The Canberra Innovation Network welcomed twenty-three small and medium business owners who joined us for our first SME Business Accelerator. Held over two days on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th June, Level 5 was buzzing with ideas, enthusiasm and energy as the accelerator participants worked through a busy schedule of activities. Supported by AusIndustry, the SME Business Accelerator provided participants with ideas to address the growing pains many businesses face.

Day one included an expert panel of Matt Wilson, CEO of Penten, Sylvia Tulloch, CEO, investor and mentor, Harold Dimpel, CEO of Rocket Remit, and Kate Lundy, HonLittD, GAICD who provided insight into their own experiences with Purpose, Goals, Motivation and Growth in their businesses. Participants worked their way through innovation essentials, scaling your business, and introductions to key stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Day two covered funding and venture capital topics, exit strategies, individual business challenges, and building the right team. Michele Troni, CIO of Significant Early Venture Capital, Anne-Marie Perret, investor and mentor, Renee Beerworth, Founder of Spinach Ventures, and James Palmer, COO of Epicorp, inspired the SME founders and CEOs to see the possibilities for funding and future growth.

Having such a diverse range of businesses participating provided an opportunity to create important peer-to-peer connections and shared experiences that would not have been possible without the SME Accelerator. All businesses encounter challenges, and the opportunity to spend time with others going through this, bouncing ideas off each other and uncovering positive, practical solutions can be a lightbulb moment for many.

The feedback from the participants has highlighted the benefit of the SME Business Accelerator businesses in Canberra and the region.

“A great opportunity to network with our local businesses and to take the opportunity to get outside of your day to day running and focus on working on the business instead of in it. Great panels and facilitators with real world experience and a good introduction to the ACT landscape.” – Kurt Gruber, WV Technologies

“The CBRIN staff did an amazing job making us feel supported, connecting us with other amazing business leaders, while also pushing us to imagine and solve the challenges of business growth.” – Hannah Angus, PowerHaus Engineering

“The SM-22 workshop brought together a challenging cross-section of participants who were already establishes in business – some successfully for many years. This creates a totally different dynamic in the room compared with new businesses or startups.” – Harold Dimpel, CEO Rocket Remit

Todd Wright from Threesides Marketing speaks with Dr Craig Davis, GM of Growth for the Canberra Innovation network. See the full LinkedIn post here.

The SME Business Accelerator will run annually, if you would like to get involved, please visit the SME-23 website or contact our SME Director, Duncan Amos.