Fishburners is Australia’s largest community of scalable tech startups with 176 companies and 351 members. Their inclusive community and coworking space that is designed for all kinds of startups has won them their title as Best Coworking Space in the Annual StartCon Awards. We caught up with Fishburners CEO, Annie Parker, for a bit more insight into the space, and what to look out for in the coming year.
1. There are so many coworking spaces out there. What do you think differentiates Fishburners?
The thing that really sets Fishburners apart is the community. We’re much more than desk space, superfast wifi and great coffee – we’re an inclusive, collaborative community of like-minded people who are all attempting to build the next global tech company. At Fishburners you get to tap into an extraordinary community of people who openly share their learnings and encourage each other to achieve their dreams. We help to connect the dots for you as well in terms of introducing you to potential mentors and investors – and most importantly we care about making a difference. Our alumni are also very strong too – Hyper Anna, Jayride, Koala and Madpaws all have seen amazing successes in 2017 and all of them started at Fishburners.
2. Fishburners is moving to the Sydney CBD! How do you see this affecting your startup community?
When we move into the Sydney Startup Hub we’ll be growing our Sydney member base from just over 200 members to well over 600. It’s really exciting to see our community grow so quickly, and just think of the impact that is going to have in terms of the help, new connections and new energy that will bring. I’m also really excited that some of our old alumni are moving back in, as we’ll have more space to support larger teams, it’s allowed us to invite some of the older startups to come back home — Fishburners isn’t just where startups start, it’s where startups grow too.
3. How will Fishburners grow in 2018? What should we look out for?
It’s all about member growth and adding more partners too. We’re nearly full in Brisbane, and we’d love to replicate that in Sydney too – which looking at the membership numbers rolling in at the moment won’t take long. As our member base continues to grow, we also want to grow the number of partners we’re working with too to ensure we have as many of the best people around them to help them grow. Those partners can help in the form of direct mentoring, perhaps becoming their customer, or perhaps even investing in the startup too. If that sounds like something you think your company could do, we’d love to hear from you!
To make sure you’re keeping up with Fishburners, make sure you visit their website here.
Don’t forget to follow them on their social media too!
