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A message from our CEO

The past six months have seen more change than anyone could have anticipated. Lives and livelihoods, industries and businesses, communities, and cities were disrupted by the pervasive impact of the global pandemic. The National and State lockdown and lockout measures to protect our health inevitably slowed our local economy and changed how and where people worked, studied, and interacted. 

At Dantia, we welcomed new team members; Jill Stewart, Marketing & Communications Manager, Deborah Canias to the role of Executive Assistant – CEO/Team Co-ordinator and Kylie Rose our new Dashworks Community and Member Lead.  

We worked closely with our Dashworks community to minimise disruption in a COVID safe way and made some internal aesthetic changes to our Charlestown and Warners Bay spaces. Our Charlestown workspace is getting a full external makeover in the coming months and we look forward to sharing some imagery with you once it is finalised.

From a project perspective, Dantia continued to proactively drive, advocate and shape city changing initiatives including those at Cockle Creek, Catherine Hill Bay and Charlestown revitalisation.

One of the recent SME projects that I am most proud of is the launch of the Business Matters portal. We partnered with Lake Macquarie City Council to bring the Business Matters portal to help local businesses navigate COVID 19 and the re-opening of our business community. We are about to launch the second phase of this platform, which will act as a business services marketplace.  Read more about that below.

As we move into the busy Christmas and New Year period, I look forward to connecting with many of you. 

FOLLOW Dantia on Linkedin to stay up to date with our latest event, project and member updates. 

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Latest News:

Dashworks Open Week

From Monday 29th November to Friday 3rd December, we are opening our doors to welcome new faces into our vibrant co-working spaces for FREE.  

It’s an opportunity to spend a day sharing office space with our forward thinking and friendly business community.

Book a desk for a day or stay the week!  Book here

Meet our member: Stephen Houraghan

Stephen an Irish born branding consultant and coach works with both local Lake Mac and International brands across USA, Canada and UK. He’s taught over 20k students globally, how to develop strategic brands through his business Brand Master Academy.  

In his secondary business Iconic Fox, Stephen works directly with clients through brand consulting and execution services.

After working from home during lockdown, Stephen was quite happy to relocate to a professional ‘quiet’ space and we are thrilled to welcome Stephen! 

If your business needs some help with branding check out the Brand Master Podcast or visit brandmasteracademy.com

Welcome Kylie Rose

We are thrilled to welcome Kylie Rose to the team as our Dashworks Community and Member Lead.  With a background in innovation and corporate communications, Kylie loves to support others and build connections and is a great fit for the Dashworks community.

Business Matters Marketplace

Business Matters Marketplace has been developed to inspire our community to think local first when purchasing goods and services. Wherever possible, supporting local businesses helps local people, industries and our Lake Mac economy.

If you are in the business of marketing, finance, grant writing or other professional services, email our team to register your business to be a service provider for the Marketplace. As businesses re-open post COVID, we’ve seen increased demand from local businesses seeking support and guidance for their own business in the areas of Marketing, Finance, HR, Legal, Training and Grant Writing.  

We want to connect local SME’s with other local businesses that need to reset and move forward post COVID. Lake Mac businesses have continued to show their resilience and agility post COVID. Now it’s time to start thinking about what the next year of business looks like and the first $100 is on us! 

To register your business as a preferred supplier or request support, please get in touch. 

Are you looking for a workspace to call your own? Give Dashworks a try! Join over 120 professionals and entrepreneurs and book your free 5-day trial! Start the conversation today.

Since launching in December 2019 The Melt Accelerator has attracted headlines around the nation as Australia’s first Industrial Prototyping Lab and Innovation Accelerator powering the creation of the world’s best hardware products.

With a cohort of 5 businesses and continued investment, this team are unstoppable!  We caught up with the Melt Accelerator’s superstar CMO Lauren Devine to find out what this clever team are up to!

1. Tell us a little about the Melt.

The Melt is an industrial prototyping lab and innovation accelerator, powering the creation, commercialisation and scaling of Australia’s leading product innovations. We provide the experience, processes, network and funding required to realise and accelerate new products whilst minimising the risk and financial outlay often associated with product development.

1. What was your mission at the outset?

Over the years we have seen many product and hardware innovations fail that otherwise could have been a successful venture given the right focus, execution strategy and the benefit of an experienced team. Our mission was to change that outcome so that innovation can succeed or fail on it’s fundamental merits, not just coincidence.

And what exactly is it that the team provide?

We are able to service both Startups and large corporates by providing the environment and process framework to incubate hardware innovation and support the stakeholders. Firstly, we help people analyse and identify the critical factors that need to be resolved (“proven”) for their innovation to succeed. Then we assist in formulating and executing the strategy to achieve their innovation goals. This can include a mixture of technical, commercial, investment and governance acumen as well as the resources required to carry out the venture.

1. Tell us a little about the team behind The Melt

The Melt is made up of a diverse team of experienced business and innovation professionals, many of whom have been CEOs and founders of successful businesses themselves. We have come together to help others learn from our long experience and to be a contributing factor to the success achieved by our clients and partners.

Entrepreneurs and SME’s the opportunity to develop the capabilities required to build hardware businesses and succeed in international markets.

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2. What is unique about your business offering?

There are few investors who can minimise the technical and execution risks associated with hardware innovation projects. There are also very few professional engineers who can provide the product management, commercialisation and governance required to realise a return on investment. The Melt’s offering covers both of these necessary services for the complete lifecycle of the innovation venture.

The Melt’s unique and diverse offering provides:

• Entrepreneurs and SME’s the opportunity to develop the capabilities required to build hardware businesses and succeed in international markets.
• Large companies with the ability to liberate internally ‘trapped’ hardware projects and IP to save time and money, mitigate risk, improve operations and get new products into the market quicker.
• Students with the ability to gain valuable real-world experience working alongside startups and corporates on exciting and valuable projects with the aim of gaining employment and keeping talent local.

What is the biggest challenge you see with start-ups and entrepreneurs building commercial products?

The biggest challenge is understanding and managing risk. Hardware innovation, due to its complex nature, is very unforgiving of mistakes. The product development strategy needs to be focused on risk identification and mitigation rather than the usual “Design it Build it” waterfall. Unlike purely software projects, hardware innovation has limited opportunity to fail and pivot so the iterative sequence needs to be well planned and orchestrated.  Also, we see many Startups who build a great product who assume this equates to a great business. Of course, Startups need to build great hardware products however they also need to ensure that the business model is sound, sustainable and successful – this is where The Melt can help.

How are you finding being a member of the Makespace community?

Makespace provides so many opportunities for connection and collaboration. The diversity of businesses here means that there is generally one degree of separation between what you need and having that need met by someone’s network.   Also having the innovation lab housed within the building creates a lot of efficiency and it’s inspiring to see products come to life at speed.

What advice would you give someone who is struggling to get a prototype to market?

Stop struggling.  Come in and talk to our experienced product managers who have brought a complex product to the market. We can help you set up a plan to take control of your destination.

Where do you see the Melt headed in the next 5 years (with start-up and corporate businesses in mind)

We plan to scale our reach with a network of like-minded people, increased capabilities and capacity to be able to further accelerate hardware innovation and stimulate future employment opportunities for the Hunter region and beyond.  We intend and are working towards creating impact on a global scale. 

How can people apply to the Melt Accelerator program?

Easy. Check out our website and apply at. Unlike traditional accelerators with cyclic cohorts, our program is always open.  A great place to start is to visit our website www.themelt.io and book in a strategy discussion or discovery workshop to see how we can help.

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The Melt industrial prototyping lab and innovation accelerator are set to power the creation of the world’s best products and it all started right here at Dashworks Makespace. Read more about The Melt here

Join our vibrant and supportive community to build and commercialise your product. Access industry-grade prototyping equipment, software and programs to accelerate your success – book your free 5-day trial here.