BlueChilli has announced the launch of SheStarts, a female-focused accelerator that will fund and mentor 10 female tech entrepreneurs who are launching their startups this year.
Our society often views things as replaceable. You crack your phone, you get a new phone, you tear your pants, you buy new pants. Instead of fixing things we chuck them out and move on to the next. The value of second hand goods has decreased so much so that instead of people selling them, they just toss them onto the street hoping they’re picked up.
Melbourne startup Quid Pro Quo is an app that bypasses money, and trades second hand good-for-good, matching products with customers who are ready to barter, bargain, and swap. Someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure and that’s what cofounders Leon Chuah and Edward Leung of QPQ Tech are relying on.
Showpo’s Jane Lu and OneShift’s Gen George are a part of and love many of those groups, but decided to launch one that was more their style late last year. Going strong since October, Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine (LMB) is exactly what it says on the lid: a community of current and aspiring female entrepreneurs who celebrate each other’s successes, commiserate over setbacks, and share tips and advice on how to grow – preferably over a glass of wine.
Ziip is looking to relieve that particular brand of disappointment that comes with missing deliveries. Cofounders Naby Mariyam and Hyacinthe Hamon saw that the logistic services of Australian delivery companies were substandard and have yet to keep up with the demands of online shoppers and decided to create a solution.
Sydney startup Found Careers brings that much needed spark in the recruitment process. The app is a fully mobile recruitment platform, designed with photos and questions that are actually interesting, which transforms the whole job finding process into a fun and addictive activity. No filling in form or sending through resumes and countless CVs. Once a person’s profile is completed, applying for jobs is as simple as ticking the roles that appeal to you and crossing those that don’t.
There has been a lot of hype around The Lean Startup in Australia. Startup accelerators not just in Australia but around the world treat this methodology as gospel. For startup accelerators using this in their current programs, I question whether they are doing enough for entrepreneurs. Anyone can just pick up the book, read it, and start implementing these strategies, so why do startup founders need accelerators? Have accelerators lost their way?
HealthTech startup CohortIQ has taken out the top prize in the DataStart program, an initiative launched by the Prime Minister’s Office in conjunction with Pollenizer last November. Over 200 startups applied to take part in the program, with the seven finalists given access to government data, customer discovery, and technical support across five days before pitching to the judges last night.
“We’re not a major fraud!”
This was the last sentence to leave Brandon Reynolds’ lips as he admitted defeat and the falsification of his new app Sociabl to David Campbell on The Today Show this morning.
The first local funding announcement of the year is here, with Sydney fintech startup CapitalPitch announcing that it has closed a $600,000 seed round led by Aaron Bertinetti and Trevor Folsom, director of Elevation Capital.
In their top ten trendiest suburbs listicles, real estate news websites never talk about the mountains of paperwork that come both before and after the auction is won, and for good reason – it’s painful. Buyers and sellers have to liaise with half a dozen different service providers to get a deal done, with each chasing the other up for document after document and signature after signature. Melbourne startup Rundl has created an online platform that aims to streamline the process.
Sydney based startup Booking Boss announced they have secured a partnership deal with online travel giant Expedia. The partnership will help connect tour operators and trade distributors in a more efficient way. This is a great milestone for the Aussie startup and has proved their commitment to global expansion.
Though the founders of theright.fit insist it isn’t looking to push modelling agencies out of the picture, the core service the platform provides is helping both talent and brands bypass agencies and facilitate relationships themselves. It allows models, actors, photographers, make up artists, stylists, and other industry professionals to display their portfolios and market themselves to brands, and in turn lets brands search for, book, and pay models and other talent themselves.
For years now, everyday bloggers, vloggers, and tweeters have been considered by brands as important marketing tools, becoming known as ‘social influencers’. Leveraging the power of these social influencers can spread a brand’s popularity and increase its national and global reach, but doing it properly can be difficult. As a result, a number of platforms have emerged looking to facilitate effective relationships between brands and influencers, and new player VAMP has decided to focus on the Instagram niche.
Ecommerce has come in leaps and bounds over the last two decades; according to eMarketer, global ecommerce sales will hit $1.5 trillion this year, and continue to grow as new technology makes it even easier for us to keep buying wherever and whenever. One such piece of technology is Pixmoto, an online video platform that connects viewers to the products that appear inside branded video; it allows consumers to easily click on the products that they like when they come up, taking them directly to the product landing page in the brand’s online store.
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