Social Enterprise accelerators and incubators

Starting and scaling a social enterprise can be challenging

But there are a range of pre-accelerators, accelerators and incubators across NSW and ACT (and available online) that can help to reduce the risk, give you tools and frameworks to plan your enterprise well, and connect you with other social entrepreneurs, funders, investors and mentors.

Here are some of the best ones in our state and territory.

  • Aimed at ‘high performing migrant and refugee entrepreneurs - migrapreneurs’, Catalysr has helped to create more than 200 startups since 2016.

    See Catalysr for more details

  • A 12 week program for social enterprises, tourism, hospitality and retail small businesses to upskill, reset and take on an entrepreneur mindset.

    Places are free and funded by City of Sydney, delivered by social enterprise Disruptors Co.

    Note: you must be located in the City of Sydney local government area.

    See here for more information

  • FoodLab is a social enterprise incubator that helps entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds formalise and grow their food businesses through training, kitchen space and sales opportunities.

    See Foodlab Sydney for more details

  • Social Impact Hub offers a Social Impact Fellowship once a year, which includes masterclasses, mentoring and networking.

    See Social Impact Fellowship for more details

  • StartSomeGood has been running its social enterprise design course, Good Hustle, for over a decade and is considered one of the pioneers of social enterprise pre-accelerators.

    See Good Hustle for more details

  • Working with young people including in schools around Australia, Young Change Agents delivers training to help them to see problems as social enterprise opportunities.

    See Young Change Agents for more details

  • The Hatch: Taronga Accelerator Program is designed to help ecopreneurs take their idea from vision to reality. If you are a not-for-profit, startup or social enterprise founder with a venture that will drive positive change for wildlife, biodiversity and the environment

More about Coworking Spaces, Accelerators, Incubators and Startup Hubs (CAISH) entities

Investment NSW published the Accelerating NSW report, mapping all 276 coworking spaces, accelerators, incubators and startup hubs - or what they call ‘CAISH entities’ across New South Wales, in August 2023.

The report is well worth reading for anyone wanting to understand more about CAISH entities. Investment NSW notes:

“Entrepreneurship drives job creation, innovation, and economic growth, in NSW as elsewhere. But entrepreneurs take big risks and face big challenges when they start and grow businesses. A supportive innovation ecosystem can help startup founders and teams to lower their risks and overcome the challenges of creating a sustainable and scalable business.”