5 startups on working at Stone & Chalk startup hubs

From fintech to edtech, web3 to AI, some of Australia’s most exciting and diverse startups and scaleups have chalked up major success since joining Stone & Chalk.

It takes a village to build a startup and a unique community of bright sparks to scale one. That’s the raison d’etre behind innovation hubs like Stone & Chalk, which connects founders with the people and services they need at all phases of startup growth.

Boasting Australia’s largest innovation community, Stone & Chalk has the numbers to back up that claim: their residents and alumni have raised more than $1 billion of capital and created more than 100,000 jobs since joining the group. With locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, Stone & Chalk has more than 515 startups within its community – and counting.

They’ve got the perks you’d expect from a startup hub: beer on tap, free coffee and ambient plant-filled co-working spaces where lightbulb moments happen (often at ungodly hours). Founders point to something much deeper, though: the sense of community, the level of support and unparalleled access to collaborators, partners and investors you may not get elsewhere.

Why startups choose Stone & Chalk

As the home of tech disruption, Stone & Chalk tailors programs and services to fit both early-stage startups and scaleups. For younger startups, they offer growth, marketing and strategy programs to help bring an idea to market successfully. Scaleups can access tailored capital and funding programs, like the Investor Ready program, which provides access to a global network of potential investors.

For startups of all stages, the networking opportunities are huge. There’s regular networking events with industry leaders, corporates and collaborators, as well as mentoring, masterclasses and informal ‘founder circles’ and ‘Chalk Chills’ every fortnight.

While the scope of startups in the Stone & Chalk universe is wide, a major areas of focus right now is web3. In December 2022, Stone & Chalk launched Australia’s first Web3 Innovation Centres across their hubs, in partnership with the Australian DeFI Association, to connect web3 founders with investors, media, corporates and governments. It’s a move that aims to help web3 startups develop more stable, successful and competitive Australian blockchain, crypto and digital assets technologies.

What startups say about Stone & Chalk

Paytron

Global payments platform Paytron helps businesses and accountants simplify their spend management. Co-founder Francois Henrion says they first came to Stone & Chalk looking for desk space, but stayed for the community.

“It’s two sides of the community, it’s the actual Stone & Chalk staff that are really supportive and the contribution that they make to the broader community, but also the people sitting around you,” says Francois.  “The guys that were a few metres from us were literally our first customers. So it’s these friendlies that you can test the waters and get feedback from.

“It’s an extremely collaborative and transparent environment. You can let your guard down, you can share your trade secrets, your technology, and know that it’s a safe place to talk about your challenges and get some feedback from the other guys.”

Fulle

As a recent resident of Stone & Chalk’s Melbourne hub, cleantech startup Fulle has created quick e-bike battery universal chargers that work more sustainably with less waste. Founder Molly Fullee says they were able to overcome some of the common hurdles of early-stage startup life thanks to structured support and networking opportunities at Stone & Chalk.

“Being a part of that community was like a dream come true for me,” Molly says. “During my residency, I had access to top-notch facilities, a network of mentors and investors, and a whole bunch of other entrepreneurs who were just as passionate and driven as I was.

“It was so stimulating to bounce ideas off other people and see all of the amazing projects that were being developed right before my eyes.

“Being in an environment surrounded by other entrepreneurs who were all pushing the boundaries of what was possible, empowered me to shoot for the moon. I started thinking bigger, pushing harder and taking risks that I might not have taken otherwise.”

Education Perfect

Joining Stone & Chalk’s Sydney scaleup hub at Tech Central in July 2022, Education Perfect is an edtech company with an online digital learning platform used by more than 1.2 million students and 50,000 teachers across 50 countries.

“We felt that this place suited us because we wanted to be around like-minded people,” says Heather Rizzo, Head of Operations at Education Perfect. “We felt that it was space where innovation and collaboration and diversity is celebrated and that was a space that really speaks to the values of our business.”

Heather says that their team take part in regular networking rituals like Sweet Spot, where founders share wins and updates together. “It’s really brought our team together,” she adds.

The flexibility of the space has also been useful for their dispersed workforce to drop in and out of, as well as hold special events.

“We’ve had customer events here. We’ve been able to bring our whole leadership team from all over the world into Sydney and it’s been a space that’s allowed us the flexibility to do that alongside a lot of support that’s been given by the staff here.”

More from Heather here:

Pathways Digital

Melbourne-based startup Pathways Digital is on a mission to simplify contract management for small and medium businesses. Co-founder and CEO Andrew Tiernan says Stone & Chalk has helped accelerate the growth of their early-stage startup.

“Joining the residency program at Stone & Chalk was a key milestone for Pathways Digital,” Andrew says. “Moving our company from our kitchen tables, lounge rooms and home studies gives us more than just an office location. Stone & Chalk immerses us in an ecosystem of other startups, mentors, and support including legal, marketing, technology and more. This move has really helped us accelerate our development.”

Andrew adds that having access to people who have done it before has been a huge asset. “Startups need to solve problems at a fast pace, and being in this community, whenever we have a problem, by the end of the day we could be connected to somebody else who could help us solve it just by reaching out to the community manager,” Andrew says.

“We also like the ability to have corridor conversations with peers. When you’re a startup and working from home, you can’t bump into people and ask for advice. That’s why moving into a community like Stone & Chalk helps foster that environment where we can converse in an organic and ad hoc way. And that’s really powerful.”

Lateral Vision

Based in Stone & Chalk’s Adelaide hub, Lateral Vision creates interactive and immersive digital experiences for businesses. Through virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D modelling and drone operations, the team has created experiences for the likes of The University of Adelaide, The Ghan and Seppeltsfield Barossa.

“The thing we love most at Stone & Chalk is the community,” says co-founder Laura Tolson. “We’ve made really great friends with the Stone & Chalk team and all the other businesses that are here as well. Immersing yourself in a relatable community is really important – particularly as a founder with a small team.

“If we were working in our own little office somewhere in the city, we just wouldn’t have that community and we’d feel really small. But by being immersed here with hundreds of other people, we feel much bigger.”

Join Australia’s largest innovation community at stoneandchalk.com.au.

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This article is brought to you by Startup Daily in partnership with Stone & Chalk.