The GAP BLITZ Program is a fresh take on accelerating commercialisation, facilitated by the legendary Joanne Jacobs and Gavin Heaton from Disruptors Co, and hosted by CSIRO's Lindfield Collaboration Hub: CSIRO's Deep Tech Incubator in Lindfield, Sydney.

During the 12 week program, 12 startups dove deep into the heart of their business and developed a personalised plan to push through barriers to growth.

On Tuesday 7 May 2024, these teams will tell the story of their journey; where they started, where the journey took them, what were the unexpected findings, and their plans for what’s next.

How did we get here?

We’ve invited ecosystem stalwarts Mike Nicholls, Partner at Main Sequence Ventures, Joanne Jacobs, Co-CEO of Disruptors Co, and Katie Green, General Manager of CSIRO Lindfield Collaboration Hub for a conversation about what lead us here. Does blitzing these gaps help founders identify their real blind spots? How else can we support startups to address the challenges they face?

The Showcase will be held at CSIRO Lindfield’s Lehany Theatre. Register now to join the conversation.

Agenda

2pm Welcome and introduction

2:05pm Fireside chat with Mike Nicholls, Joanne Jacobs and Katie Green

2:20pm 12 x pitches

3:30pm Afternoon tea and networking

4:00pm Event close

Please note this event will not be live streamed.

Our guest speakers

Joanne Jacobs

Joanne is a digital strategist and company director. She is an Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, and she is an active mentor of startups. In her career, Joanne has worked in London where she ran a social media production house, and she was a consultant in social networking technologies, as well as a professional speaker, business coach, trainer and strategist for digital marketing practices. Joanne also has a long history in academia, lecturing extensively in strategy, technology and marketing. She is facilitator for the CSIRO innovation programs, including ON Prime, ON Accelerate, D.Start Spark and Connect@Lindfield, with program design, facilitation, coaching and advisory provided to teams across the country.

Mike Nicholls

Mike Nicholls is a partner at Main Sequence helping startups, researchers and entrepreneurs in the Australian startup and research ecosystem generate early customer leads and opportunities. He leads the Health and Decarb challenges for the fund and helps drive investments into semiconductors, opticals, AI, renewable energy, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular. Passionate about sales and marketing, Mike is the partner that manages the Sales, Marketing and Hardware events the fund runs to help portfolio founders scale their businesses.

Katie Green

Katie Green is the Operations Manager for the Lindfield Collaboration Hub, as well as an experienced group leader and project leader, with a background in precision optics, thin films and surface analysis. Katie has created a vibrant community at the Hub for hardware startups and SMEs to connect, collaborate and create. Her current areas of interest include developing strong internal and external collaborations to build on CSIRO capabilities and exploring opportunities for commercialisation of new technology.