Skip to menu Skip to content Skip to footer
News

Business ideas can bloom in the garden of ilab

1 October 2014
Decorative
ilab Germinate 2012 graduate Mr Calvin Kowald from Ample Entertainment.

Budding entrepreneurs can grow their business ideas from seed, with ilab’s intensive three-month ilab Germinate 6 program, which includes up to $20,000 in funding.

Innovators, trailblazers and trendsetters can apply for the Queensland Government-supported program created and delivered by ilab operating as a division of UniQuest, The University of Queensland’s commercialisation arm.

Successful applicants will receive up to $20,000 funding and training, mentorship, and support from experienced entrepreneurs and investor networks to help grow their idea into a start-up company.

ilab director Bernie Woodcroft said ilab supports technology companies through the most important startup phases of development, making sure their market matches their product idea and establishing their business fundamentals.

“Some of our Germinate program alumni include Academic Karma, which is transforming academic paper peer review processes globally; HireHive, a company linking film makers to expensive idle equipment and Cartesian Co, a group creating electronic circuit-board printers.

“The program’s intensive nature allows entrepreneurs to interact with likeminded people and gain a high level of business knowledge to further their ideas.”

Since opening in 2000, ilab has incubated more than 140 start-up companies and helped them raise grants and investments worth more than $80 million to fund their growth.

Applications for Germinate 6 close at midnight on 12 October 2014. To register visit www.ilab.com.au. Eligible ideas must be underpinned by digital technology.

A three-day boot camp will run from 31 October 2014 for shortlisted startups and winners will be invited to participate in Germinate 6 from late November 2014 to the end of February 2015.

Media: ilab Director Bernie Woodcroft, 3365 4037 or 0402 893 117 bernie.woodcroft@ilab.com.au

Watch The Germinate Program - ilab Accelerator on YouTube.

About ilab

www.ilab.com.au

ilab was established by the Queensland Government in 2000 to support early stage, high-tech companies through the first few years of development by building business management capabilities, fostering mentor networks, creating investor-ready companies, and graduating companies with increased chances of success. ilab has incubated more than 140 start-up companies and helped them raise more than $80m in grant and investment capital to fund growth and generate almost 800 technology jobs. The University of Queensland’s UQ Holdings Pty Ltd acquired ilab in 2009.

Related articles

Cropped shot of person sitting at table with open laptop holding and reviewing financial documents
Analysis

Thinking about refinancing your mortgage? Check these 3 things before calling the bank

For home owners, making sure you’re on a competitive interest rate hasn’t been this important to your household budget in years.
4 November 2026
Aerial view of a rural landscape with green agricultural fields, wooded areas, a lake and a small town.

A new way to navigate tough land and water use decisions

An open-source software tool to help find a sweet spot between competing environmental and development demands has been launched by University of Queensland researchers.
4 November 2026

Media contact

Subscribe to UQ News

Get the latest from our newsroom.