Inside Innovate Moreton Bay

Keeping more founders, ideas and innovative businesses in the City of Moreton Bay is at the heart of the next phase of Innovate Moreton Bay.

Innovation Director Amanda Bennett said the goal was to give local entrepreneurs more reasons to build their businesses in the city rather than looking elsewhere for support.

“The bigger picture is retention and attraction,” Amanda said.

“I’m a local Moreton Bay resident and too many good founders have had to look outside the area for support. We are building the reasons to stay, seeding new startups and attracting others to set up in Moreton Bay.”

Amanda is leading Innovate Moreton Bay, the City’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship program, funded by City of Moreton Bay and delivered by Creative HQ.

The program works with early-stage founders, startups and established businesses looking to innovate, connecting them with practical programs, mentoring, workshops, expertise and networks designed to help turn ideas into viable opportunities.

Its broader role is economic. Innovate Moreton Bay forms part of City of Moreton Bay’s Economic Strategy and its ambition to become one of Australia’s top 10 knowledge and innovation hubs outside capital cities.

The program has identified civictech, food and agritech, tourism and advanced manufacturing as priority sectors where the city already has strengths.

For businesses and founders, however, Amanda wants the pathway into the local innovation ecosystem to be straightforward.

“You do not have to join a cohort to get value from Innovate Moreton Bay,” Amanda said.

“Reach out to me and I can help set you on the right pathway. You can come along to one of our events and workshops are open to anyone building something in the city.”

Support can include coaching and mentoring, expert workshops, office hours, co-working and introductions to advisors, as well as regular opportunities to meet other founders, businesses and people across the broader innovation ecosystem.

One of those pathways is Startup Lab, Innovate Moreton Bay’s structured incubator for early-stage founders. Cohorts run throughout the year, with 19 companies participating to date.

The program also works with established local businesses looking to innovate, while building connections between founders, businesses, advisors, mentors and institutions across the City of Moreton Bay.

Behind its delivery is Creative HQ, a startup and innovation ecosystem builder headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand.

Creative HQ has more than 20 years’ experience running startup programs and developing innovation ecosystems, with work spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands.

Before taking on Innovate Moreton Bay, Creative HQ had worked in Queensland for six years, including with Logan City and within the Queensland public sector.

Its approach centres on four elements it considers essential to a strong innovation ecosystem: capability, connectedness, capital and culture.

In practical terms, that means building founders’ skills, strengthening networks, creating pathways to capital and developing a local culture where starting and growing an innovative business is seen as viable.

Amanda brings a different professional background to the startup sector.

She trained as a dietitian and began her career in community development before moving into innovation within local health systems. Most recently, she led the development of an innovation program at Children’s Health Queensland.

Amanda said the disciplines had more in common than might first appear, particularly when it came to understanding the people experiencing a problem before trying to develop a solution.

“You spend serious time with the people who actually have the problem before you design anything for them,” she said.

“Health calls it co-design. Startups call it customer discovery. It is the same discipline. If you work with me you know I will want to understand who is experiencing the problem, why it matters and what is the value you are creating.”

Now in its second year, Innovate Moreton Bay is also changing how it approaches its work.

Amanda said year one was about building the community and earning trust. Year two is moving towards deeper, more structured support for founders.

The emphasis is shifting from the volume of events delivered to the outcomes founders achieve, with the approach described as “fewer, better, more sustained”.

It also means strengthening what Amanda describes as the “connective tissue” of the local ecosystem, bringing more advisors and mentors into the network and encouraging greater collaboration between founders, established businesses and institutions.

The longer-term ambition is to build a larger founder network, increase the number of entrepreneurs choosing to establish their businesses in the City of Moreton Bay and strengthen investor and partner confidence in the region.

For Amanda, that also means ensuring the economic opportunities created as the City grows can flow through to local businesses.

With major developments including PsiQuantum at Moreton Bay Central, the TAFE Centre of Excellence and the growing UniSC campus, she sees opportunities for businesses in areas ranging from precision components and specialised services to logistics and skilled trades.

“The question I keep pondering is how we build those businesses here, sustainably, rather than watching them get supplied from somewhere else,” Amanda said.

Get involved with Innovate Moreton Bay

Upcoming events
Check the Moreton Daily Business events calendar for Innovate Moreton Bay upcoming workshops, programs and opportunities to connect.

Innovate Moreton Bay Exchange
The monthly networking series is open to everyone and connects founders, businesses and others across the local innovation ecosystem.

Startup Lab
Early-stage founders interested in structured incubation and support can find out more about Startup Lab and upcoming cohorts at the Startup Lab page.
Visit the Innovate Moreton Bay website for programs, workshops and events or to connect with the team.

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