Founders Day: Turning Insights, Access & Connection into Undeniable Momentum in 2026
A one-day founder summit. 17+ speakers, 20+ mentors over five panels. Built for driven, diverse founders & operators on a growth trajectory.
There's a decision you've been circling for six weeks. Maybe it's the grant application. Perhaps it's a strategic partnership, sales, or contract call you keep planning, running past AI, and postponing. It's not that you don't know enough. You've read the article, watched the talk, saved the thread. But the advice is general and your situation isn't.
Nobody's told you what's actually working right now versus what worked two years ago. The one person who could answer your real question in eight minutes has handled it before, and finding them takes three introductions and a fortnight. And you're doing most of it alone. The founder who solved this exact problem last quarter is out there somewhere, but they're not in your contacts, so you're rebuilding from scratch what someone two suburbs over already figured out.
So it sits. And the momentum you had a few months ago quietly becomes the thing you meant to get to.
Founders Day closes the gap in one Friday (Here's What You Get)
A one-day summit built to help driven founders get hard things done and build real momentum, with industry leaders, 1:1 consults and coworking.
The morning answers what's working. Five panels across funding, marketing, ops and partnerships, on what's moving the needle right now, not two years ago. You leave each one knowing your next move.
The afternoon answers your question. Book 1:1 consults with 17 mentors across legal, finance, marketing, growth, product, tech, fundraising, grants, partnerships and sales. Put your real situation in front of someone who's solved it before. Your grant, your hire, your deck, not general advice. Most founders book one or two sessions.
And you stop doing it alone. Fifty founders at the same stage, hitting the same walls. The person who cracked your problem last quarter is next to you at lunch, instead of two suburbs away.
You leave with next steps, not a reading list. Actions you can start that same afternoon.
Five expert panels. On what's working right now:
Sales, Partnerships & Sponsors in the Age of Agents ·
Speakers: Mike Davis, Ozer Bilgin, Daniel Rooney and Lisa LeMarketing Rewrite: Keeping Attention When Everyone Has AI ·
Speakers: Luke Marshall, Miriam Deliva, Shaye Pumar and Lakshane FonsekaOps Without the Overhead: The AI-Native Stack · Speakers: Safi Heidari, Rida Jafri, Imtiaz Aziz and Christian Grancourt
The Equity-Free Funding Game in 2026 ·
Speakers: Jasper Steel, Usman Iftikhar and Michelle Chen among othersFundraising for Startups in 2026: What's Actually Working ·
Speakers: Lauren Morrey, Angus Keck, Thea Ngo, Jane Lovell, and Samyak Desai
Along with a half day of coworking. Stone & Chalk floor space. Work alongside driven founders and operators.
Food and drinks. Coffee from 8:45. Founder lunch. Afterparty with drinks and dessert.
Speakers Across Panels
Mentors
Sales, Partnerships & Sponsorships
Lisa Le (Partnerships / Sales)
Ozer Bilgin (Partnerships & Sales)
Francesco Brancato (Sales, Partnerships and Sponsorship)
Daniel Rooney (BDM, Partnerships)
Anthony Kwok (Sales, Partnerships, AI)
Sean Teh (Partnerships)
Marketing
Luke Marshall (Marketing)
Miriam Deliva (Marketing, PR and Branding)
Shaye Pumar (Marketing)
Tech & AI
Christian Grancourt (Tech & AI)
Safi Heidari (Tech & AI)
Liam Byrne (Tech & AI)
Kasper Kane (Tech, AI, Automations)
Prem Kumar (Tech / AI)
Business Fundamentals - Finance, Legal, Ops etc.
Rida Jafri (Finance)
Imtiaz Aziz (Biz Ops, Strategy & Tech)
Vivek Dahiya (Legal / IP)
Nathan Lu (Other Legal Matters)
Sean Teh (Ops, Strategy and Partnerships)
Fundraising and Non-Dilutive Funding
Jasper Steel (Grants)
Usman Iftikhar (Everything)
Safi Heidari (Fundraising/Investment)
Daniel Rooney (Fundraising)
Shilpa Jhunjhunwala (Fundraising/Investment)
The Day at a Glance
8:00 – 8:30 AM · Doors open Coffee, registration, and settling in.
8:30 – 8:55 AM · Welcome · Opening remarks and an Acknowledgement of Country.
8:55 – 9:15 AM · A word from our supporters · The partners behind the day.
9:15 – 10:00 AM · Sales, Partnerships & Sponsors in the Age of Agents · Winning B2B/B2C customers and building partnerships or sponsors in 2026.
10:05 – 10:50 AM · Marketing Rewrite: Keeping Attention When Everyone Has AI · Cutting through when everyone has the same tools.
11:00 – 11:50 AM · Ops Without the Overhead: The AI-Native Stack · Running lean with an AI-first operating stack.
11:50 AM – 12:40 PM · Founder lunch ·Food, coffee, and real conversation.
12:40 – 1:15 PM · The Equity-Free Funding Game in 2026 · Grants and non-dilutive capital, without giving away equity.
1:20 – 2:00 PM · Fundraising for Startups in 2026: What's Actually Working · What investors are actually backing right now.
2:00 – 2:20 PM · Afternoon tea · Refuel and reset.
2:20 – 5:00 PM · 1:1 Mentoring & Coworking · Booked sessions with specialists across every discipline. Or co-work and action your insights.
5:15 – 5:30 PM · Closing remarks ·Final thoughts and next steps.
5:30 – 8:30 PM · Afterparty · Drinks, dessert, and good company. Venue shared on the day.
We Know it's Underpriced. Here's Why.
Booking these specialists individually would run you well over a thousand dollars, before you count the space, the food, or a conference ticket. Founders Day is $30.
This is the first event of its kind, and our mission is to level the playing field for 1st-gen migrant founders, so we're subsidising tickets. Catalysr and Uncommon Collective fund the day, and our sponsors cover the rest. Nobody's making money on your ticket.
Who This is For
Growing founders and operators running real businesses with real impact. Migrant and refugee founders especially. Growth-stage, not idea-stage. People who leave with a next step, not a notebook full of theory.
Just 50-60 spots. Booked in order of registration.
About the Organisers
Catalysr is an award-winning startup accelerator on a mission to create, cultivate and celebrate migrant and refugee entrepreneurs (migrapreneurs) across Australia. Since 2016, Catalysr has supported 1300+ migrapreneurs to launch more than 300 new ventures.
Uncommon Collective is a community-led social enterprise creating migrant-friendly (not migrant-exclusive) spaces where tech and impact-led founders, operators and creators grow beyond programs and coworking. Their mission is to make the uncommon common for the next generation of founders, especially migrant founders.
Stone & Chalk is one of Australia's largest innovation hubs, home to hundreds of startups, scaleups and founders. Their Melbourne Startup Hub is our home for the day.