TL;DR: Successful innovation is built on research.

From identifying opportunities to fostering a customer-centric mindset to evaluating product-market fit, the foundation of lasting innovation is finding a way to gather meaningful data and translate that evidence into actionable insights.

Failure is nothing to be ashamed of, but there's no reason not to maximize your potential for success. Whether you're an entrepreneur with a new product or a social innovator trying to solve a wicked problem, you're trying to create change that sticks.

This panel focuses on the intersection of research, entrepreneurship, and the innovation ecosystem. We'll:

demystify the concept of "research"
share best practices for generating meaningful data and making evidence-driven decisions
help you understand how to build the right collaborative ecosystem for the problem you want to solve

Featuring:

Rachel Atkins
Rachel is a business psychologist, executive coach, entrepreneur, and Principal Consultant at Right Management. Her research focuses on supporting entrepreneurship by veterans.
Kate Bennett
Kate is an impact and sustainability strategist with over a decade's experience working with publicly listed companies, impact ventures, and investors on sustainability governance, ESG strategy, and SDG-aligned impact strategies. She's a co-founder of Brownee and is currently completing a PhD on regenerative finance for development.
Jenny Binetter
Jenny, an innovation-driven leader and Entrepreneurship & Innovation PhD candidate, is dedicated to bringing groundbreaking ideas to life. She empowers startups and founders to achieve their fullest potential.
Steven Vasilescu
Steven is the co-founder and CEO of NeoGenix Biosciences, a biotech startup using AI to modernise fertility treatment. He's completing his PhD at the UTS Institute of Biomedical Materials and Devices.

Who will benefit:

Founders who are at ideas stage, pre MVP, or post MVP
Students and researchers who are curious
Ecosystem leaders

What is Spark Festival?

Spark Festival has a mandate to coordinate and promote startup-focused events that spark engagement into and across the startup ecosystem.

This event is open to all Spark Festival attendees.

Spark Festival 2023 has been made possible by support from the Australian Computer Society, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, William Buck, and Atlassian, and continues its mission to drive engagement into and across the NSW startup ecosystem.

More about Spark Festival 2023