New Gold Coast co-working space opens its doors

A new co-working space has opened on the Gold Coast after partnering with existing venue Gold Coast TechSpace, adding to the list of co-working spaces and incubators in the Sunshine State.

The Gold Coast Coworking initiative, located in the suburb of Southport, has been set up as a hub for Gold Coast IT professionals to work and collaborate.

In addition to entrepreneurs, the space is open to professionals including designers, programmers and engineers. Members can work there permanently or “pop in” from time to time.

“We’d probably be able to put in between 15 to 20 people if we wanted to fill the space up. Around 10 is the highest we can get at the moment,” co-founder Trent Williams says.

Cold Coast Coworking is the brainchild of Williams, Steve Dalton and Ian Sampson, who wanted to give the Gold Coast’s IT industry a much-needed boost.

The venue is equipped with desks, chairs and WiFi, and is surrounded by multiple coffee shops and lunch bars.

Gold Coast Coworking has partnered with Gold Coast TechSpace, a non-for-profit venture that describes itself as a Gold Coast version of the Hackerspace model.

Hackerspaces are located throughout the world, with thousands of groups in the United States and a handful in Australian cities including Brisbane.

Last month, Gold Coast TechSpace moved into the same building as Gold Coast Coworking after outgrowing its old venue.

According to David Tangye, a spokesperson for Gold Coast TechSpace, the co-working area is now “sufficiently set up to commence operations”.

“Our open events are still running on Wednesdays in the co-working area, and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoon open events in the HackSpace area,” Tangye wrote in a blog.

“Anyone and everyone is welcome to drop in at these times to see the new space. Members will have better 24/7 access than we could provide at the old space.”

The new venue adds to a list of existing co-working spaces and incubators in Queensland, including Gold Coast incubator Silicon Lakes, which opened last month.

Meanwhile, over in Brisbane, River City Labs is taking the tech start-up scene by storm.