Tech accelerator Remarkable has a new cohort of seven companies changing people’s lives.
Remarkable’s mission is to support startups harnessing tech to empower people living with disability. The organisation provides seed funding, mentoring, coaching, investor networks, expertise and guidance, with Alan Jones among the mentors individually guiding the founders.
The seven global ventures range from a Tunisian-based 3D printed bionic arms to an adaptive clothing designer featured in Melbourne Fashion Week.
The startups are now at the business end of the accelerator’s 14-week program, spending the final few weeks refining their business model, finding product market fit and developing their go-to-market strategy, in order to commercialise their technologies to help people with a disability.
Remarkable first emerged in 2016 as the startup venture arm of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance with support from icare NSW, the Telstra Foundation and VivCourt. Since then, 32 startups have completed the program.
Remarkable founder Pete Horsley has more than a decade of experience in the not-for-profit sector focused on youth, social impact and innovation.
Horsley said that because of a shift to a virtual program to deal with pandemic restrictions means that they now have their first international founder from Tunisia as he looks to enter the Australian market.
Mohamed Dhaouafi is a 27-year-old Tunisian entrepreneur, electronics engineer and the founder of Cure Bionics. He is an Obama Africa Leader 2019.
Cure develops affordable 3D printed bionic prosthetics that are customisable, easy to use and imitate the biological human limb behaviour. They’ve also developed a therapeutic solution using virtual reality and gamification to help with rehabilitation.
Pete Horsley said he was especially excited about the 2021 cohort and despite the interruptions of the last 12 months, the startups that took part last year are already thriving.
“Although last year was challenging for many reasons, our 2020 cohort of startups were nonetheless able to achieve amazing results and accessed significant funding with a mean investment of $111k per start-up, including the initial $35,000 funding provided by Remarkable,” he said
“There truly has never been a better time to harness the power of tech to drive inclusion and accessibility and we can’t wait to witness the achievements of our 2021 cohort.”
The program climaxes with the Demo Day on Tuesday, July 13, with the founders showcasing the plans for their startups.
If you’re keen to find out more, you can register for the Remarkable Demo Day here.
To give you a taste of what’s ahead, here are the startups in the Remarkable 2021 cohort.
Wearable & Co is an inclusive and adaptive everyday clothing range, designed for all abilities to enable everyone the opportunity to feel their best selves.
Speckles are experts in the field of children’s vision with fun and innovative products, including adjustable glasses for kids and eye patches kids want to wear, whilst providing education and support throughout your child’s vision journey.
Medistays is the leading Australian website assisting patients, carers and health care professionals to book hospital, NDIS accommodation and other accessible accommodation.
Humane helps people with disability and their carers manage their funding efficiently by saving time and enabling them to make better care decisions.
Cure Bionics creates 3D-printed and customizable bionic arms that enhance the human body with multi-grip functionality and empowering aesthetics for below-elbow amputee adults and children aged 8 and above with the aim to make it more accessible and cool-to-wear.
Spix App is a tool for gamers with impaired speech to support social connection and rich interaction in-game.
Theraplay.TV is a virtual program that builds the capacity of young people of all abilities as they play and interact with Yogacise, Ballet Fusion, Play Warrior, Pop n Lock’n, Cheer Club & TheraChill
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