Venture UWA Ecosystem Update – November 2026
Welcome to this month's ecosystem update! Every month we round up the programs, competitions and events across Perth and beyond that can help you take your next step, whether you've got a fully formed startup idea or you're just curious about building something of your own.
This month is packed: seed funding, a pitch competition, a free business program and a summer of hands-on AI projects. A couple of deadlines land in the next week, so have a read and get your applications in early.
King's Trust Australia: Young Entrepreneurs Programme 2027
Got an idea you can't stop thinking about? The Young Entrepreneurs Programme (YEP) from King's Trust Australia helps 18 to 35 year olds start and grow their own business. You don't need a perfect idea or any experience, just curiosity and motivation.
Over 12 weeks of online learning, you'll get regular coaching check-ins, one-on-one mentoring, peer circles and chances to pitch for funding. Stipends and travel subsidies are on offer so money isn't a barrier, and there are in-person kick-off and wrap-up sessions in Melbourne.
The programme especially welcomes young people from regional and rural communities, culturally diverse backgrounds, the LGBTIQA+ community, low socio-economic backgrounds, and neurodivergent people or people with disability.
Who: 18 to 35 year olds
Programme runs: February to May 2027
Applications close: 15 November 2026
Apply: YEP 2027 application form
Make What Matters: $10,000 in seed funding for student teams
Make What Matters is a global program from World Studios, Ashoka and Watson that backs young people with ideas for change. Teams submit an idea, and five winning teams each receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship and a place at the summit.
It costs nothing to enter, for you or your university. The deadline is this Tuesday, so if you've been sitting on an idea with your mates, now's the time.
Who: 18 to 25 year olds currently enrolled at a university
Prize: $10,000 seed funding, mentorship and a summit place for each of five teams
Cost: Free
Deadline: 3 November 2026
Learn more and apply: World Studios application portal
Hot Girls Do Business x BUSI: Shark Tank 2026
Perth's own Shark Tank-inspired pitch night is landing right here in Crawley. Hot Girls Do Business and BUSI are bringing twenty founders to one stage, with two minutes each to pitch to a panel of sharks.
The night celebrates Perth's women in business: the women who paved the way, and everything still to come. Prize partners include Bloom, Spacecubed and No Broke Gals, with the sharks and sponsors to be announced soon. It's black tie, so dress for the front row.
When: Saturday 5 December 2026, from 5pm
Where: 1 Hackett Drive, Crawley
Dress code: Black tie
Tickets: Get tickets on Luma
Follow @hotgirlsdo and @busi.perth on Instagram for shark and founder announcements.
UWA AI Club: Summer Projects 2026–27
Want to spend your summer actually building with AI? The UWA AI Club's Summer Projects is an 8-week, hands-on program where you'll work in small teams with mentors to build real AI projects. It's open to students from all Perth-based universities, and there's a stream for every experience level.
Stream | Focus | Best for |
Beginner: AI Agents | How LLMs use tools, follow multi-step instructions and automate real tasks; build your own agents from scratch | New to AI. No AI/ML experience needed, basic Python recommended |
Intermediate: Applied Machine Learning | Real Kaggle and Hugging Face datasets, from traditional ML (regression, decision trees, random forests, KNN, k-means, PCA) to neural networks across text, images and tabular data | Students who've done Intro to Data Science or the Winter Projects Beginner ML stream |
Advanced: Industry-Style Projects | Client Projects: scope, build and deliver a solution for a real industry or community partner. Or the Internal Quant Project: apply ML to financial markets in a club-run research project | Experienced students |
When: 9 January to 6 March 2027
Who: Students from any Perth-based university
Applications close: 7 November 2026, or earlier if numbers are high, so apply soon
Key dates at a glance
Date | What's on |
3 November 2026 | Make What Matters applications close |
7 November 2026 | UWA AI Club Summer Projects applications close (may close earlier) |
15 November 2026 | King's Trust YEP 2027 applications close |
5 December 2026 | Shark Tank 2026 pitch night, Crawley |
That's it for this month! Whether you apply for one of these or all four, we'd love to hear how you go. And if you've got an idea you want to talk through, come say hi to the Venture UWA team. We're here to help you create your own future.
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