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Anna Rooke, CEO of QUT Creative Enterprise Australia, tells us about the dedicated creative industries business incubator.

She is in New Zealand this week for The Project at AUT University to talk about her experience helping disruptive creative and digital entrepreneurs build their business vision.

Tell us a bit about Creative Enterprise Australia

Established nine years ago by the Queensland University of Technology to provide support to the sector, Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) is the only dedicated incubator in Australia focused on screen, music, fashion, design and interactive media industries. Our mission is to help creative focused ventures scale globally through mentoring, investment and collaboration opportunities at our events and in our co-share and incubation facilities.

How does the CEA incubator differ from start-up incubators in other industries?

Our diverse services including early-stage investment, technical production services, business mentoring, creative studios and a new co-share space are exclusively focused on the creative industries and targeted to creative sector needs.

What is CEA’s most significant achievement to date?

Our client successes, the creation of Australia’s first dedicated creative enterprise forum Creative3 and Australia’s first $1.3 million Creative Enterprise Fund.

Describe the journey of a creative enterprise through the CEA Incubator?

All of our clients can participate in CEA Incubator programs for 12 months to three years, depending on their needs. We also have an Accelerator program for businesses that have been trading for more than five years. CEA provides flexible mentoring at every stage to help our clients deliver key targets and achieve major milestones.

What connections do you have with New Zealand?

We have been fortunate to build connections with New Zealand’s amazing creative talent through our Creative3 forum. Each year, we have showcased disruptive entrepreneurs including Karen Walker, Mitch Olson, Paul Cameron as well as the The Big Idea’s Elisabeth Vaneveld.

What are you speaking about at The Project: Digital Disruption?

I have been invited to talk about the Creative Enterprise Australia experience in helping disruptive creative and digital entrepreneurs build their business vision. I’m looking forward to building future collaboration opportunities between creative companies in Australia and New Zealand.

Tell us about your role as CEO and how you became involved.

My role involves providing strategy and vision for the organisation, while also overseeing operations and identifying business development opportunities. I relocated to Brisbane seven years ago with my Australian husband following a career in the UK focused on start-ups and innovation. I was fortunate to be in the right place, at the right time and with the right experience when my current CEO role became available within my first few months of relocation.

What was your career pathway to this role?

I have worked in commercialisation, incubation and business development in bio tech, digital and creative technology industries in the UK. My career path has always been focused on developing programs to help early stage ventures and create employment opportunities, so working with CEA continues my passion in this space.

Please describe a typical work day.

Typically my day involves attending meetings, mentoring clients, participating in industry events and due diligence on investment prospects for our Creative Enterprise Fund.  It’s always diverse and rewarding. I feel privileged to work in such an exciting environment with a talented team and truly inspiring creatives.

What unusual experiences in your previous work history have been particularly useful to your current role?

I co-founded a start-up medical technology company, so have been through the challenges of raising capital, building a business, exiting and the many sleepless nights along the way! I can understand the roller coaster of emotions and look to provide guidance to our clients on ‘lows’ as well as the ‘highs’ in building a new venture.

In your experience, what are the biggest challenges facing start-up businesses in the creative economy?

In Australia, access to early stage capital remains the number one barrier for early stage creative industries ventures.

How has CEA helped start-up businesses facing those challenges?

Last July, we launched the first Creative Enterprise Fund enabling pre-seed investment of $25k and early stage capital of $150k for high-growth creative ventures. The Fund has a rolling application process and we have been overwhelmed with applications. We just made our first investment a few weeks ago in a trademark search recognition company, See Out Pty Ltd.

In five years from now, what will CEA have achieved?

By 2019 CEA will have developed a vibrant ecosystem supporting creative entrepreneurs through to established businesses.

We will have a portfolio of assets grown via our Creative Enterprise Fund.

Our international network of creative Incubator partners will provide a ‘landing pad’ for our clients and investee companies.

What’s your big audacious goal for CEA?

I would love to establish a follow-on CEA Creative Investment Fund for creative industries that would offer next stage capital to ventures across the Asia-Pacific maximising cross-boundary talent and collaboration opportunities.