Curtin University\u2019s Ignition program continues to grow with 54 of Western Australia\u2019s most exciting entrepreneurs registering to participate in the 2014 event, which launches in Perth on Sunday, 31 August.<\/p>\n
Since its inception in 2011, Ignition has become an annual highlight of the Australasian innovation event calendar.\u00a0 The program allows budding entrepreneurs to come together for an intense week of learning and collaboration, with the purpose of turning innovative ideas into commercial reality.<\/p>\n
Jane Garrett, Ignition Program Director said the program was a unique and proven entrepreneurial learning program taking participants through a disciplined, intensive process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program enables entrepreneurs to firstly validate their business concepts, then to build the basis of a business plan and a funding proposition, all in one week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s program, which runs from August 31 to September 5, features a who\u2019s who from the start-up, investment and innovation community in Perth, and beyond. This is reflected by the quality of applicants we have received and the awards some of the program\u2019s alumni have achieved. We were inundated with applications to the 2014 program\u201d, Ms Garrett said.<\/p>\n
Ignition is an initiative of the Curtin Centre for Entrepreneurship. It is based on the successful Ignite program, managed and delivered by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School\u2019s Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning.<\/p>\n
The long-term aim of the Curtin Ignition Program is to help broaden the Western Australian and ultimately Australian economic base, to drive growth, new business activity and employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vision is for WA to be a leader in facilitating entrepreneurial ingenuity and energy. Much the same as the Program has done for Cambridge in the UK, which is now referred to as Silicon Fen<\/i>, the Silicon Valley of Europe,\u201d Ms Garrett said<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Curtin Ignition Program will be the fourth. In the preceding three years, there has already been evidence that the Program is aiding in the diversification of the WA economy, assisting employment and improving innovation knowledge.<\/p>\n
The businesses of Ignition delegates created 65 new roles from 2011 to 2012, while the 2013 group predicted $11 million of projected revenue would be generated over the next two to three years.<\/p>\n