The Impact Program
From early idea to real-world venture
A 6-month, in-person venture development journey for founders building at the leverage points where real change happens – food, materials, energy, health – and the systems that connect them.
Why it exists
The operating system of human civilisation was built on a flawed premise – that the world is a collection of objects to be optimised, not a web of relationships to be nurtured. Five of nine planetary boundaries crossed. Socio-ecological systems under simultaneous strain. Crises the system generates but cannot solve.
That shift doesn’t happen through isolated breakthroughs. It happens when enough ventures are connected, coordinated, and building in the same direction that the old pattern can no longer hold.
We help you stress-test an idea against real-world conditions, combining startup fundamentals with systems thinking, life-centred design, and regenerative enterprise principles. We can’t guarantee fundability – but we can help you work out whether you’re building something worth funding. CoLabs acts as convener, educator, and ecosystem weaver throughout. At the end, the path is yours.
Who's it for
- Founders at idea → pre-seed stage
- Researchers and students exploring venture pathways
- Operators transitioning into venture building
- Individuals or early teams working on complex, system-level challenges
What you'll move through
This program is built to take you from early idea to real-world venture readiness through a structured, step-by-step progression:
- Idea / hypothesis exploration – getting clear on what you’re really building, and why
- Opportunity validation – testing the idea against real-world conditions
- Prototyping or early testing – making it tangible
- Venture readiness – becoming funding-ready and execution-ready
By the end, you’ll be positioned to attract funding or support, partner with universities and research institutes, build a team, and initiate pilots, partnerships or early revenue.
How you'll learn
- Structured, fortnightly venture-building workshops (1.5–3 hrs)
- Alternating CLIMB sessions – peer support, collective sensemaking and shared problem-solving
- Real-world testing and validation
- Access to domain experts across IP, biotech, regulation, funding and commercialisation
- Physical space – lab and/or engineering and office access for selected ventures
- A like-minded cohort working on meaningful challenges
What makes it different
- Built for complexity – biotech, climate, deep tech, not just software startups
- Challenge-led
- Life-centred and regenerative thinking embedded throughout
- A hybridisation of deep thinking and hands-on doing
- Deep integration into the CoLabs ecosystem – space, people, partners
- An optional pathway into our forthcoming venture studio (equity-based support)
Where you'll focus
We prioritise initiatives that work across domains such as biotech, biomaterials and green chemistry; climate and energy; the circular economy; food systems and agriculture; nature-based solutions; and deep tech that addresses systemic challenges.
But we hold these loosely. The most interesting work often doesn’t fit neatly into a list – and we’re under no illusion that we have the full picture. If you’re building something that doesn’t map cleanly onto the above but is genuinely oriented toward a flourishing future, we’d still love to hear from you.
Program Structure
| Duration | 6 months, in-person |
| Cohort | Small – 5–15 teams |
| Lab access | 4–5 ventures with lab access |
| Workspace | 5–10 with coworking/engineering access |
| Commitment | 2–3 days/week, in-person, testing and iterating in the real world |
| Rhythm | Fortnightly core workshops + alternating CLIMB sessions |
After the program
We want to see you succeed, which is why there’s a range of post-program pathways – continue in whichever suits:
- Regular membership – build at CoLabs, pay for services
- Stay in the ecosystem – build elsewhere, remain part of our alumni and community
- Venture studio pathway – build with CoLabs as a partner (equity-based)
Our Impact Member Alumni
Samin Haque
Founder @ Melbourne Bionics
Chloe Harper
Founder @ Off With the Pixies Studio
Vigneswarian Appia
Founder @ CForge
David Stapleton
CSO @ Utilium
