Melbourne, Australia – Draper Startup House, a global network of spaces connected to

resources for entrepreneurs, opened its first Australia location in Melbourne in

partnership with student accommodation provider, Y Suites, on 30th November.

“This collaboration with Draper Startup House and Y Suites is the first of its kind in the

world – to turn a private student accommodation space into a startup incubator,” said

Vikram Bharati, founder and CEO of Draper Startup House. “This is significant because

the student ecosystem will now have the ability to build businesses while they are

studying in university. Hopefully many of these students will become employers and

create jobs when they graduate. This is a new model for economic development for the

city of Melbourne, and we are very excited to contribute to the community with our

efforts.”

The facility provides the university students of Melbourne with a global network of

resources and a vast startup ecosystem to tap into while they are studying. Draper

Startup House’s considerations for entering the market were the Australian Government’s

support of tech ecosystems and industry collaborations through initiatives by institutional

bodies such as Startup Victoria and FinTech Australia, and agreements such as the

Australia-Singapore FinTech Bridge Agreement.

James Goh Wee Shian, General Manager of Y Suites, said, "With the development of

Australia as a regional tech hub as well as a major education hub, this partnership is well

positioned to leverage on the incredibly talented pool of international and domestic

students. [The partnership] will seek to achieve [the vision of a world-class technological

Media Kit - December 2022 - [Y Suites X Draper Startup House Partnership - Melbourne]

hub] in four distinct ways, as encapsulated by the acronym, 'ACES.' We will serve as an

anchor hub for community events, collaborate with all stakeholders and start-ups,

engage stakeholders to understand their needs and build truly meaningful programs and

partnerships, and support start-ups through fundings, resources, networks and other

channels."

The launch was supported by Melbourne-based education technology company HEX, a

partner of Draper Startup House and portfolio company of Draper Startup House

Ventures.

Draper Startup House Melbourne is located at 183 A’Beckett Street, in Melbourne’s

North-Central city area, and joins a network of 31 other Draper Startup House locations

throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania.

1. Draper Startup House has launched its first location in Australia, through a

partnership with Y Suites.

2. The Draper Startup House Y Suites tie-up is unique in the hospitality and startup

ecosystem industries, as it combines private student accommodation with with a

direct and indirect global network of resources for entrepreneurs

3. The Draper Startup House Y Suites facility provides the university students of

Melbourne with a global network of resources and a vast startup ecosystem to tap

into while they are studying.

4. For Melbourne, the Draper Startup House Y Suites facility further strengthens its

position as a regional tech and education hub of local and international talent and

students.

5. The Australian Government’s support of tech ecosystems and industry

collaborations through initiatives by institutional bodies such as Startup Victoria

and FinTech Australia, and agreements such as the Australia-Singapore FinTech

Bridge Agreement, were a consideration for Draper Startup House to enter the

market.

6. Draper Startup House Melbourne is Draper Startup House’s first international

co-working and co-living space in Australia, joining a network of 31 other locations

throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania.

Y Suites was created out of a vision to develop a global student accommodation

brand that puts student experience at the forefront of its mission. It was

established in 2020 under Wee Hur Hospitality, a subsidiary of Wee Hur Holdings

Ltd, a Singapore listed company with core businesses in the built environment

sectors in Singapore and Australia.

Y Suites is committed to delivering an exceptional student experience for its

residents. To that end, we have delved meticulously during the design and

conceptualisation stages into the pain points and challenges of students. The

result of this brand value proposition is a brand with excellent customer service,

customer-centric innovation and technology integration as Y Suites’ core

competencies. Properties under Y Suites are equipped with brand-new facilities;

approachable property staffs; extensive Y Community Experience (Y-CEP) Program

that focuses on community bonding, personal development, health and well-being

education, academic support, and cultural empathy development; and a brand

who wishes to empower Y Suites residents.

Draper Startup House began as Tribe Theory, founded by Vikram Bharati in Singapore

in March 2018, a concept for digital nomads to have relaxed, yet productive work

spaces. It joined the Draper Ecosystem to form Draper Startup House in 2019.

Described as a "hostel with a twist", in that it welcomes and empowers

entrepreneurs, startup teams, professional remote workers, and diverse-minded

travelers. It connects these audiences to technology venture building programs

and investment opportunities, business services, Draper University, and the

Draper Venture Network.

Y Suites International Headquarters

39 Kim Keat Road, Wee Hur Building, Singapore 328814

Y Suites Student Accommodations

Y Suites on A’Beckett (Melbourne) – 183 A’Beckett St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Y Suites on Gibbons (Sydney) – 15 Gibbons St, Redfern NSW 2016, Australia

Y Suites on Waymouth (Adelaide) – 128 Waymouth Street, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia

Draper Startup House International Headquarters

Draper Startup House

39 Ann Siang Road

Singapore 069716

Media Kit - December 2022 - [Y Suites X Draper Startup House Partnership - Melbourne]

Draper Startup House USA Headquarters

Draper Startup House

612 E 6th Street

Austin, TX 78701

Worldwide Draper Startup House Locations

Astana

Austin

Bali

Bangalore

Budapest

Buenos Aires

Campo Grande

Casablanca

Da Nang

Dar Es Salam

Ho Chi Minh City

Istanbul

Kampala

Kigali

Lagos

Lilongwe

Lisbon

Lusaka

Manila

Melbourne

Nairobi

Penang

Phnom Penh

San Mateo

Singapore (HQ)

Tallinn

Thimphu

Trinidad

Valencia

Vaszoly

Viña del Mar

Windhoek

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/draperstartuphouse

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dshglobal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/draperstartuphouse/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/draperstartuphouse/

Podcasts: https://draperstartuphouse.com/podcast/

Websites: https://draperstartuphouse.com, https://den.draperstartuphouse.com

Email: hello@draperstartuphouse.com

Vikram Bharati, Founder and CEO, Draper Startup House International

Vikram started his career in finance, with stints at Merrill Lynch, LendingTree, and

JPMorgan Chase in Los Angeles California where he was Vice President of

Government Banking from 2007–2014. Vikram took a sabbatical from work in

2015, solo traveling to over 50 countries. As he traveled he became involved with

startups across the globe. In 2016 he headed up REAPRA Pte., Ltd. venture capital

investments unit for the Asia region. In 2018 he founded Tribe Theory as a chain of

hostels for digital nomads; in 2019 Draper acquired Tribe Theory which became

Draper Startup House International.

Vikram has a BA in finance and business (2006) from University of California,

Riverside (UCR); and MBA in finance and strategy (2014) from University of

Southern California, Marshall School of Business (USC Marshall); both in California,

United States.

James Goh Wee Shian 吴维轩, Founder and General Manager

of Wee Hur Hospitality

James is the Founder and General Manager of Wee Hur Hospitality, which manages

the hospitality brand – Y Suites - of SGX-listed Wee Hur Holding’s 6000-beds

Purpose Built Student Accommodation in Australia. He concurrently serves as the

chief architect of digital transformation at Wee Hur Hospitality, where he oversees

all innovation and digitalisation efforts.

Wee Shian is also the founder and CEO of BlazingTech, a technology services firm

that provides services in website development, tech consulting, software

development and systems integration.

Media Kit - December 2022 - [Y Suites X Draper Startup House Partnership - Melbourne]

His vision is to empower companies and entrepreneurs to achieve their fullest

potential by leveraging on technology and business expertise.

Wee Shian graduated from NUS with a BA (Honours) and Yale University with a MA.

He is also trained in digital marketing, digital transformation, software product

development, and enterprise leadership and transformation.

Sri Lanka amidst the turmoil, will a Start-up Nation still emerge?

Tribe Theory rebrands to Draper Startup House after a US$3.5M investment from Tim

Draper

Journalists may search on the web to find a vast collection of the latest news

coverage of Draper Startup House, Draper Venture Network, and Tim Draper.

Photos and other images

For high-resolution photo and video libraries, send a request to:

emma@draperstartuphouse.com (Draper Startup House International)

Press release

For immediate release

Media contact information

Draper Startup House International (Singapore)

Emma Li-Chen Everitt (Ms. Everitt)

emma@draperstartuphouse.com

+65 9053 1546

Y Suites

Wing Lew Pea Voon (Ms. Wing)

winglew@weehur.com.sg

+65 6357 0522

Collateral advertising material

Please visit our links to follow and like our pages and find more information:

Draper Startup House

International Sites

DEN (Draper Entrepreneurship Network): https://den.draperstartuphouse.com

Draper Startup House Services: https://draperstartuphouse.com/services

Draper Startup House Ventures: https://draperstartuphouse.com/ventures

Draper Startup House Academy: https://academy.draperstartuphouse.com

International Social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/draperstartuphouse

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKoQpAKfCRFRCJvtFzfHWaQ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dshglobal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/draperstartuphouse

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/draperstartuphouse

Media Kit - December 2022 - [Y Suites X Draper Startup House Partnership - Melbourne]

Podcasts: https://draperstartuphouse.com/podcast

Y Suites

Website: https://ysuites.co/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/y-suites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysuites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ysuites/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ysuites

Draper-related Sites

Draper Startup House Ventures: https://draperstartuphouse.com/ventures

Draper Venture Network: https://drapernetwork.com

Draper University: https://www.draperuniversity.com/

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation: https://www.drkfoundation.org