Developed in Geelong, by Geelong professionals, to help nurture Geelong's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In 2016 at the Skilling the Bay Entrepreneurship Forum, participants identified a need to map the region's entrepreneurship ecosystem - both to identify what was available and to highlight gaps inhibiting its growth. A collaborative project was established between Skilling the Bay, Enterprise Geelong, Entrepreneurs Geelong and Deakin University Manufutures, with a broad reference group drawn from across all entrepreneurial sectors in Geelong.
In order to better understand how other entrepreneurial ecosystems across the world worked, the group reviewed research from across the globe, identifying nine ecosystem pillars, and providing a foundation for exploring the Geelong entrepreneurial ecosystem in more detail.
Using the nine pillars, the group then developed a beta version of the map. It's out of date now, so we haven't linked it here.
Based on the Literature Review, a survey was then conducted of the Geelong Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, to identify themes, gaps and opportunities for acceleration. Recommendations to advance the ecosystem were provided, and these were endorsed by the reference group in May 2017.
Based on the Literature Review, and survey, this web portal was produced to help connect entrepreneurs of all kinds with the services they need to prosper, and to help other actors within the system understand more about the thriving ecosystem of Geelong.
It's intended that the GEEmap project will be iterated upon in the future. If you're interested in replicating GEEmap for your region, please do make contact.