Sydney-based companies muru-D and Pollenizer visited Launceston on Thursday and Friday to teach Tasmanians important start-up principles, including experimentation and breaking down their vision. 

The event saw 35 aspiring mentors from across Tasmania attend a training session on Thursday night, followed by an educational boot camp at the UTAS School of Architecture on Friday. 

Australiz founder Felroy Dsouza said he’d learned how to apply his experiences to prospective businesses.

“I’m trying to ensure how different business models and markets are done...and then pass it on to the next generation of entrepreneurs in Tasmania,” he said.  

AR Story Time creator Jonathan O’Duffy said he received feedback on how to crowdfund his business.

Mr O’Duffy’s start-up uses augmented reality to present customised children’s books in 3D. 

He said he is planning on relocating his business to Launceston. 

Start-up Tasmania founder James Riggall said the event provided networking, upskilling and an overview of Tasmania’s burgeoning start-up community. 

“This is about building a start-up community in Tasmania and having that community be deeply connected, and I think this event has really proven that that’s possible,” he said.

The event is part of the state government funded Entrepreneurship and Incubator Hubs, to be built in the former Mercury building in Hobart and in Macquarie House in Launceston.

Mr Riggall said the Macquarie House project was progressing, and on track to open early 2017.

“Because there’s so much engagement building, we’re not really willing to wait. So we’ve secured a pop up space in Launceston which will be opening in the next six to eight weeks.”

Pollenizer partner Nicola Farrell said the lean canvas business model allowed start-up leaders to discover their business model and address future risks. 

“I found the conversation richer than what we’ve done in other cities with stronger (start-up) ecosystems,” she said. 

Pollenizer is Australia’s first incubator, and has a strong reputation for coaching, while muru-D is a startup accelerator backed by Telstra.