The latest cohort of La Trobe LaunchPad participants came together on 31 August for a full-day Kick-Off Bootcamp, marking the beginning of their journey through the 12‑week pre‑accelerator program.
Held at the Eagleworks Innovation Centre at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus, the bootcamp brought participants together to build their entrepreneurial foundations, connect with their cohort, and begin developing the skills and mindset needed to take their ideas forward.
LaunchPad is designed for aspiring founders with early-stage, tech-driven ideas, providing the support, skills, and connections they need to explore whether their ideas can become viable and successful businesses.
From an idea to a real opportunity
Over the next 12 weeks, participants will move through the different stages of developing their ventures, with a strong focus on testing ideas rather than simply building them.
The Kick-Off Bootcamp set the baseline for participants to explore the founder mindset, and they were encouraged to look beyond their initial ideas, identify real problems worth solving, and consider what they need to learn from potential customers before moving forward.
This is at the heart of LaunchPad: helping founders replace assumptions with evidence and giving them a structured environment to experiment, learn, and adapt.
Throughout the program, participants will continue developing their understanding of customers and markets, refining their value propositions, and building the business foundations needed to take their ventures further.
Learning from experts and each other
A key part of the LaunchPad experience is creating a strong community that can challenge and strengthen emerging ideas.
Entrepreneurs, business academics and industry specialists were brought together at Kick-Off to share practical insights across business, customer discovery, human-centred design and storytelling.
Participants will continue to draw on this expertise throughout the program, while also learning from the founders around them. Building a cohort community is at the core of the program, creating a space where participants can share challenges, test ideas and learn from different perspectives.
Building towards Lift-Off
The 12-week journey is about giving founders the confidence and capability to take their next steps.
As they progress through LaunchPad, participants will test their assumptions, develop their business models, strengthen their value propositions and work towards communicating their venture through a compelling pitch.
The journey will culminate in LaunchPad Lift-Off, where participants will have the opportunity to pitch their ventures and compete for a $5,000 prize to help put their ideas into action.
For the new cohort, the Kick-Off Bootcamp was more than just the start of a new program. It’s the beginning of a learning journey, with the goal of turning promising ideas into ventures with real potential.
A warm welcome to our new LaunchPad founders, and to the mentors, speakers, and experts who will support them throughout the journey. We’re excited to see the ideas, conversations and connections that will emerge over the next 12 weeks – and to see where this new cohort takes their ventures.
The journey has just begun.
Missed out on this cohort?
Join the waiting list for the next La Trobe LaunchPad cohort and be the first to hear when applications open.
Whether you’re already working on a tech-driven idea or have a problem you’re ready to solve, LaunchPad can help you take the next step towards turning your idea into a venture.
