Photo by Carmen Zammit.

Study Melbourne Future Founders Venture Scholarships for international student founders of a new or early-stage business awarded at State Library Victoria's StartSpace

Study Melbourne announced the winners of the 2022 Future Founders Venture Scholarships, who will each receive $10,000 in scholarship funding and a six-week StartSpace Loft membership, which includes exclusive one-on-one coaching and mentoring opportunities.

The Study Melbourne Future Founders Venture Scholarship program is the only international student-focused initiative that provides seed funding for entrepreneurship ventures.

Meet the winning scholars and ventures

Selected from a strong pool of applicants, these eight future founders stood out for their ambitious and sustainable ideas and a clear understanding of their target market, problems there are solving, and progress to date. They are; 

Phycoforms  — a biodegradable range of architectural materials derived from the residues of harvested seaweed and other locally available waste resources.This innovative material was also designed to have a significantly lower embodied energy compared to the existing materials.

• Shimroth John Thomas (Shim)

KIDO PAINT —  a new framework/app combining artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) algorithms and techniques to َAUTOMATICALLY turn 2D drawings into entertaining 3D augmented reality animations that can be watched in real world.

• Safiollah Heidari (Safi)

Deckle —  a point-based mobile app to connect friends and allow users to join together to create ‘work groups’. Here, when a friend completes a task or starts a new course, their status will be updated on the group and in turn would allow other friends to give each other support.

• Li Ze Cheng Lexon (Lex)

Untwine —  a unique material/product/service/system solution aimed at eliminating single-use packaging waste in food and beverage industries, starting with the Australian wine industry. The Untwine bottle is 50% lighter and 25% smaller than regular glass bottles. They are sleek, modern, and refillable.

• Joseph Oliver Yap (Joseph)

Matcha Bae —  a modern premium ceremonial grade Japanese Matcha Tea and Accessories Brand. Our goal is to be the one stop shop for all premium quality organic matcha products globally whether it be drinks, snacks or skincare by 2024. Matcha is also an excellent alternative to coffee and is made with leaves of the Japanese Green Tea plant that is shade grown and granite stone ground resulting in excellent nutrient retention and 137 times more antioxidants than normal green tea.

• Aishwarya Kansakar (Ash)
• Jaideep Upadyay (Jai)

Soyful —  engages with the circular and creative economy by innovatively upcycling okara (soybean pulp) into flour. Soyful wants Australians to find joy in okara, a traditionally Asian ingredient, through familiar western pantry staples starting with okara flour and easy-to-bake brownie mixes.

• Shamira Aviella (Shamira)
• Xin Yong Tan (Michelle)

Curatorial Collective (CC) —  a social enterprise visioning to promote cultural inclusion by bringing in diverse artistic talents to contribute to the community through creative programs. We produce Asian culture-focused projects, e.g., exhibitions, workshops, festivals, for public institutions.

• Chun Wai Yeung ( Wilson)
• Hey Juny Yoon (Kelly)
• Wai Yee Lee (Katherine)

Vimi — a fully integrated workflow platform that manages a client from scoping out their video brief, booking a shoot at their preferred location, editing services allowing customers to provide requests for editing in real-time on the video, to the successful delivery of the final product.    Our product opens up a brand-new market allowing customers to get affordable agency-level videography quality for only $500.

• Jill E Tan (Jil)
• Daniel Wei Han Tei (Daniel)
• Nataneal Yan Setiwan (Nathan)

The Future Founders Program is part of the Study Melbourne Empowered Series.  one of their free events and programs to build job readiness skills, discover new experiences, make new friends, and build international student networks.

StartSpace is a startup community for people starting out on their business development journey. Operating across two spaces in the Ideas Quarter at State Library Victoria, in the centre of Melbourne. The ground floor has space for 125 members at a time, with the paid StartSpace Loft area available for up to 48 members.

Find out more about how we can help you with StartSpace membership, as well as available facilities and opening hours of our spaces.

PHOTO: Top row from left to right: Wai Yee Lee, Hye Jung Yoon, Li Ze Cheng Lexon, Xin Yong Tan, Shimroth Thomas, Joseph Oliver Yap, Jil E Tan, Daniel Wei Han Tan, Natanael Yan Setiawan. Bottom row from left to right: Safiollah Heidari, Shamira Aviella, Mr. Steve Dimopoulos MP, Sarah Slade, Chun Wai Yeung, Aishwarya Kansakar, Jaideep Upadhyay. 

Article originally published by Study Melbourne, March 2022