Upstart was founded in 2015 by Rob Nathan

Rob is CEO and Founder of startup Australian Tenders with over 30 years experience in tech. He is passionate and committed to supporting emerging WA startups, and has worked alongside other leaders in the space to build a bigger, stronger and more active innovation and investment startup ecosystem in WA.

2015

Upstart Investments, together with Spacecubed, founded one of the first seed accelerators in Aus in 2015, Amcom Upstart.

2015 Amcom Upstart Powerpoint Presentation

Amcom Upstart Demo Night

August 28, 2015

The Amcom Upstart Accelerator held their demo day last night at Spacecubed, where each of the startups in the program got to present their businesses.

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Vocus Upstart Accelerator Members and Startups smiling for the camera

Rob Nathan, Brodie McCulloch and Tony Grist at the Vocus Upstart Accelerator

Upstart Investments

June 2, 2015

Vocus Upstart is an intensive 13 week program in which mentors will help startups get a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to market, search for a business model, win their initial customers and gain traction.

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2016

Amcom morphed into Vocus Upstart in 2016. We provided 15 startups with seed capital and an extensive three-month mentoring program based on the Techstars playbook.

2017

Rob became involved as a mentor in the Plus Eight Accelerator Program.

Mentors and Staff Behind the Plus Eight Accelerator at a conference table

Plus Eight Cohort 2020 Celebrating the end of Demo Night

Startups complete Plus Eight

September 20, 2018

The six-month Plus Eight accelerator program reached its 2018 culmination last night, as seven startups pitched their growth and expansion plans to a sold-out audience.

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Rob Nathan congratulating a founder at Freo Startup Fest 2019

Rob Nathan speaking at Freo Startup Fest 2019

The Inaugural Freo Startup Fest

December 10, 2019

Building on last year’s Startup Christmas Party in Freo, the inaugural Freo Startup Fest featured a VC panel, a pitch comp, For Blue report, Awards and a blues band…

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2019

Upstart founded Freo Startup Fest in partnership with Charlie Gunningham and Paula Taylor as a cornerstone event of Curtin University’s West Tech Fest. Freo Startup continues today as one of West Tech’s most popular events.

Freo Startup continues today, as one of West Tech’s most popular events.

2019

Rob was awarded the Pearcey WA Entrepreneur of the Year for his work with Australian Tenders, Vocus Upstart Tech Accelerator, eGroup, mentoring and advisory, and several angel investments.

Rob Nathan giving his acceptance speech for 2019 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

2019 WA Award: Rob Nathan

June 14, 2019

Our Pearcey Western Australian Entrepreneur of the Year for 2019, Robert Nathan, is passionate and committed to supporting emerging WA start-ups.

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2021

Launched West Tech Investor Network together with Larry Lopez, Tash Teakle and Andrew Outhwaite.

Rob Nathan and Charlie Gunningham Awarding startup Grow Impact, West Tech Investor Network

The West Tech Investor Network's members and first three awarded startups holding their prize cheques.

West Tech Investor Network makes its first 3 investments

December 9, 2021

The inaugural West Tech Fest Investor Network announced its first three investments, of $50K and two lots of $25K, in three WA startups.

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Announcing the Curtin Angel Syndicate

Announcement 2024

Early stage investment forms a critical component of the journey for many startup founders and innovation driven businesses. Yet participation in angel investing remains relatively low in Western Australia compared to other regions.

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2024

The West Tech Investor Network became the Curtin Angel Syndicate, providing a mechanism for the founders to access capital from angel investors drawn from the Curtin community, and for prospective investors to gain an education around the process of angel investing. Rob is the Syndicate Lead.

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2025

Launched the Plus Eight Syndicate together with Brodie McCulloch (Spacecubed) an Tracie Clark, a powerful gateway for sophisticated investors to gain early access to some of Western Australia’s most promising startups.