About
Since 2015, the Innovation & Collaboration Centre has supported early-stage startups through providing workspace, mentoring and funding. Read more about our staff and our startups.
Programs
The Innovation & Collaboration Centre is home to Venture Catalyst and the state's first space incubator program Venture Catalyst Space. These programs are designed to help founders start their business.
Deputy Director: Business Incubation
Craig is an accomplished professional with a diverse background in business development, complex project leadership and international relations.
As the Deputy Director of Business Incubation at the University of South Australia, he plays a crucial role in exploring innovative approaches to enhance business practices and developing programs to support entrepreneurs in delivering economic growth in South Australia.
Craig boasts a diverse skill set that spans various industries and domains. His professional journey includes spearheading international relations and operational delivery at prominent events such as the Olympics and the World Economic Forum. Known for his exceptional ability to build teams and cultivate relationships, Craig possesses a natural talent for unlocking the potential of individuals he encounters. His unwavering passion for driving innovation makes him an ideal catalyst for change within the Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) at UniSA. One of Craig's core strengths lies in his leadership skills, enabling startups to flourish within this vibrant ecosystem.
Driven by a desire to create meaningful impact and foster innovation, Craig is using his extensive experience and diverse skill set to deliver the ICC's mission to promote and support business growth on a global scale.
Beyond his professional achievements, Craig also possesses a surprising talent in the culinary arts. He is known for baking remarkable biscuits, a testament to his multifaceted nature and attention to detail.
Program Manager
As Program Manager: Business Incubation at the ICC, Ben is responsible for the Venture Catalyst Program and loves supporting the team to foster business success.
Through his years of experience in management and operations in both commercial and not-for-profit businesses, Ben understands the challenges that entrepreneurs face. He has an energy and enthusiasm for innovation and aspiration and loves to see startups and entrepreneurs at the ICC develop, grow and succeed.
As Director and CEO of an English language college during the Covid19 pandemic, Ben showed his ability to be strategic, flexible and most importantly, supportive of both his staff and students. He was then called upon to take a new international pathways college from business plan to full operations at a large Australian university, honing his project management skills and proving his aptitude in building lasting and productive relationships.
Ben started as an English language teacher and has travelled around the world. He loves meeting people from different backgrounds and recognises how important diversity is in fostering innovation and creating successful teams. He is the brewer of several award winning beers, the grower of exceptionally hot chillies, and is always up for a chat.
Marketing, Communications and Projects
Marketing and Events Support Officer
Lucie joined the team in 2024 as Marketing and Events Support Officer
She previously worked at UniSA’s futuristic museum of discovery MOD. as a marketing officer. She currently freelances in the areas of copywriting, social media, and content creation.
Digital Officer
Candice joined the ICC team in 2023 as digital marketing support.
She previously worked with the Student Mobility team and the People, Talent and Culture unit to help create various marketing collateral, update old content, and create new webpages to assist current and future staff. During that time, she was able to work with the Communications and Marketing unit and learn more about marketing within the University.
Candice specialises in graphic and web design, and has great interest in photography, video editing, and game design.
Administration and Project Officer
Didi Yang joined the ICC team in August 2022 and provides administration and project support.
Didi previously worked for UniSA Ventures, UniSA's technology translation, commercialisation, investment and intellectual property management company.
Marketing Lead
Returning Q1 2025
Georgia brings a passion for writing and storytelling to her role as the Marketing Lead for UniSA’s ICC.
Georgia’s ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders is based on her experience working in the corporate, not-for-profit and higher education sectors. She specialises in managing both proactive and reactive media enquiries, creative PR campaigns, proofing and editing, corporate communications, and brand and marketing management.
More than eight years working in communications roles has seen Georgia greatly develop her flair for writing and editing and hone her passion for exceptional customer service and attention to detail.
Her ability to write for different mediums and audiences has seen Georgia’s content published in sectors including aged-care, local government, sport, not-for-profit, health, business and research.
Georgia manages the ICC’s marketing team and loves to keep the office spirits high.
Marketing and Events Support Officer
Returning Q1 2025
Fiona brings over nine years’ experience working as a marcomms professional across brands with both national and international reach.
Her visual communications training has seen her work a number of blended, hands on roles within the marketing and graphic design space. It has also allowed her to develop a strong attention to detail and keen eye in the production of both written and visual marketing materials. Fiona has a keen passion for brand management and has been involved in several rebrands throughout her career.
She has worked on assisting in delivering a broad range of events from corporate to larger public sporting feature events.
The ICC operates as part of UniSA’s award-winning Enterprise Hub.
As well as hosting the ICC, its startups and residents, the Enterprise Hub is home to UniSA’s high-performance business development teams specialising across 13 key industry sectors, and research commercialisation expertise delivering commercial assessment, IP advice and protection, technology licencing, capital raising and spin-out company formation.
This conglomerate of acceleration and incubation expertise, specialist business development, and research commercialisation make the Enterprise Hub a collaboration powerhouse, nurturing partnerships with more than 2,500 companies worldwide on more than 500 research projects from a wide range of industry sectors.
From startups to multi-nationals, these partnerships operate in a disruptive environment impacted by global health challenges, technological leaps, economic uncertainty, and climate change.
UniSA’s Australian Centre for Business Growth (AUCBG) delivers world-class business growth programs that provide executives with the knowledge and skills to develop as leaders, accelerate company growth and compete in a global marketplace. In 2024, the ICC partnered with AUCBG for delivery of a customised Growth Ramp program for space startups ready to scale.
Match Studio is a dynamic and non-traditional research and learning space where UniSA’s teaching and research expertise is combined with real-world, industry-linked projects with a range of industry, government and not-for-profit clients. It creates the right environment for knowledge exchange so that industry and business can identify and articulate a challenge or a problem, and work with a purpose-built interdisciplinary team with the right mix of skills.
UniSA’s Future Industries Institute (FII) focuses on building knowledge and capacity in core future industries and develops the University’s internationally competitive research capacity across four key strands: Minerals and resources engineering, Energy and advanced manufacturing, Environmental science and engineering, and Biomaterials engineering and nanomedicine.
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science focuses on building knowledge and capacity in core future industries and develops the University’s internationally competitive research capacity across four key strands: Minerals and resources engineering, Energy and advanced manufacturing, Environmental science and engineering, and Biomaterials engineering and nanomedicine.
“When we joined the Venture Catalyst program, it just took our name out there and put it into the global domain.”
– Harrison Box, Venture Catalyst Space participant
“Venture Catalyst has been a great entry point for us to get into Australia.
– Migel Tissera, Venture Catalyst Space participant
“Failures and setbacks have taught me much, so learn to fail fast and fail gracefully.
– Ethan Tan, ICC Industry Expert
“Expertise informs what should be done; experience guides how to get it done. Access to both will accelerate your start-up’s journey."
– Nigel O'Neill, ICC Industry Expert
“Grow your network. It’s about who you know and a global mindset. Just because it may be new or not work out locally, doesn’t mean it hasn't already been conceived elsewhere - there could be opportunities to find new connections and collaborate.”
– Stephanie Wan, ICC Industry Expert
Monday to Friday................8am to 5pm
Weekend & public holidays.....closed
Adelaide
Enterprise Hub, 9 Light Square (building access via Philip St)
Adelaide, SA 5000
(08) 8302 7368
Regional
UniSA Building L/111 Nicolson Ave
Whyalla Norrie, SA 5608
(08) 8302 7368
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