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Community · ECU School of Business and Law
Helping the next generation of business leaders do their best work.
Fortix founder and CEO Paul Faix joins Edith Cowan University’s Integrated Business Innovation Challenge as an industry advisor, mentoring student teams as they tackle real market questions for real WA startups.
2
advisory board rounds, online and in person
2
student teams mentored by Paul each semester
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WA startups set real briefs for the students
4th
year of ECU’s partnership
The challenge
Real startups. Real questions. Real feedback.
The Integrated Business Innovation Challenge is a Semester 2 unit in ECU’s School of Business and Law, coordinated by Professor Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Small groups of students work with startups from the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation (CERI) on market entry and competitor analysis projects.
Twice during the semester, each team presents its research to an advisory board of industry practitioners, then gets direct, practical feedback on what to sharpen before the client sees it. Paul sat on Advisory Board B, which advised two of the four teams.
The first round ran on Microsoft Teams on 15 September. The final round, on 27 October, was hybrid and held at ECU’s brand-new City Campus in the heart of Perth.
The teams Paul advised.
Client 01 · NASC
Opening a global market for Australian seaweed.
How can NASC, an Australian-based producer, access the agar and hydrocolloid market? The team mapped the market, its buyers and the competitors already in it.
Client 02 · Warembo wa Cyber
Building a pathway into cybersecurity.
How can Warembo wa Cyber help women of colour enter and thrive in the cybersecurity industry, while building a supportive, sustainable community around them?
“The students found the experience and your feedback very helpful.”
Professor Pi-Shen Seet
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, ECU School of Business and Law
Recommendation on LinkedIn
“Paul was on the advisory panel for ECU MBA students enrolled in the Integrated Business Innovation Challenge where they worked with startups on various strategy/marketing-related projects. As the unit coordinator, I found that he provided highly insightful advice and helped the students see different perspectives to deliver better outcomes for their clients. Thank you Paul.”
Professor Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University · LinkedIn, December 2025
Recognition
A certificate of appreciation from ECU.
On 27 October 2026, Associate Professor Marie Ryan, Associate Dean Business Services, presented Paul with a Certificate of Appreciation for his outstanding contribution to sharing knowledge and enhancing ECU School of Business and Law students’ skills and awareness.
It’s a small piece of paper with a big meaning for us. It says the time was useful to the people it was meant for.
Inside ECU City
A campus built for how people learn now.
After the final presentations, Professor Seet gave Paul a private tour of the new City Campus: moot courts, a Security Operations Centre, WAAPA’s performance spaces and immersive digital walls that turn the building into a canvas.
Why we do this
Smarter together starts long before someone becomes a client.
People first.
Paul’s personal mission is to help people unlock their best work to achieve the freedom they seek. Mentoring students is that mission in its purest form.
A long relationship.
Fortix has worked alongside ECU for more than a decade, from building a research-backed health app with ECU researchers and Ngala in 2012 to hosting ECU student placements.
Real-world thinking.
The questions these students asked are the ones every growing business faces: who is the buyer, what is the pain, and what would they actually pay for. We answer them with clients every week.
Running a program that needs industry voices?
We’re always open to mentoring, guest sessions and advisory boards with universities and industry groups across Australia and overseas. Let us get you there.