“NO DOUBT”: CATALYSR’S CO-FOUNDER WEIGHS IN ON WESTERN SYDNEY’S FUTURE AS A MAJOR STARTUP HUB

After a long, fruitless search for meaningful engineering work in Australia, Pakistanti expat Usman Iftikhar resolved to ‘create his own future’ by starting a business.

Eager to help other highly-skilled migrants overcome barriers to their professional fulfillment, he partnered with Jacob Muller and launched Catalysr – a startup incubator program for ‘migrapreneurs’ located in the heart of Western Sydney.

In its first 18 months of operation, Catalysr has worked with 66 migrapreneurs, with 14 new businesses spawned so far.

The social entrepreneur spoke with Dynamic Business about providing migrants and refugees with an alternative employment pathway through entrepreneurship and his mission to create thousands of jobs.

He also discussed Western Sydney’s startup talent, the qualities migrapreneurs must strive to embody, and the significant contribution they are making to the economy. Read more

James Harkness - Dynamic Business - 1 Mar 2018