Building Ventures from Melbourne: Inside the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre
How can a university help turn ambitious ideas into ventures with real-world impact?
Join the University of Melbourne San Francisco Alumni Chapter for an evening with Michael Poisel, Executive Director of the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre (MEC), as he visits the Bay Area to share how the University is building a more connected ecosystem for entrepreneurship.
In this fireside chat, Michael will explore the role MEC plays in helping ideas move from concept to venture. The conversation will go beyond research spinouts to explore how universities can create the conditions for all kinds of entrepreneurial ideas to take shape and grow.
This discussion will be moderated by fellow University of Melbourne alumnus Bevis Cheng, a two-time founder with a decade of experience in the higher education sector, investment banking, and VC.
Stay afterwards for dinner, drinks, and networking with fellow alumni, University representatives and members of the Bay Area innovation community.
About our speakers
Michael Poisel
Michael Poisel is the Executive Director at the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre. Before joining the University of Melbourne, he spent 15 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and led the Penn Centre for Innovation Ventures, helping launch more than 280 spinout companies that raised over $900 million. Drawing on earlier experience in private equity and commercialisation, Michael now leads the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre as it expands its role in helping researchers, students and alumni turn ambitious ideas into ventures with real-world impact.
Moderator: Bevis Cheng
Bevis works in Agentic Commerce at Visa, where he focuses on partnerships at the intersection of payments and AI. Before Visa, he worked with JPMorgan Startup Banking, partnering closely with accelerators and venture capital firms to support founders from pre-seed through Series A. A University of Melbourne alumnus from the Class of 2006, he began his career in banking and real estate development before moving to San Francisco in 2015, where he spent his first year as an Investment Manager with an angel group.