Startup Catalyst: Your ticket to the Silicon Valley

Are you interested in visiting Silicon Valley? Or learning about the startup scenes in London, Berline, Israel or Asia?

Founded in 2014 by Steve Baxter (Shark Tank, investor), Startup Catalyst takes groups of youths, startups, investors, corporates, and innovation leaders to international startup hotspots including Silicon Valley, Europe, Israel, and Asia with the goal of transforming the startup and innovation landscape in Australia.

Their flagship program is the Youth Mission, where every year they take twenty young (18-29) tech-savvy, high-achieving Australians on a fully-sponsored two-week mission to Silicon Valley. Applications are invited from around Australia, and are selected for their potential to be Australia’s next batch of globally successful tech entrepreneurs. Over the past 2 years they have taken 40 youths on these missions.

During the Mission the participants spend considerable time with tech giants including Facebook, Google, and Apple, plus a range of startups, investors, and accelerator programs, and also participate in a Startup Weekend where they form teams and work alongside local Silicon Valley residents.

The next Youth Mission is scheduled for 13-25 November 2016. Online applications are currently open until 9 October 2016, from which shortlisted applicants will be interviewed. They are looking for 20 technically-skilled (software, UI/UX design, mechatronics, robotics, etc) youths (18-29) who have demonstrated leadership potential and an interest in entrepreneurship.

The CEO of Startup Catalyst is in Perth to deliver this session. Aaron is also an Entrepreneur In Residence for the muru-D accelerator program in Brisbane, an angel investor, and a startup founder, with four successful exits.