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Bloom: Ads Masterclass

Running ads and hearing crickets hurts. Boosting posts is not a strategy, and guessing your audience is expensive.

This masterclass is about creating ads that connect, convert, and do not feel cringe. We will break down how to match message to audience, choose the right platform, create scroll stopping content, and test ads without burning cash. You will also learn which metrics actually matter and when to stop, tweak, or scale.

Practical, honest, and built for real world founders who want results, not just impressions.

DEADLINE: ASTN Pre-Accelerator Program Cohort 11

This pre-accelerator program is open to startup founders, entrepreneurs with an athlete, practioners or research background or intrapreneurs of sports organisations or businesses who have a technology-based idea, consider establishing a business or develop a minimal viable product (MVP).

10 Weeks, 6 Modules and 20 Sessions:

  • Commercialisation
  • Translating R&D
  • Validation of Ideas
  • Organisational Ambitions
  • Administrative Necessities
  • Learn from the Best

Key Dates

  • 6 February 2026: Applications open
  • 12 April 2026: Applications close 11.59pm (AEST)
  • 15 April 2026: Cohort selection process
  • 20 April 2026: Participants notified if selected to be a part of the program, and onboarding begins
  • 28 April 2026 to 1 July 2026: Program Delivery with Welcome Session on Monday 28 April time TBC on Teams. All sessions will be Mondays and Wednesdays 4pm-6pm (AEST).

Politics & Business breakfast with the Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC

Join Business News for an insightful conversation with one of the state’s most experienced leaders.

The Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC is currently the Minister for Regional Development; Ports; Science and Innovation; Medical Research; and the Kimberley, and serves as Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council.

 

The Seven-Figure Shift:Scaling Beyond the “Owner’s Trap” With Justin Davies

During this workshop, you will complete a diagnostic which will pinpoint the areas you need to focus on to scale your business.

Justin Davies will dive into the stories of his two current clients who have walked this exact path over the last 18 months, breaking down the real world changes they made to double their size while finally getting some of their time back.

“Most business owners hit a wall around the $600k mark where “working harder” simply stops working. You’re likely the smartest person in every room and the primary engine behind every sale and every project, which is exactly why the business has plateaued – you’ve essentially run out of you. To cross that $1.2m line, we have to stop talking about “the grind” and start talking about how to build a business that can actually breathe and grow without you being involved in every single decision.”

IP Essentials: Insights for PHD students

Get ready to dive deep into the world of intellectual property – it’s all about the essentials for PHD students!
Explore the fundamentals of intellectual property and considerations for your research as a PhD student. This lunchtime session provides a practical overview of patents, trade secrets, and common pitfalls to avoid, followed by a fireside chat with Jeka Viktorova, CEO and Co-Founder of Syenta, on her journey from researcher to deep‑tech founder.

Registered attendees will be emailed the webinar link the morning of the event.

Coders for Causes (CFC) Industry Night 2026

2026 CFC Industry Night will be bringing together students, industry professionals, and organisations from across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking and career insights.

This event provides an opportunity to connect with industry representatives, explore pathways in software development and data, and gain practical advice to support your professional journey.

Seminar #2: Why buy-side investor readiness eats sell-side polish for breakfast

This webinar explains why most capital raises struggle long before a pitch deck is written. Traditional “sell-side” preparation focuses on documentation, polish, and marketing platforms, while investors make decisions through a buy-side lens that tests the underlying business and investment thesis.

Join to unpack the gap between these approaches and show why investor readiness is about surfacing gaps and fixing fundamentals, not improving presentation. The session highlights what investors truly assess and how a structured buy-side process identifies the issues that determine whether capital actually flows.

You will leave with a practical view of how to build genuine investability before going marketing-ready, turning fundraising from a risky sales exercise into the natural consequence of a strong, investable business.

Friday 6 March | 12:00 – 1:00PM AWST | ONLINE | Register here

About the presenters

Mike Ganon is an on-the-tools expert in corporate development, financing, mergers and acquisitions, investing and capital markets. Starting in the post-crash environment of 1990, he’s built a diverse career as a project financier, equity underwriter, investment banker, responsible manager, key person for a private equity fund manager and founder of two corporate advisory firms. He’s advised on and arranged hundreds of transactions across Industry 2, 3, and 4, on six continents and with deal credits in the double figure billions. Mike backs startups and scaleups directly and also invests indirectly as a limited partner. Leading NextLevelCorporate which he founded in 2001, he continues to work across the full advisory and transactional spectrum—private and public fundraising, M&A, exits, and professional investing—and has authored over 430 articles on key macro and financial factors that impact on Western Australian business. Mike is passionate about bringing unique and accessible investor readiness “superpowers” to founders and intrapreneurs—and through pitchhawk, he is helping them transform their innovations into compelling and dependable investment opportunities.

Stephen Carroll is a 25-year startup veteran who has seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly of Innovation. Thousands of startups and innovation projects have crossed his desk, giving him a unique insight into the patterns that drive success and the pitfalls that lead to failure. Stephen is passionate about shedding light on the common mistakes founders can avoid and the smart, grounded decisions that separate those who survive from those who don’t.

Seminar #1: The “stupid” decisions guaranteed to kill your startup

Join us for this brutally honest, highly practical webinar built around real world case studies of founders who did everything they thought was right… and still walked away with scars, sunk costs, and very expensive lessons. This is your chance to learn from their stories so you don’t repeat the same errors.

Guess what? You’re not special. You are in the same situation as every innovator who came before you – including the 90% who didn’t make it.

We cut through the buzz and hype to focus on what actually matters: translating excitement into decisions that hold up in the real world.

We’re not promising you’ll be a unicorn by Tuesday. What we are promising is a clear eyed look at exactly how most startups fail, so you don’t have to repeat their mistakes.

Friday, 20 Feb | 12:30pm – 1:3opm AWST | ONLINE  | Register here

About the presenter

Stephen Carroll is a 25-year startup veteran who has seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly of Innovation. Thousands of startups and innovation projects have crossed his desk, giving him a unique insight into the patterns that drive success and the pitfalls that lead to failure.

In this session, Stephen shares the common mistakes founders can avoid and the smart, grounded decisions that separate those who survive from those who don’t.

From Start to Exit: An Investor Masterclass

What does a successful exit really look like? Hear directly from founders and investors who’ve been there.

Join VentureX HQ for an exclusive masterclass featuring founders who will share their real-world journeys from startup to exit, including the wins, the challenges, and the lessons that changed everything.

New date: this event will now run on Monday 30 March, 3:30pm – 6:30pm.

Learn more and register here: https://events.humanitix.com/investor-and-founder-masterclass