Westpac Startup Garage
Join us for four days of complimentary events designed to connect founders, business owners and emerging entrepreneurs. Gain access to practical tools, expert-led discussions and fresh insights to help support the growth of your business.
Address: Glasshaus Inside | 44 Cremorne St, Cremorne VIC 3121
Opening hours: 13-16 August, 10-5pm
Start ahead with Kate Reid | LUNE
Aerospace-engineer-turned-baker and founder of Lune, one of Australia’s most iconic food brands.
13th Aug
5:30pm Canapes & drinks
6pm Kate Reid Q&A
Start ahead with Michelle & Zara | Shameless Media
Co-founders of Shameless Media, hear real-world insights on audience, brand and business growth.
14th Aug
5pm Canapes & drinks
6pm Michelle & Zara Q&A
Start ahead with Fearless Females
Real, relatable founder stories in a live format designed to engage.
Sessions Daily
Start ahead with DataX
Book a one-on-one session with the Westpac DataX team and discover how customer, industry and market insights can help inform your next business decision. Whether you're looking to understand your audience, identify growth opportunities or validate a new idea, Westpac DataX specialists can help translate data into practical actions for your business.
11am – 12pm
Westpac Money Talks #1 | Funding your next move
Understand how to grow your business sustainably by measuring the impact of growth, managing funding requirements, improving efficiency and maintaining healthy cash flow along the way.
1 – 2pm
Founders workshop hosted by Google
Google's Antonia McGrath shares a range of tools and techniques to help you from planning and business strategy to finding and talking to your customers across Google. Whether you are new or experienced across Google platforms you will come away from this session with tips and best practices. Antonia will explore tools like Google Trends, Google Analytics, Google My Business and share key startup resources to accelerate with Google.
3 – 4pm
Fearless Females | Christine Khor
Join entrepreneur, investor and mentor Christine Khor for an honest conversation about building a business, backing yourself through uncertainty, and turning ideas into action.
5:30 – 7:30pm
Kate Reid | LUNE
Aerospace-engineer-turned-baker and founder of Lune, known for redefining modern pastry and building one of Australia’s most iconic food brands. Shares a powerful story of precision, obsession, creativity and scaling without compromise.
5:30: Drinks & Canapes
6pm: Kate Reid
Sessions Daily
Start ahead with DataX
Book a one-on-one session with the Westpac DataX team and discover how customer, industry and market insights can help inform your next business decision. Whether you're looking to understand your audience, identify growth opportunities or validate a new idea, Westpac DataX specialists can help translate data into practical actions for your business.
11am – 12pm
Westpac Money Talks #2 | Cashflow confidence
Learn how cash really moves through your business, identify the causes of cash flow pressures, and discover practical ways to improve liquidity, support growth and stay in control.
1:30 – 3pm
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry session
An insightful session for start-ups and growing businesses that combines the latest headlines shaping Victoria's business landscape with practical guidance on hiring your first employee. Hear what other start-ups and small businesses are experiencing as they scale, the challenges they're facing, and where they're seeking support across workplace relations, people and HR. Gain practical insights to help you build your workforce with confidence and navigate the next stage of growth.
5 – 7:30pm
Female Founder Awards Panel
Meet some of the Westpac Female Founder Awards finalists as they share their story behind their business in a Q&A.
Michelle Andrews & Zara McDonald | Shameless Media
Building a media brand for a new generation. In conversation with Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald co-founders Shameless Media with a clear vision: to create a media brand that genuinely reflected the interests, intelligence, and habits of young women. What began as a podcast has evolved into a multi-platform media business built on audience trust, consistency, and a deep understanding of modern consumers.
5pm: Drinks and canapes
5:30pm: Female Founder Awards Finalists panel
6pm: Michelle & Zara
Sessions Daily
Start ahead with DataX
Book a one-on-one session with the Westpac DataX team and discover how customer, industry and market insights can help inform your next business decision. Whether you're looking to understand your audience, identify growth opportunities or validate a new idea, Westpac DataX specialists can help translate data into practical actions for your business.
11am – 12pm
Westpac Money Talks #3 | Getting paid faster
Understand how delayed customer payments affect your cash flow and explore strategies to collect money sooner, reduce cash gaps and improve business resilience.
1 – 2pm
Fearless Females | Jane Cay, Birdsnest
Join a community of female founders, business owners and leaders sharing real stories, practical advice and valuable connections. Attend inspiring events, hear from successful entrepreneurs and build the confidence to take your next step.
3 – 5:30pm
Founder Connections: hosted by The Founders Union and Tech Ready Women
Meet collaborators. Build your network. Connect with ecosystem support. Whether you're solo, have a co-founder, or are already building, this is your chance to connect with other founders and the people who can help you grow. Hosted by The Founders Union and Tech Ready Women.
3-3:45pm: Founder Connections Talk: TFU + TRW
3:45-4:30pm: Curated Networking
4:30-5:30pm: Canapes and Drinks
Sessions Daily
Start ahead with DataX
Book a one-on-one session with the Westpac DataX team and discover how customer, industry and market insights can help inform your next business decision. Whether you're looking to understand your audience, identify growth opportunities or validate a new idea, Westpac DataX specialists can help translate data into practical actions for your business.
11 – 12pm
Westpac Money Talks #4 | Writing a solid business plan
Discover practical tools to strengthen your business planning, analyse your market and operations, and create a process of continuous review that keeps your business aligned to its goals.
1 – 2pm
Founders workshop hosted by Amazon
Lena Zak, Country Manager of Amazon Business, and Sean Mathieson, Data + AI GTM Lead at AWS, share how e-procurement and AI can save your business time and money – so you can focus on what matters to you.
Founder Talks
Hear from founders who have built, scaled and navigated the ups and downs of growing a business.
Westpac Workshops
Interactive workshops designed to help you build business confidence and capability.
Customer Insight Consults
Access customer and market insights with DataX to help shape your next move.
Start Ahead
Get the foundations of your business set up on the spot.
Start ahead with DataX
Turn Data Into Your Next Opportunity
Free Coffee provided by OPERATOR25
Westpac customer’s OPERATOR25 are stepping into the Startup Garage, serving coffee to the founder community while showcasing the businesses helping Melbourne’s startup scene thrive.
Westpac is investing in the next wave of entrepreneurs with our partners
In partnership with The Founders Union, Tech Ready Women and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce, Westpac is bringing together founder stories and business insights to support Melbourne’s startup and small business community.
Start ahead with startup business hub
Whether you're setting up your banking, taking payments, or planning for growth, Westpac can help you take the next step with confidence.