Building a thriving WA innovation ecosystem — and how you can get involved

Meshpoints exists to build a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and innovation across Western Australia, connecting people, organisations, and ideas to create a more resilient, collaborative ecosystem.

We’re excited to share that Meshpoints has secured an additional three years of support from Lotterywest, enabling us to continue and expand this work across the state.

Between 2022–2025, Meshpoints:

• Supported 86 new ecosystem initiatives through $2.6M in devolved grant funding
• Directly impacted 14,172 Western Australians
• Engaged 170 partner organisations across all sectors and regions of WA
• Delivered activity including the WA Innovation Leaders Congress, multiple Town Halls, and a range of Communities of Interest

The impact speaks for itself:

• 82% of partners report a more connected ecosystem
• 76% report increased cross-sector collaboration

In this session, Charlie Gunningham, Head of Ecosystem Engagement at Meshpoints, will outline how the next phase of Meshpoints will operate, building on the foundations of 2022–2025.

This includes:

• Refreshed funding opportunities for the ecosystem
• New ways for partner organisations and individuals to contribute and collaborate

There will be time for open Q&A, followed by an optional 90-minute workshop (9:00–10:30am) for those who want to dive deeper into the first upcoming funding round. Applications for this round will open on 4 February 2026.

This session is ideal for founders, ecosystem builders, community leaders, and organisations interested in shaping the future of innovation in WA.

Agenda:

• 7:30 am: Shameless plugs and announcements. Introduce yourself or announce your startup to the Perth startup community!
• 7:45 am: How Meshpoints is building a thriving WA innovation ecosystem — and how you can get involved
• 8:30 am: Networking & delicious breakfast treats
• 9:00 am: Finish
• 9:00am-10.30am: Optional workshop on the Promotions and Storytelling Challenge

About Meshpoints
Meshpoints is a collective impact project that exists to advance the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Western Australia. It was established by Spacecubed Foundation in July 2022, following a $5.9m grant from Lotterywest.

About Charlie
Charlie Gunningham has spent more than 26 years in our local innovation ecosystem, as a startup founder, angel investor, university lecturer, media commentator and federal/state government executive. He is currently Head of Ecosystem Engagement at Meshpoints, Chair of StartupWA (the advocacy membership body), and on the WA Government's Innovation Advisory Board and advisory board of WA Leaders.

Live stream
This event will also be live streamed by the amazing folks at Perthvideo.com.au.

Access the live stream and all our post-event recordings here:
https://perthvideo.com.au/morning-startup-perth/

Coffee, Food and Sponsors
Tell Joey Zaza's you're heading to Morning Startup on the way in for a free coffee courtesy of Purpose Ventures, and enjoy some of their delicious breakfast treats courtesy of Everest Engineering.

And thanks to the amazing folks at Ammo Marketing and Beacham Group for keeping this meetup alive 🙏 ❤️