ASX-listed property development company Stockland has partnered with BlueChilli to launch the Stockland Accelerator for startups working in the property technology – or proptech – space.
Fifteen startups will be chosen to take part in the six month program, which will provide startups with $38,000 in upfront investment in exchange for 15 percent equity, and up to $500,000 available in follow on funding.
Stockland, which has a market cap of over $10 billion, is looking to find startups developing ideas and solutions across six key themes: communities, residential, retirement, workplaces, retail, and the property industry.
Robyn Elliott, chief innovation, marketing and technology officer at Stockland, said the accelerator adds “another dimension” to the company’s approach to innovation.
“It will connect us with ideas and technology that could reshape our industry and benefit our communities. We know that the technology is available now to create new opportunities for our business, and we want to collaborate with innovative thinkers to bring these opportunities to life,” Elliott said.
“We want to support the development of a local proptech industry that can succeed globally. Our external partners like BlueChilli play a key strategic role, allowing us to leverage expertise, move faster to solve customer problems and connect globally.”
Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin, CEO of BlueChilli, added, “Australians have always had a passion for property and increasingly the technology within and we’re now looking for driven people with great ideas on how to make our properties, spaces and communities better and more connected.”
The program is open to applications from early-stage startups. Forty will be chosen to take part in an initial bootcamp before being whittled down to 15.
Accelerator participants will be given access to experts and customers to help validate their idea, and work with an assigned product manager and a development team to build their minimum viable product (MVP).
The announcement follows global real estate services firm JLL in June launching the JLL Spark Global Venture Fund via its innovation arm, JLL Spark.
JLL Spark plans to invest up to US$100 million in proptech startups through the fund, while also connecting portfolio companies to the JLL business and clients for “insightful feedback and distribution of their products”.
The Stockland program will be the second corporate accelerator BlueChilli runs this year, with the organisation earlier this year partnering with Coca-Cola Amatil to launch the Xcelerate program.
Among the startups taking part in the Xcelerate program are Air Tracker, a system monitoring air quality; LockinFuel, an app using AI to forecast future fuel prices; and PlastX, a startup looking to make it easier for brands to fulfil their promise to solve plastic pollution by sourcing recovered plastic directly from communities.
Image: the BlueChilli team.
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