The US-founded global investment firm and accelerator program Techstars is setting up shop at Sydney’s Tech Central in a major boost for the local startup sector Techstars has invested in more than 3,000 early-stage startups over its 16-year existence and is one of the largest pre-seed investors in the world. In Sydney it will provide… Read more »
National science agency, CSIRO, has chosen 10 deep-tech startups, including three of its own ideas, for its revived ON Accelerate program. The program, which first began in 2015, was shut down in late 2019, having created 66 new companies, more than 500 jobs, and raising more than $110m in investment capital. This will be the… Read more »
Sydney startup hub Fishburners has chosen 10 ideas for the inaugural Google News Initiative (GNI) startups bootcamp The nine-week professional development program delivers support and coaching to aspiring news media entrepreneurs for independent journalism, with entrepreneurs including Sinorbis CMO Vijay Solanki, BindiMaps cofounder Tony Burrett, and Stem Media cofounder Emily Dawson providing one-on-one coaching. It’s the… Read more »
The University of Sydney is building a biomedical precinct worth $478 million to fast track research and patient care. The Sydney Biomedical Accelerator (SBA) will be the university’s largest ever capital investment, with the research precinct co-located at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University’s Camperdown campuses, within the Tech Central precinct. It will span 36,000 square metres… Read more »
The CSIRO has revived its ON startup accelerator program, three years after shutting it down, as the government and universities ramp up their push to commercialise research. ON originally launched in 2015 as part of CSIRO’s Innovation Catalyst strategy, supported by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. But in late 2019,… Read more »
Construction tech startup HammerTech, restaurant ordering platform Mr Yum and car subscription website Carbar are among nine startups singled out by the Victorian government’s startup agency LaunchVic as potential unicorn companies under a new program to help them get there. A “unicorn” is a reference to a startup hitting a $1 billion valuation. The state… Read more »
Law Firm Hall & Wilcox has chosen 10 startups for its 2022 Frank Lab accelerator program, spanning climate to edutech, fintech and even art. Frank Lab 2022 follows the success of the 2021 female-focused cohort and the 2020 and 2019 programs, which helped accelerate a broad range of businesses and their solutions. These included an open banking/data-sharing platform, rocket engine technologies,… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm, x15ventures, has revamped its accelerator program, Xccelerate, and is now on the hunt for five early-stage fintech startups to back. While the three previous iterations of Xccelerate have seen x15ventures choose an winner ultimate winner to back – givvable and OwnHome in 2020, and Splashup last year – this time… Read more »
The world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, the Founder Institute, has opened its Spring program for aspiring entrepreneurs in Australia and New Zealand. The trans-Tasman 16-week part-time program follows the recent visit to Australia by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as part of a trade mission. Sydney-based Founder Institute co-director and Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Centre ambassador Phoebe… Read more »
Premier local accelerator and investment program Startmate has backed a majority of startups founded by women for the first time in its history for the latest cohort. Seven of 12 Australian and New Zealand startups are helmed by a woman. Each one receives a $120,000 investment at a $1.5 million post-money valuation if its the… Read more »
EnergyLab’s 2022 Climate Solutions Accelerator has selected 10 Australian startups for its next cohort with the ambition to make the country a global renewable energy superpower. Receiving a combined investment of three quarters of a million dollars from a group of angel investors (up 50% on 2021’s fund), The 1o companies taking part have kicked… Read more »
Accelerator and startup investor Remarkable is holding its Demo Day for the 2022 this Wednesday, July 20, with eight startups from Australia and the US tackling a range of challenges for people with disabilities. Demo Day concludes Remarkable’s 16-week accelerator program, and gives the founders with ideas ranging from wearable rehabilitation robots to Australia’s first audio… Read more »
When Vxt Founder Luke Campbell is asked to describes his product in simple terms, those terms are: “People fu&*ing hate admin!” The startup is part of the Phase One incubator which aims to produce 10 Kiwi technology ‘unicorns’ (or: ‘Kiwicorns’) by 2026. The incubator addresses significant gaps inherent in more traditional programmes – including the… Read more »
It is hard to think it has been 10 years since River City Labs was set up. How far has Australia come in those 10 years. I look forward to having a quiet chat and drink to reflect on the 10 years that have passed this week in Brisbane. The River City Labs journey over… Read more »
Do we still need startup accelerators? Were they for a point in time that has now passed? I have been designing and running accelerator programs since 2010 and believe they have been a significant contribution to the innovation system we have today. Ten years ago, few people aspired to start a company, and there was… Read more »
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Here are the finalists in Fintech Australia’s 2024 Finnies awards 
Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar steps down as co-CEO 
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