LaunchVic tips $3.1 million into startup accelerators Climate Salad, ANDHealth and Antler

Victoria’s government-backed startup agency, LaunchVic, is supporting three local accelerator programs with a total of $3.1 million in funding.

CEO Dr Kate Cornick the funds will help fast track the growth of up to 160 local startups.

“By backing programs with a proven track record of helping founders, we will ensure LaunchVic supports our rapidly growing ecosystem,” she said.

Healthtech commercialisation program ANDHealth and the newly formed Climate Salad will each receive up to $1.4 million.

Antler, which has been operating in Melbourne since 2020, increasing its presence there, hiring a community manager, receives $360,000.

LaunchVic tipped $1.25 million into the Startmate accelerator program, backed by VC Blackbird and Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, last year and has now invested in 19 accelerator programs over six years to help more than 600 Victorians launch startups.

Mick Liubinskas cofounded Climate Salad last year with the ambition of helping 1,000 Australian climate tech companies create global environmental solutions.

The $1.4 million is for the launch a Global Impact Incubator, with  $600,000 towards operating costs and the remaining $800,000 to invest in participating startups and catalyse $2.4 million in additional investment in them.

“We’ve grown to 320 companies in the past year, across agriculture, circular economy, energy, storage, nature based solutions, carbon accounting and more,”  Mick Liubinskas said.

“There is a strong foundation of climate tech companies, mentors, corporate partners and investors in Victoria. This grant from LaunchVic and our partnership with Ecotone will help us build the states ecosystem and develop globally competitive companies.”

ANDHealth’s new Activate accelerator is a nine-month curriculum-based program for digital health companies to become investment and enterprise-customer-ready.

The program run at ANDHealth’s new Victorian Connected Health Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (CHICC), which the Victorian government backed last month with an additional $2.4 million in funding.

CEO Bronwyn Le Grice said she expects ANDHealth Activate and other programs run out of the CHICC will support more than 600 participants, create 100 new jobs, initiate more than 50 new clinical studies, and give over 400,000 patients access to emerging health technologies over the next five years.

“The combined $3.8 million investment by LaunchVic and the Victorian Government’s Australian Medtech Manufacturing Centre and Biotechnology Fund is one of the most significant investments into the commercialisation of Victoria’s digital health sector to date.

“We are excited to be able to offer the ANDHealth Activate program, which will support high-growth digital health companies to navigate the complex commercialisation pathway in evidence-based digital health. Participants will benefit from a dedicated training and co-working facility, and access to the expertise of national and international executives in residence.”