Australia’s top sharing economy leaders recently announced a collaboration to build Australia’s first sharing economy accelerator called The Sharing Hub in Sydney, which aims to foster innovation and work with policy makers to rapidly grow this emerging sector.
The Sharing Hub will be a vibrant community which aims to accelerate the life cycle of young and disruptive startups shaping the industry, and allow access to education, mentorship and investment opportunities, as well as provide a space for entrepreneurs to collaborate and share their advice and experiences.
With the NSW Government’s recent position paper released by the Minister of Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello acknowledging the importance of the collaborative economy, the accelerator also aims to work with policy makers to share key insights about the industry which is estimated to be worth around $504 million in NSW alone.
Who are the peope behind The Sharing Hub?
The hub will be led by some of Australia’s most influential sharing economy leaders including Steve Orenstein, the founder and CEO of on demand express courier service Zoom2u; Alexis Soulopoulos, the CEO and co-founder of Australia’s leading pet-sitting network Mad Paws; and Will Davies, the CEO of car-sharing and rental service Car Next Door.
Leading the team will be Mike Rosenbaum, ex Deals Direct co-founder and CEO of self-storage marketplace Spacer.com.au, who is one of Australia’s leading investors and on the board of several of Australia’s most successful peer-to-peer start-ups.
“With the collaborative economy being a relatively new sector in Australia, we are launching The Sharing Hub in Sydney where both young and established companies can share knowledge and experience to inspire, invest and promote the growth of this exciting emerging industry.”
“We have already started hosting events to begin building the network and give new and prospective startups the opportunity to connect, meet leaders and seek advice within the industry,” comments Mike Rosenbaum, the CEO of Spacer.com.au, who will be leading The Sharing Hub.
Why is The Sharing Hub necessary today?
The sharing economy has been on an exponential growth in Australia over recent years, with new technologies playing a pivotal role in its growth to enable scale and economic impact. This gives start-ups endless opportunities to create platforms where both business and consumers can monetise their skills and underutilised resources.
“The sharing economy has facilitated the creation of new markets, and economic activity where some previously never existed. It’s opening up a number of interesting possibilities including on-demand access to goods and services, efficient utilisation of unused inventory of assets and increased employment including the rise of micro entreprepreneurs.
“This sector has immense potential which is why we’re investing in growing this sector with The Sharing Economy Hub, and to show why it’s time to start caring about sharing,” continues Mike Rosenbaum.
