Google is partnering with Fishburners, hub for tech-enabled founders and entrepreneurs, to launch the Google News Initiative (GNI) Startups Boot Camp to Australia and New Zealand.
The Boot Camp is a professional development program that takes pre-launch or early-stage news entrepreneurs from idea to launch in just nine weeks.
The camp is fully remote and free for successful applicants. It combines a series of lectures with hands-on support and coaching that’s needed to bring a new idea to the market.
More than 50 start-up newsrooms have graduated from the program since its global launch, with the founders coming from a range of backgrounds as professional journalists, engaged citizens, and entrepreneurs.
Many graduates have gone on to start to change the narrative in their respective countries by launching their companies, catching the news industry’s attention, winning awards and rebuilding trust in their communities.
For more than a decade, Fishburners have been connecting first-time start-up entrepreneurs with expert advice and support. They have supported over 1,000 companies through their programs and community.
The Google and Fishburners Boot Camp also addresses the realities of starting a business or non-profit journalism project in Australia or New Zealand, addressing country-specific questions like tax status, business registration and legal preparedness.
It also looks at ways to strengthen the region’s media ecosystem by tackling issues like diversity and how to increase support for rural and indigenous communities currently under-served by the news.
The nine-week Boot Camp also includes one-on-one coaching, a network of fellow news and information entrepreneurs, as well as a one-year membership to Fishburners Founders Hub.
The membership to the Fishburners Founders Hub, worth $AUD647, will give access to startup perks and discounts as well as community connections, tools, resources, mentoring, events and investor connections.
After the program, graduates will continue to have access to one-on-one support for themselves and their team for a year after completing the Boot Camp.
The coaches are veterans of start-ups and mainstream news, and the curriculum is the result of several years of research and hundreds of interviews with news start-up founders.
Applications are now open until 12 September to Australia and New Zealand residents for the 2022 Boot Camp.
The program will run from 10 October to 9 December (including a one-week break) and aims to accept up to 20 projects.
People can apply at: goo.gle/GNIstartupsbootcamp