What is Melbourne Migrapreneurs?
Melbourne Migrapreneurs is a free 8-weeks program for migrants, refugees and international students living and working in Melbourne to learn about how to launch their startup, and become future innovators and change-makers.
It is designed and delivered in partnership with City of Melbourne and Arctic 90.
The program includes:
8 x weekly in-person Masterclasses on how to launch a startup in Melbourne at StartSpace, State Library of Victoria, from 20th March on 8th May (each Thursday from 5:00 - 7:30pm)
1:1 virtual coaching sessions for founders from migrant, refugee and international students backgrounds with the Catalysr team
Inspiration and connection with successful migrapreneurs, alumni and mentors across Melbourne through an online community and end of the program networking event
The masterclasses will focus on the following topics:
Entrepreneurial Mindset & Lean Startup
Prototyping and user-testing
Building a minimum viable product (MVP)
Understanding competition
Building a team and culture
Business Models and Metrics
Pitching and Story-telling
Intro to Fundraising
Building a roadmap for the future of your startup journey
Why you should join?
To learn from industry experts who have lived experience of being successful migrapreneurs themselves on how to take your startup idea to market, pitch and raise capital
Join an ambitious and inspiring community of migrapreneurs learning about and building their own startups in Melbourne
Grants & Coaching by Arctic 90
Four exceptional migrapreneurs in the program will also receive a $1,500 grant alongside an exclusive, fully funded 3-month coaching, mentoring and advisory scholarship with Arctic 90 (valued at $3,600).
This bespoke program is designed to accelerate your startup’s growth and set the foundation for long-term success.
Arctic 90 is a boutique advisory committed to empowering impact-driven entrepreneurs—particularly CALD women, migrants, and next-gen founders—through strategic execution, operational excellence, and sustainable business models. With a track record of guiding early-stage ventures to scale, Arctic 90 is known for turning bold ideas into resilient, high-impact businesses.
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✅ You live or work in Melbourne
✅ You are a migrant, refugee or international student i.e. you were born outside of Australia
✅ You are interested in learning about how to launch your own startup
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👉 Application deadline 🗓️ Wednesday, 12th March 2025
👉 Program Dates 🗓️ 20th March 2025 - 8th May, 2025
👉 Kick off & Masterclass 1 🗓️ Thursday, 20th March 2025
👉 Masterclass 8 & Networking Event 🗓️ Thursday, 8th May 2025
All Masterclasses will be held from 5:00 - 7:30 pm at StartSpace, State Library of Victoria
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Who is a Migrapreneur?
A Migrapreneur is an entrepreneur from migrant, refugee or international student background
To be eligible for the program, there must be at least one first-generation migrant, refugee or international student co-founder in your team, who will participate in the program.
A first-generation migrant, in this context, is an individual born outside of Australia.Permanent residence OR Australian citizenship is NOT a requirement of this program.
Can I apply if I’m an international student?Our program accepts international students and other temporary migrants e.g. if you are on a work visas, but you have to ensure that you meet your visa requirements e.g. on working hours etc.
Do I need to live or work in Melbourne to apply?
Yes, this program is an in-person program, exclusively available to migrapreneurs living and working in Melbourne
Can I be a solo founder? Do I need to have a team?We accept applications from solo founders as well as teams.
What if English is not my first language?We accept applications from people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, as our program is delivered in English, we can only accept applicants who understand and communicate in English
Do I need to pay to attend this program?
Melbourne Migrapreneurs is offered as a FREE program, due to the generous support of our funding partner, City of Melbourne