UNE Business School are excited to be hosting Ms Catherine Eibner, GM of Start Ups at Blue Chilli as a guest speaker at the upcoming official launch of the SMART Region Incubator on 23rd February in Tamworth.
Catherine will share her knowledge in a presentation called “How startup innovation methodology can benefit rural and regional Australia”.
Catherine is a leader of innovation and growth in Australia’s startup economy. As General Manager, Startups at BlueChilli, she is responsible for driving development of the fastest growing portfolio of new tech startups in Australia, with a focus on rapid validation and early customer discovery to drive high quality business outcomes.
Catherine graduated from UNE in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (Information Technology). With a passion for data and systems integration, Catherine has dedicated the last 20 years to developing tech-enabled business solutions. After working as a developer after university, Catherine then started and grew her own software consulting business, before she was appointed to run Microsoft’s BizSpark program for startups in Australia.
Catherine has been repeatedly named one of the Top Australian Women in Tech and is recognised as one of the country’s leading Startup Mentors, actively advising more than 80 Startups in her role in BlueChilli, building her own startup(s), while also supporting tech entrepreneurs through her outreach work and angel investments across the ecosystem.
This is a great initiative and will help to build enduring wealth and prosperity for regional and metropolitan Australians. With the value of AgTech estimated to reach US$189 billion by 2022, UNE through its SMART Region Incubator is continuing to build on its already formidable reputation as an innovator and pioneer in rural development.