New coLab cohort brings innovation to the spotlight
Vygo, Frequency Tech and iNSPIRETEK are the new Portfolio Companies taking up residency at the coLab Growth Hub, a co-working space situated at Go1’s Head Office in Underwood. The coLab’s new cohort has settled in and is ready for 12 months of scaling, networking and taking their businesses to the next level.
They replace the inaugural cohort of Portfolio Companies Black Sky Aerospace, National Drones and Akunah, who ’graduated’ earlier this year.
The coLab’s residency program supports late-stage start-ups, in the high growth phase of their business journey. Portfolio Companies are supported with expert mentoring from coLab’s entrepreneurs-in-residence and provided with Council networking opportunities, in aid of supporting a permanent move to Logan at the completion of their 12-month residency.
We chatted to the new portfolio company representatives about their businesses, their goals, and why they wanted to be part of the coLab network.
Joel DiTreppani, Vygo co-founder
Tell us about your business.
Vygo is a mobile and desktop platform that connects university students with the support and people they need. It assists with peer tutoring, alumni mentoring, orientation and transition and mental health support. We help students and staff connect with the right people and build relationships.
What appealed to you about teaming up with the coLab?
We first heard about the coLab through Go1, which works in a similar space to us – higher education tech – albeit with a different purpose, and which mentored us when we started out. The proximity to them was a great benefit of being part of the coLab. We also love learning and improving so the coLab seemed really appealing to us.
What is the main thing you would like to gain from being a portfolio company in the next 12 months?
I don’t know that there is anything super specific we are looking at at this stage, but we definitely want to expand our business and help as many uni students across the world as we can.
What has the experience been like so far?
Our mentor Izzy has been amazing, and we have had nothing but positive experiences with her. The coLab space is great too. To work in this sort of hybrid space surrounded by such great energy with the other portfolio companies as well as Go1 is really inspiring.
Henry Boulton, FrequencyTech Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder
Tell us about your business.
FrequencyTech developed the FocusBand, which can assist your brain to access its flow state, the optimal state for high performance in sport, in the workplace and for wellbeing.
The FocusBand scans your brain when you are in that flow state and helps it access that state again. My dad and I developed it to help golfers in competitions and it has been used since by golfers who went on to become World champions.
From then, we realised it wasn’t just useful for golf but for wellness and in the workplace and we have worked with many organisations including Facebook.
What appealed to you about teaming up with the coLab?
We really want to expand our business and get connected with people who can help us do that. It is also great to begin to have a presence in this area, where such a lot is happening.
What is the main thing you would like to gain from being a portfolio company in the next 12 months?
We want to take our business to the next level through new connections, investors and promotion, which can help us grow. We are also in the US Market Access Program at coLab so we are really keen to scale up from being a small business.
What has the experience been like so far?
It has been a very positive experience. The energy and vibe are really good, the space is excellent, and being with other start-ups who have similar goals and ambitions – being around that positive energy is great.
Annie Flamsteed, iNSPIRETEK founder, Managing Director and Group CEO
Tell us about your business.
iNSPIRETEK is a health-tech company that focuses on using data analytics to predict and prevent mental illness in people globally. Focusing mainly on the youth sector, and having huge wins in community sport, we are extremely proud of our ability to drive positive change. We’re excited about the future as we expand rapidly into other sectors such as education, insurance, corporate and allied health.
What appealed to you about teaming up with the coLab?
The main appeal was to do with access to the EIRs, working with local government to drive change using our products and being able to learn from others in the space.
What is the main thing you would like to gain from being a portfolio company in the next 12 months?
There is a lot, but the most pressing item across the entire company is to establish relationships with local government to collaborate in order to provide access to our platforms to those who may not have otherwise been able to access them – youth organisations in Logan, for example.
What has the experience been like so far?
Brilliant. Everyone has been super welcoming, open and helpful across a range of areas we have experienced so far. I can’t wait for this next phase!
By Sharon Worboys
