What I see the best founders do as part of the Catalysr Accelerator

Catalysr is an accelerator for migrants and refugees wanting to build tech startups and social enterprises in Australia. I’ve loved returning this year as Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) for the latest cohort.

As the daughter of Indian migrants I’ve been reflecting on how difficult it must have been for my parents to navigate the system, the network and a new culture. I’ve enjoyed contributing in some way to the journey of the founders going through the program!

For the Accelerate program, teams are allocated an EiR. Usually there are four (4), each with different skills and experience. Just because a founder is allocated to one EiR this doesn’t mean you’re unable to interact or have a session with other EiRs during the program.

The role of the EiR is to have a weekly check-in with each team and to help them stay accountable to the goals they set at the start of the program. It’s also an avenue for general feedback.

The accelerator runs for 12 weeks and is designed to be a holistic program of weekly content and workshops, 1:1 weekly check-ins with your EiR and interacting with the other founders in the cohort. There’s also a demo day at the conclusion of the program to share what you’ve been working on to a wider audience.