Big boost for start-up business

Scott Ko’s recent new business idea is about to be turbo-charged after last month winning the inaugural Hatch Quarter Startup Prize.

Scott’s ColourSpace business will receive $33,000 worth of in-kind support and services from Docklands-based business incubator Hatch Quarter, creative agency Mo Works and digital developer Blitzm Systems.

Mr Ko told Docklands News he expected his fledgling business to take off as a result.

“Everything we’ve done to date has really been to prove the concept,” he said. “But now we’ve got such a great opportunity to take the next big step.”

ColourSpace provides artwork for offices. Art is matched to businesses and rotated every three months on a subscription basis.

Participating artists are exposed to new markets for their works and office workers reap positive benefits, including reduced stress and increased productivity.

“In the bigger picture, we see the whole city becoming a huge art gallery,” Mr Ko said.

Hatch Quarter director Aiman Hamdouna said ColourSpace was chosen from a talented field of applicants because his presentation was so good.

“Scott delivered a great pitch and included all the information we needed to make our final decision. He seems to have the right skills and level of passion for his idea. We look forward to working with him,” Mr Hamdouna said.

“We were utterly blown away by the quality of ideas that were put forth and definitely had our work cut out for us when it came time to narrow down our list of finalists,” he said.

Mr Hamdouna said the ColourSpace concept ticked a lot of positive boxes and, as a former management consultant, Mr Ko was already equipped with many useful skills.

Mr Ko said he hoped that Hatch Quarter could help improve his business model and he was looking forward to improvements to his brand and social media engagement from Mo Works.

Although he acknowledged the potential for Blitzm Systems to automate his business’s underlying platform, he said such an undertaking was probably beyond the scope of the prize.

“But, who knows?” he said. “If the business really takes off, we might have to look at that too.”

“ColourSpace started as a simple idea 12 months ago, with our first steps built on the back of a simple website and a stack of business cards.”

“To have made it this far as a simple start-up is a hugely validating step and to find that other people share our vision is reassuring.”