Scholars’ Enterprise Investment Program
In August 2019, the Fogarty family including the Fogarty Foundation announced the Scholars Enterprise Investment Program (‘SEIP’ or ‘the program’). The program will provide $15 million of investment capital over the foreseeable future to fund next generation, technology focused enterprises with UWA Fogarty Scholars and Alumni in leadership roles. Over time the Fogarty’s will partner and co-invest with leading industry and venture capital firms across Australia, which will not only provide capital, but additional expertise to create successful economic enterprises.
The Scholar’s Enterprise Investment Program will support the Scholars and their enterprises grow the next generation of businesses and attract and retain the relevant people and skills required for success. By co-investing with independent, established firms, we not only support our Scholars and build their networks, but also enhance WA-wide support for the next generation of enterprise’s and grow the number of jobs and the diversity of businesses across WA and Australia.
Since the smartphone was introduced in 2007, the application and proliferation of technology in our daily lives and ongoing disruption within industries has continued, now it’s a globally accepted fact that every industry, every business and every individual will experience high levels of integration, utility and efficiency resulting from technology, or they risk being disrupted and antiquated very quickly. This is true for states and countries as it is for companies. Don’t just rely on yesterday’s business models in traditional industries, invest for today and for tomorrow in the next generation of individuals and enterprises to motivate, educate and upskill your workforce to become globally competitive.
A confluence of factors have been gathering pace over the past few years, and now is the right time to launch SEIP. High profile venture backed ‘start ups’ have entered the mainstream (i.e. Uber), a global start up ecosystem filled with educators, incubators, accelerators, support networks, mentors and investors is growing and maturing, student (K-12 and HE) education programs have started teaching enterprise and globally competitive and ambitious individuals are pursuing enterprise and entrepreneurship as a legitimate pathway versus the traditional doctor / corporate route.
