Bullfrog launches pro-bono residency for women-led start-ups

Independent creative business, Bullfrog, is launching a 6-month brand services residency for women-led start-ups, designed to offer a fair advantage in the unequal world of business.

Women-led start-ups received just 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020 (UN Women, 2023) and studies have shown that this is due to several gendered factors, including investors being more likely to bet on somebody who looks and talks like them, with the same social connections.

Bullfrog’s new pro-bono residency program, Fair Advantage, is designed to offer women-owned start-ups a creative and strategic edge in the unequal world of business. It is an ongoing commitment that aims to break down some of those barriers preventing women entrepreneurs from achieving the investment they need to progress to the next stage of their business.

Who is Fair Advantage for?

The residency is designed for pre-seed start-ups in the Greater Melbourne area, that are majority owned and led by women and/or non binary people. It will have a particular focus on uplifting entrepreneurs who may already experience other forms of disadvantage in business, such as women of colour and First Nations women, women with disability and/or who are neurodivergent, refugees and queer people.

What does the residency include?

Each 6-month residency includes 24hr access to a co-working space at Bullfrog HQ in Cremorne, near Richmond Station. The accessible space includes Wi-Fi, printing facilities, meeting rooms and full kitchen and bathroom amenities. It also features an onsite production studio, including photography cyclorama, edit suites and VO/podcast room.

During their residency, Bullfrog will work with each business to provide a roadmap of $25,000 worth of brand services, tailored to their needs. These services may include anything from brand strategy and audience development, to branding and advertising, PR, user experience, design and production.

The launch of Fair Advantage has been thoughtfully considered in line with the 2023 UN International Women’s Day theme, ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a Gender Equal Future’.

Says Matilda Hobba, managing director, Bullfrog: “This year’s IWD theme is all about innovation driving disruption and the best path to a version of innovation that represents a diverse and inclusive population of people, is to invite a diverse range of voices, values and experiences to the table – whilst removing some of the many roadblocks standing in the way.”

Says Dalton Henshaw, CEO and founder, Bullfrog: “While we’re not a venture capital fund, we are a creative business who knows what it takes to build something great from the ground up – both for our partners and our own brands. So we want to invest in women entrepreneurs by sharing the resources that we’re privileged to have at our disposal, including not only our talented team and HQ facilities, but our expansive network of business connections, which we know can be vital in the early start-up stage.”

Applications for the Fair Advantage residency will be opening soon; be sure to follow Bullfrog on LinkedIn and Instagram for more information. If you or someone you know would like to register an expression of interest, please email Matilda Hobba or Dalton Henshaw at fairadvantage@bullfrogmedia.com.au.

There is real power within our privileged circle of connections, so Bullfrog encourages everyone reading this to share this opportunity with their contacts outside of the advertising world.