned mentor or just interested in finding out more, we are available to discuss how you can engage with Canberra companies looking to raise capital.
Book in a chat with our Growth Programs Manager to discuss how we might be able to facilitate a connection.
We also recommend visiting the Capital Angels website to find out more about the Angel investing network in Canberra.
Please note that the Canberra Innovation Network does not provide financial advice and you are advised that investment in early-stage businesses carries high risks. It is highly speculative, and before investing, you are strongly advised to make independent enquiries and take appropriate professional advice.
FAQs
Is Mentoring a paid service?
The Canberra Innovation Network offers mentoring introductions as a free service. We do not facilitate paid mentors and are seeking mentors who are willing to meet with an entrepreneur free of charge to establish whether you are the right person to assist with their business challenge / opportunity. Any renumeration for additional help must be agreed upon upfront and in writing between yourself and the mentee.
Do I need to formally commit to a set number of mentoring sessions?
There is no upfront commitment – certain programs including hackathons and the GRIFFIN Accelerator have set dates and commitment levels which can be discussed.
I’d like to promote my services through the Canberra Innovation Network, how can I do this?
The Canberra Innovation Network is supplier agnostic and encourages founders to research available services and solutions to find the best fit for their needs. If you’d like to network with founders, we encourage you to come along to our networking events: https://cbrin.com.au/fwc/
Stay up to date
Subscribe to our quarterly mentor newsletter to stay in touch and up to date with relevant mentor connections, events and opportunities.
Looking for a Mentor or Investor?
If you are a founder looking to connect with a mentor or investor, please book an intro meeting to find out more. We encourage founders to understand their needs (including funding), consider strengths and where you need help with to get the most out of a mentor.
Testimonials
Debbie Saunders
Sylvia Tulloch brings her extensive expertise in deep technology and global businesses and has provided those of us at Wildlife Drones with invaluable support, guidance and wisdom throughout our startup journey. When seeking her advice, we always come away with at least triple the insights that we were expecting to gain. She is a delight to work with and we look forward to continuing to work with her well into the future
Paul Jenkins
If you are fortunate enough to have Lyndal Thorburn as a mentor, you will grow as an entrepreneur without question. Lyndal quickly identifies your strengths and encourages them, while giving you the systems and advice to work on your blindspots
Craig Benson
Skykraft is fortunate to have the support of expert mentors and advisors, chief among whom is Anne-Marie Perret. Anne-Marie has been an ongoing supporter and champion of Skykraft’s Satellite Constellation business from the early days, including as a long-term Director. Her astute judgement and strong teamwork are treasured by the company.
Tina McIntosh
Tim Hirst is a veteran of the startup world and his experience with capital raising and finding alternate sources of revenue has been key to the success of our company. He’s also one of the smartest and kindest people I know.
Dr Catherine Galvin
We are incredibly grateful to have Harry as a mentor for Viortec. His expertise in finance and business has been instrumental in shaping our business structure and strategy. Harry’s responsiveness, patience, and thorough explanations have been invaluable to us. We highly recommend Harry as a mentor and look forward to continuing to work with him. Thank you, Harry, for your unwavering support!
Feedback
We value your feedback! Learning from customers is crucial, whether it’s a compliment, comment or complaint.
It’s really important for us to know what we’re doing well and what we can improve on.
If you have feedback on any of our programs or your user experience, please let us know.