The Australian eChallenge prepares and nurtures budding entrepreneurs to thrive in an uncertain, dynamic and fluid environment. The program guides participants through the process of creating, developing, assessing and actioning ideas. It provides the tools, interaction opportunities and mentorship needed to begin an entrepreneurial story. Since 2001, more than 7,400 domestic students have successfully completed the program, and we have helped launch 1,103 start-ups, and awarded prizes worth over $3.5 million.
Unique from other similar entrepreneurship programs or competitions, ours is governed by the RITE framework (Relate, Innovate, Test and Expand), developed in-house along Design Thinking principles. The first step in this process, Relate, encapsulates the essence of the program, which is that the entrepreneurial journey is an inside-out, bottom-up approach that starts with the individual. We instil participants with an inductive learning philosophy; that is, the idea that they must harness their own network and human capital to begin.
Throughout the program, participants are exposed to a plethora of opportunities designed to help develop their idea, develop practical entrepreneurial skills and abilities, generate IP, validate the need for their innovation, and build a professional network. One of the distinctive opportunities and potential advantages for participants, creating a potent motivator to excel, is the ability to access our network of incubators that span the globe: Adelaide and Waite in Australia, Singapore, Chalon-en-Champagne in France, and from early 2020 Christchurch, New Zealand.