Do you remember what inspired you to become an engineer in the first place? Rediscover that fresh feeling through the Startmate Engineering Fellowship.

How? You’ll get a backstage pass to the tech that’s shaping the future, learn from the best of the best and connect with a vibrant community of technical founders, engineers and startup operators.

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Continuous Learning

“Startups are super interesting. The teams are small and the velocity is high. … You learn enough to fix the problem, build a solution and move on to the next problem. This results in exposure to a lot of technologies and approaches, and a lot of personal growth.”
— Eddie Atkinson, Student Fellow (Summer 2020/21)

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Technical to non-technical

“By the third day of my internship, I was already pitching to the Queensland Small Business Commission.”
— Tsamara, Student Fellow (Summer 2020/21)

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Solo founder to founding team

“The great thing about hiring through Startmate is the people who join through one of the Fellowship programs are already pre-selected for being amazing. They are looking for change and roles where they can have a big impact, and everything that working for a startup can provide.”
— Gridcognition (Startmate, Mel20 Alumni)

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Solo founder to founding team

“Why does the UK have such a financial services driven economy? Basically … ask the smartest undergraduates ‘what are you going to do next?’, they're all like, ‘oh, I'm going to go work at Goldman Sachs’ or whatever. … The reason Silicon Valley is so special? It is the one place in the world where [ambitious students] say ‘we’ll start a company’.”
— Matt Clifford, Founder at Entrepreneur First.

What is the Engineering Fellowship?

The Startmate Engineering Fellowship is a 4-week, virtual program that facilitates learning, growth and connection with a community of like-minded technical peers. 

You’ll:

  • Connect with technical peers in round-robin style networking events, 1:1 coffee roulettes and digital-world networking;
  • Learn from subject matter experts in technical masterclasses; 
  • Connect with technical startup teams and leaders, get to know the people behind the tech, and build your referral network;
  • Be introduced to startups that are hiring today and tomorrow;
  • Hear honest, raw and inspirational stories from engineers and technical founders, learning about what it's like to be part of an early-stage team;
  • Learn the 101 language of early-stage startups; and
  • More to come!


The Engineering Fellowship connects experienced engineers from outside the startup ecosystem with our vibrant community of early-stage ANZ startups and broad network of investors and partners. It’s been designed to help you rediscover your curiosity, love of tech and that fresh engineering feeling.

We will offer a limited number of Engineering Fellows one-on-one coaching support with a technical leader from our community. Whether you're transitioning to people leadership, want to build your tech-lead muscles, or are planning your career trajectory, we’ll match you with a coach who can help. Please see the application form for more details.

Who is the Engineering Fellowship for?

The Startmate Engineering Fellowship is for experienced engineers of all disciplines seeking to build their network within the early-stage startup community.

Many of the startups in our community are software companies, but there are also high growth companies spanning deep tech, hardware, biomedical technology, climatetech, agtech and more. If you have a professional background in an engineering or technical role, we'd love you to join our community. 

Regardless of whether you’re actively looking for work, considering a job change in the future, or just want to explore cool tech and join a community of peers, the Fellowship is for you! 

If you’re a graduate without professional experience, we’d love you to apply for our Student Fellowship. If you’re an aspiring Founder, we’d love you to apply for our Founders Fellowship

Key Dates and Info

The program will be delivered remotely with most events scheduled outside of standard business hours. Local in-person community events may commence as restrictions permit.

Approximately 4 to 5 hours of optional events will be scheduled each week, most of which will be recorded for asynchronous viewing. The time commitment will depend on your level of community engagement.

Apply for Startmate Engineering Fellowship