INCITE Ambassador, Andrew Hagen, wears many hats!
He is the Director for startup Track’em (a leading asset and materials tracking platform), an advisor for Cellr (an online marketing platform for wine), Smartsnugg (the world’s first intelligent sleeping bag and baby monitoring system) and Humm (a buy now, pay later services).
He is also a Director of a disability housing organisation called Cambreak and Managing Director of Breakwater Project – Managing Director.
Of course many in the WA startup scene also know Andrew as a mentor and also as he works on a couple of startups in the medical and climate spaces.
With so much experience and knowledge, we’re excited to take five with Andrew to talk about what his vision for WA technology and key advice!
Question: Why are you interested in supporting and showcasing WA technology and innovation?
Andrew: I’ve been through the ringer in startups in WA. Some great experiences and some terrible. I want to give some real experience back to up and coming startups so that they don’t make the same mistakes I did. I now have loads of grey hair and scar tissue that I can help fast track other companies to succeed. I’ve also raised over $1m on Kickstarter and have written a book on how to raise money on this platform so always happy to help others perform well on crowdfunding.
Question: What future goals would you like to see when it comes to WA technology?
Andrew: I would like to see a seed focused VC fund formed in WA. In fact, I’ve written a position paper on it as I feel it is a vital part of the startup journey that is missing in WA. We have angel investors and we have some VCs but not in the same way as the east coast or US that don’t take too much equity but are open to very early stage investment rounds which are needed for ideas to take root and grow.
Question: Why did you decide to become an INCITE Ambassador?
Andrew: As a previous runner up, I know the value it can give to a startup when on the stage. Investor eyeballs are on the awards as they look to find out early opportunities to invest in tech that interests them. I also learned to improve my value proposition pitch which helped me promote my business.
Question: What advice have you got for any of our local innovators looking to start something or grow their innovation?
Andrew: OMG – where do I start? There are so many considerations. I guess I’d filter first by hardware or software and then start to understand their market and how to penetrate it. MVPs and paying customers are the tinder (not the app) for the fuel you can add to light up your concept.
Thank you Andrew for your support for the INCITE Awards. You will be seeing Andrew around for the 30th INCITE Awards events and activities so you can take another five with him!
