The Founders Series will provide real-world, hands-on experience of an entrepreneur’s journey, from conceiving an idea through to starting up a new business. Founders will get the opportunity to develop an idea that solves a real problem, create a new product or service to meet the customers’ needs, and work towards starting up their own business.

Founders will be exposed to many aspects of innovation & entrepreneurship via workshops, hands-on mentoring and coaching from Bruneian and global entrepreneurs, investors and experts. This includes learning how to ‘be creative’ & innovating new products & services, establishing & managing a founding team, engaging customers, fundamentals of setting up a new business, through to presenting to investors & senior executives.

Catalyst is the perfect opportunity to turn a class project or that great idea, into a real business.

With the aim of supporting the creation of new student & graduate owned businesses, upon completion of Catalyst, Founders will be invited to pitch for Awards. These Awards will support the ongoing development of the new business, including developing products or services, securing customers, setting up the new business, generating sales.

The Awards will include :

• Financial Awards – for development of products / services, executing the commercialization strategy, establishing the new business.
• Mentoring – hands-on start-up, innovation, commercialization and capital raising mentoring.
• DST Guidance – technical, market and commercial advice from DST senior executives; access to proprietary DST market knowledge, intelligence and customer understanding; potential sourcing of customers for product validation; opportunity to leverage DST’s channels to market and sales eco-system.
• Start-Up Support – entrance into DARe’s start-up and entrepreneurship education and development programmes, such as Accelerator, BootCamp, Business Mentoring; opportunity to apply for DARe’s ‘Co-Matching’ financing grant.

The Builders Series will provide real-world, hands-on experience of an innovator’s journey, from identifying the problem through to developing – and possibly even implementing – the solution. Builders will get the opportunity to work with DST’s management, and DST’s Bruneian & international partners, while solving DST’s problem statements and building solutions to meet DST’s needs.

Builders will gain first-hand experience in aspects of creativity & innovation, via workshops, coaching and sharing from Bruneian and global experts and professionals. This includes learning how to define the customer’s problems and needs, ‘be creative’ to develop new solutions, innovating new products & services, establishing & managing the relationship with the customer, through to testing and validating the solution with the customer to ensure their needs are met

Catalyst is the perfect opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained at university to address real-world technical and commercial needs.

With the aim of supporting the creation of young Bruneian ‘problem solvers’, upon completion of Catalyst, teams will be invited to pitch for Awards. These Awards could support the ongoing development of the newly created solution with DST, or the opportunity to work on other projects at DST.

The Awards will include :

• Financial Awards – for solutions that meet DST’s requirements.
• Paid Internships – opportunity to work with DST to address problem statements, develop creative & innovative solutions for DST, and our customers and clients.
• Mentoring – hands-on technical and commercial mentoring and support by senior executives from DST and their partners.