Migrapreneur Stories by Catalysr

Momentum is gaining for social enterprise all across the world. In this episode, we are having a chat with Arianna Watson. 

Arianna came to Australia from Italy in 2020 just before the pandemic began. Passionate about social enterprise, she along with her co-founder started Think Enough. In this episode, we discuss what it is like to start a social enterprise as a migrant in Australia, what was Arianna's journey like, and some lessons she learned along the way. 

In this podcast, we have interviewed Taofiq Huq. 

Toafiq is the founder and CEO of Spiral Blue. Spiral Blue is developing onboard processing hardware for Earth observation satellites. In this podcast, we are discussing how Toafiq built a successful startup in the space sector, what are some of the challenges that #migrapreneur face, and why an accelerator program can help your startup succeed faster.

Devan moved to Australia with his parents when he was 11 years old. 

Devan has done it all from being a pilot to a full stack developer to a serial entrepreneur! In this podcast, we ask Devan what it is like to start multiple businesses in Australia and some of the things startup founders should keep in mind in the early days of the startup journey. Moreover, Devan has been a part of Catalysr Accelerate program in 2018 and currently is a mentor to startups in Catalysr's pre-acceleator program.

In this episode we have interview our very own operations manager Marlowe Mackenzie. 

Marlowe has been a part of the Australian startup ecosystem for over 7 years now and has mentored hundreds of migrant entrepreneurs aka #migrapreneurs. In this interview, we have asked Marlowe questions about the Australian startup ecosystem, some of the mistakes early-stage founders make, and how to look for mentors when you are new to a startup ecosystem. 

Start Taking Action or “There’s a lot of people who will tell you you can’t do stuff, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.” For our final episode this season, we are joined by Catalysr CEO and co-founder Usman Iftikhar. Usman shares the story of Catalysr, and how his own struggle to find work as a skilled migrant led to him starting his own business - one that helps other people unleash their potential. He also gives us a glimpse into how he is democratising space with his new startup, and how people can prepare themselves for the future of work. Bio: Usman is the co-founder and CEO at Catalysr. He was named Commonwealth Young Person of the Year 2018, AMP Tomorrow Maker 2018 and Westpac Social Fellow 2019 and for his work to create a better future for us all through Catalysr. He is the Australian Lead for G20 Young Entrepreneur Alliance, Associate Consultant for Foundation for Young Australians YLab, and Global Solutions Fellow from Singularity University. Usman is also the co-founder of startup Space is Easy, a platform making space more accessible for everyone.

From moving to Australia as a new mother where she knew no one, to building a software service as CEO of Coverhero, we chat to entrepreneur Naby Mariyam about her inspiring story, the social psychology of workplaces, and the importance of finding community. This episode was recorded at The Studio on Level 6 of the Sydney Startup Hub. Naby Mariyam loves salsa dancing and InsurTech (in that order). When not salsa dancing, she runs Coverhero. An insurtech platform that specializes on delivering insurance in a simple, transparent and affordable way. She is also is obsessively focused on the needs of Millennials and Gen Z's. She has 18 years of experience in working across Senior level positions in Academia, Management Consulting, Documentary production, Travel and Destination Marketing. She has advised to the UNDP on building start up ecosystems and designed accelerator programs to drive innovation in developing nations. Naby also has a background in social science where she deeply studied human pleasure behind decision making.

We chat to social entrepreneur Anne-Marie Elias about her parents’ incredible story of grit, her journey into the tech startup space and what it means to address real problems that need solving. This episode was recorded at The Studio in the Sydney Startup Hub during the 2019 Catalysr / Fishburners Demo Fair, at which Anne-Marie was keynote speaker. Anne-Marie Elias is an Egyptian-born, Italian-Australian whose core focus is to be a catalyst for change, and through a collective effort, restructure the manner in which our social systems support those in need, having spent three decades breaking down the cycle of social disadvantage. She is the co-founder of TechFugees Australia, and the Business Manager/Lab Director of New Horizons, a disability, aged care and mental health service provider. She's founded The Collective NSW, a networking group that aims to protect the most vulnerable in our society through cross-sector and community collaboration. As a published writer and Ted X Speaker, she preaches the gospel of disrupting the status quo, and provides others the tools to do exactly the same.

Long Phan is the co-founder of TTI Migration and Investment Consulting which specialises in providing business skills and migration pathways to overseas entrepreneurs and investors. Prior to TTI, Long has a storied history working for multinational corporations in multiple sectors. We chat to long about his passion for his mother country Vietnam and his home here in Australia, and the role Catalysr played in his work which maximises opportunities for other migrants.

Syed Mansoor is an engineer and social entrepreneur who experienced Water Problems first-hand growing up in Pakistan. He wanted to do something about it as more than half a billion people worldwide lack access to clean water despite the technologies being available. As part of the Catalysr pre-accelerator program, Syed co-founded Water Democracy, a user-focused water purification solutions company with a goal to change a million lives by eliminating water poverty.

Brian Lim has supported more than 1,000 startups across 100 market verticals across 6 continents. He has founded multiple companies, two which are in the space industry, and has raised more than $5M USD for his companies. He has mentored for the World Food Programs Incubator program and was an Entrepreneur in residence for the Singularity University incubator’s 2018 Cohort. Brian Lim has a focus on deep tech and its value in global transformation.