Startup technology hub River City Labs celebrates fifth anniversary
12 July 2017: River City Labs reached a milestone this July, celebrating five years as a key driver in Queensland’s entrepreneur-led ecosystem and helping hundreds of entrepreneurs and startups build successful businesses.
To mark the occasion, River City Labs hosted a birthday bash with employees, past and present members, mentors, and investor community members on Friday 7th of July at its new premises in Fortitude Valley – The Precinct, the Palaszczuk Government-backed Brisbane innovation hub.
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch MP, Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business was the guest of honour and officiated proceedings at the event. Ms Enoch publicly recognised River City Labs as being a key player in fostering the growth of startups for the past five years through a number of world class programs. She also thanked River City Labs founder Steve Baxter for being a prominent figure in the innovation sector nationally and a tireless advocate for entrepreneurialism and innovation.
Mr Baxter was excited at how much River City Labs has achieved since 2012 but said there was still a long journey ahead for the startup technology hub.
“What we’ve achieved in five years is phenomenal and this would not have been possible without the support of such a strong team at RCL and dedicated partners.
“I look forward to many more milestones with RCL as we continue to grow Brisbane’s thriving startup scene and help build an A-grade startup culture that is fast-paced, startup aware and one that fosters a global-first mindset - on par with some of our global counterparts”, said Mr Baxter, who is also a judge on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank.
River City Labs CEO, Peta Ellis, said the organisation had grown substantially over the past five years and continues to go from strength to strength.
“Since starting operations in 2012, River City Labs has had 459 entrepreneurs as members and we’ve hosted more than 480 external events and attracted over 16,000 people through our doors.
“The success of our world-class accelerator program in partnership with Telstra’s muru-D -which saw five startups raise more than $2.1 million in seed funding - is another testament of the growing momentum in the sector.
“We are proud to be one of the key driving forces behind the growth of Queensland’s startup scene,” she said.
About River City Labs
River City Labs fosters the growth of startup companies solving big problems. We provide resources to empower, support and connect entrepreneurs. Central to everything we do is a focus on collaboration and connection.
Since 2012 over 460 entrepreneurs have called RCL home. Through our events program we have welcomed more than 16,000 guests into our community by hosting over 500 events aimed at supporting founders on their entrepreneurship journey.
River City Labs powers a range of programs, events and engagement opportunities, enabling our Corporate partners to innovate differently and embed their teams within the startup community.
River City Labs is a human-led organisation ensuring founders come first always and every engagement is underpinned by our core values of Give Learn Grow, Take Action and Always Challenge.
Connect with us on
