#26 A Mission, Startmate, Antler and much more
All about Adelaide startups and entrepreneurship in your inbox
What's up, Adelaide founders? This is issue #26 and it’s time to start planning 2021. It’s been six months since I started this newsletter — time to reflect what’s next. Please share your thoughts and ideas. Finally, this issue is packed full of opportunities, new job openings and great events. Good reading!
MetaStory
A Mission for What’s Up, Adelaide?
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash
In May 2020, I created What’s Up, Adelaide? And along the way, some people asked me why I engaged with the South Australian entrepreneurial community, even if I could not be there physically due to border restrictions. In other words, what is WUA’s mission? Clearly, it’s time to reflect on this topic 🤔!
Everything changed in March of 2020 when COVID🦠 hit the world and border restrictions were enacted. At the time, my plan seemed perfect: get married in June, move to Adelaide the week after as our honeymoon trip and settle there to establish my family and company. Find more
Featured Event
_SOUTHSTART STATE OF THE (RE)UNION
Now more than ever our community and leaders seem to agree that entrepreneurship is vital to building a prosperous and free society. In such a singular year, South Australia’s flagship event _SOUTHSTART will take place in a special format.
In a year that has left many of us feeling isolated and alone, _SOUTHSTART invites you to reconnect, reflect and refocus in the company of other like-minded humans.
With the uncertainty of 2020, we’ve decided to hold our flagship festival in February 2021 - but we didn’t want to see the opportunity of coming together as a community come to pass. So we’re hosting a State of the (Re)Union. What does our future hold? Are we powerless to fate, or stewards of our own destiny?
These questions (and more) will be explored through a rolling calendar of online and hybrid conversations, hosted in South Australia.
Join us as we delve into the conversations that matter, with the voices driving change. Find more
Opportunities
👩🌾 Thrive Agrifood Australia Challenge — Due: Dec 17th
The THRIVE Australia Challenge solves problems of the Australian agrifood industry, accelerates the development of the ecosystem, and selects the best startups and scale-ups for investment and global recognition. The winner will receive the THRIVE Australia Challenge Award and advance to the finals of the Global THRIVE Accelerator Program with an opportunity to be selected for the THRIVE VII Cohort in Silicon Valley, CA. Find more
💰 Startmate First Believers — Due: Nov 22nd
“First Believers” is a 6-month program inspired by Startmate’s Mentors. Our Mentors were the initial First Believers in 2010 to believe in Aussie founders before anyone else did. Venture Capital investing has historically been restricted to the Affluent and select few working in VC. We are breaking that historic mould. Find more
🚀 Antler Launch Academy — Due: Nov 23rd
Want to learn how to launch a startup? Now you can from the industry's best.
Global early-stage VC Antler is opening their startup generation & company building playbook through their new 4-week free online course, the 'Antler Launch Academy'.
Their team of venture builders & investors will be hosting masterclasses on how to build & launch a venture backable business. They are also sharing their trove of resources, decks, primers & summaries. Bonus - it's all online, free & flexible around your schedule. Find more
🐦 Startmate Summer21 Accelerator — Due: Nov 24th
Startmate is the epicentre for startup ambition across Australia and New Zealand. We accelerate the most exceptional founders, operators and investors through our programs, propelled by a highly-trusted mentor-driven community and backed by the best angels, venture funds and tech startups in the region. Find more
🏠 YBF launch the PropTech Showcase — Due: Dec 27th
The world as we know it has changed drastically. Change also creates a need for innovative solutions to help us adjust to, as well as define the ‘new normal’ of 2020 and beyond. Honeywell, in collaboration with YBF Ventures – Australia’s leading tech and innovation hub, would like to invite you to apply to the inaugural PropTech Showcase of 2020. The PropTech Showcase is an exclusive opportunity for Australian innovators to present their solutions to Honeywell Australia’s senior executive team and associated networks. Find more
💻 Melt Accelerator — Due: Dec 30th
The MELT’s accelerator and incubator programs will revolutionize the way hardware Startups prove, prototype, pilot and produce globally scalable products and companies. Find more
🚀 Antler Acceleration Program — Due: rolling basis until December 2020
We are a global early-stage VC that enables and invests in the defining companies of tomorrow. We help you get from 0 to 1 in two phases. The first phase is about team and idea. We will help you find your co-founder, develop, and validate your business idea. At the end of this phase, we can invest in the companies. These teams continue onto phase two. The next three months are about building your MVP, getting traction, and getting ready for your next investment round. Find more
🍃 Founder Institute: Adelaide - Silicon Valley Virtual 2021 — Due Jan 30th 2021
As the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, the Adelaide Founder Institute can help you: (i) focus on what's important, (ii) make smart decisions and (iii) build a global business. Since 2009, we have helped over 4,500 portfolio companies raise over $950M in funding, solve big problems, build products people love, recruit amazing teams, and more. Find more
🔋 Pitch to EnergyLab’s Cleantech Round 9 — Due Feb 3rd 2021
EnergyLab’s angel group is a unique network of investors who believe in the importance and potential of cleantech startups, can make decisions quickly and will continue to support you well after they’ve invested. Find more
🔋 Pitch to EnergyLab’s Cleantech Round 10 — Due Apr 28th 2021
EnergyLab’s angel group is a unique network of investors who believe in the importance and potential of cleantech startups, can make decisions quickly and will continue to support you well after they’ve invested. Find more
💡 Smart Regional Incubator — Due: 4th Tue of the month on a rolling basis
The UNE SMART Region Incubator accepts applications from new startups that are scaling up and ready to build the regional economy. Our focus is on startups bringing to market solutions for agriculture, health, environmental services and creative industries. Find more
🔋 Brinc’s Australian Clean Energy Program — Due: open year-round
A three month Clean Energy Accelerator Program in Sydney, that is uniquely designed to support Australian startups that have fully developed solutions, have established product-market fit, and are ready for commercialization. Find more
👩🌾 Spark Lab Cultiv 8 Accelerator — Due: open year-round
SparkLabs Cultiv8 identifies leading startups working on innovative food and agricultural technology. Our mission is to cultivate growth stage Ag and Food Tech companies with researchers, farmers, investors and global corporate partners, to help digitise agriculture and contribute to a more sustainable future. Find more
Government-backed Programs
👩 Women in Entrepreneurship Round 3 — Due Nov 17th
Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship grants encourage the participation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics leading to STEM education and careers. Find more
🛰️ SA Space Innovation Fund — Due: multiple programs and dates
The South Australian Space Industry Centre is supporting the state’s emerging space industry by providing funding to grow jobs and build South Australia’s space ecosystem through the Space Innovation Fund. Find more
🗳️ SA Go2Gov — Due: open year-round
The Government of South Australia has established the Go2Gov
pilot program to encourage and support local startups and early-stage scalable businesses to bring innovative solutions to government as the first or reference customer. Find more
💰 SA Venture Capital Fund — Due: open year-round
To help build South Australian companies to a national and global scale, the South Australian Government has established the $50 million SAVCF that will invest in dynamic and innovative early-stage companies to accelerate their growth to a national and global scale. Find more
🤝 SA Mentor Program — Due: open year-round
Through the Office of the Chief Entrepreneur and the Department for Innovation and Skills, you are invited to register your interest in an informal mentoring service exclusively for South Australian startups and scaleups. Find more
🔬 CSIRO Kick-Start — Due: open year-round
CSIRO Kick-Start provides matched funding for start-ups and small to medium enterprises to help access CSIRO's research expertise and capabilities to help grow your business. Find more
💰 Accelerating Commercialisation — Due: open year-round
Accelerating Commercialisation provides small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs and researchers with access to expert advice and funding to help get a novel product, process or service to market. Find more
🏭 SMART Projects and Supply Chains — Due: open year-round
The SMART Projects and Supply Chains service provides businesses with access to strategic or high-value projects that increase business capability, meet the specific needs of a market opportunity, or otherwise improve business performance and leadership capacity. Find more
🧾 Research and Development Tax Incentive — Due: open year-round
The Research and Development Tax Incentive helps to offset some of the costs you put into eligible R&D, which benefits the wider Australian economy. Find more
💡 Innovation Connections — Due: open year-round
Innovation Connections assists businesses to understand their research needs, connect with the research sector and fund collaborative research projects. Find more.
🚢 Export Market Development Grants — Due: open year-round
Export Market Development Grants reimburse promotional expenses for exporters aiming to increase their international sales. Find more
🔥 Ecosystem Resources
Y Combinator Startup Library
Over the past 15 years, we’ve created many videos, podcasts and essays as resources for startup founders. We’ve now consolidated them here in the YC Startup Library. Find more
The Guild Library
The Guild of Entrepreneurs created a curated library of resources containing 460 pieces of content to help you make the next step along the entrepreneurship journey. Find more
Flinders Legal Centre
Operated by Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law, the Flinders Legal Centre operates a free legal advice service to the community. Through online appointments, our experienced supervising solicitors work closely with student interns and recent graduates to provide legal advice and information. Find more
Veromo Offers a $50 Discount to Register Your Business
Veromo is a smart business start-up engine, built for start-ups and entrepreneurs. We’ve fast-tracked starting a business into one simple, easy to navigate process – all for a fraction of the cost of a lawyer or accountant. Promo code: SUPAD$50. Valid on both: Business in a Box and Company Starter Package until 31 July 2021
Switch, Start, Scale
Entrepreneurship Facilitators provide practical assistance to support and encourage individuals to start a business as a way to create their own job. Find more
🦄 Incubators and Accelerators
Innovation and Collaboration Center
The Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) is the University of South Australia's startup incubator. The ICC engages with the community through the delivery of community events, workshops and programs which draw on the research and professional expertise of UniSA and our partners, to support the generation of new startups and the growth of existing companies. Find more
New Venture Institute
Welcome to Flinders New Venture Institute. Operating out of the Tonsley Innovation District, we provide people and businesses with the tools to take innovation beyond the buzzword, locally, nationally and internationally. By connecting a vibrant ecosystem of startups, businesses and the humans behind them to our award-winning programs, events and educational pathways, we invite the next wave of disruptors to make their mark on the global workforce. Find more
Core Innovation Hub
CORE is Australia’s first innovation hub for the resources sector. We have established a national ecosystem for suppliers, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry to connect and collaborate on innovative solutions across mining, resources, energy, defence and space sectors. Find more
ThincLab
ThincLab is the place where unconventional thinkers can give their ideas an unfair advantage. It’s home to the creative thinkers, the rule-breakers, the challengers. The ones who see the world differently, and for whom ideas are everything and the future is unlimited. ThincLab is backed by the University of Adelaide. Find more
Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator, having helped launch over 4,500 companies across 200+ cities and six continents. Find more
Foment: Australia’s Wine and Tourism Tech Revolution
FOMENT offers intensive acceleration to innovative wine and tourism tech companies who are ready to scale up and then connects them with businesses in the industry who are positioned to use their products and services. Find more
📅 Webinars and meetups:
Tech23 Impact Circles. Oct 21st - Dec 2nd
Tech23’s Impact Circles are an interactive opportunity for curious minds from across Australia and beyond to come together around the big opportunities Australia has to create new industries, smarter solutions, and a better world.
Tech23’s Impact Circles invite attendees to explore and canvas what existing, potential and future deep tech customers, investors and collaborators may want – while helping conversations to flow and connections to be made! The Circles will attempt to connect those who are willing to create, back, invest, partner and buy solutions that are seeking to chip away at some of our biggest challenges. Find more
Cicada Innovations: Emerge Tech & STEM Career Expo. Nov 17th - Dec 19th
When complex science and research combines with the enabling force of technology, incredible things happen. We call these types of innovations “deep tech”. Sponsored by the City of Sydney and supported by South Eveleigh, our flagship event EMERGE 2020 is a 5-week celebration of the deep technologies being developed in Australia that are disrupting industries, revitalising our economy, creating the jobs of the future and changing the way we live. Find more
Y Combinator: Future Founders Conference. Wed Nov 18th | 9:00am - 5:00pm PST
The Future Founders Conference is a virtual event for women who aspire to become a startup founder and want to learn from inspiring, successful entrepreneurial women. Whether you are curious about launching your own startup or are in the early stages of building one, you’ll walk away with the knowledge to define your own path. Attendance is free, but entry is not guaranteed. You are required to apply to attend. Find more
AiLab: Adelaide Artificial Intelligence Meetup. Wed Nov 18th | 12:30pm ACDT
We are thrilled to announce our next virtual Adelaide AI Meetup. Join us on Wednesday 18th November 2020 at 12.30 pm (ACDT) for a live webinar with two fantastic speakers talking about Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and processing AI on the edge. From the USA, Komal Devjani joins us from alwaysAI – an easy-to-use platform for building and deploying deep learning computer vision applications on embedded devices. From Adelaide, Michelle Howie joins us from Telstra – Australia's leading telecommunications and technology company. Find more
_SOUTHSTART: State of the RE:Union. Nov 18-20th
In a year that has left many of us feeling isolated and alone, _SOUTHSTART invites you to reconnect, reflect and refocus in the company of other like-minded humans. With the uncertainty of 2020, we’ve decided to hold our flagship festival in February 2021 - but we didn’t want to see the opportunity of coming together as a community come to pass. So we’re hosting a State of the (Re)Union. What does our future hold? Are we powerless to fate, or stewards of our own destiny? These questions (and more) will be explored through a rolling calendar of online and hybrid conversations, hosted in South Australia. Join us as we delve into the conversations that matter, with the voices driving change. Find more
Winnovation Awards Live Stream. Thu, Nov 19th | 6-7pm ADST
The Winnovation Awards, the flagship event of Women in Innovation SA, aims to elevate, recognise, and raise awareness of the significant achievements that innovative women are making in South Australia. For previous winners, it has opened up new doors nationally and internationally. Join us for the 7th year of the Winnovation Awards, where the winners for 2020 will be announced, celebrated and presented their Glass by Emma Klau winner’s trophy. Find more
Winnovation Awards Lives Stream. Thu, Nov 19th | 6-7pm ACDT
he Winnovation Awards, the flagship event of Women In Innovation SA, aims to elevate, recognise, and raise awareness of the significant achievements that innovative women are making in South Australia. For previous winners, it has opened up new doors nationally and internationally. Join us for the seventh year of the Winnovation Awards, where the winners for 2020 will be announced, celebrated and presented their Glass by Emma Klau winner’s trophy. Find more
Antler: Sydney Demo Day. Thu, Nov 19th | 6h30pm ACDT
Antler is a global early-stage VC enabling and investing in the world’s most exceptional people. We are the world’s largest early-stage investment platform, present in 14 locations across 6 continents and have invested in over 160 companies. Find more
Core: Meet the Innovator Matthew Stead. Wed, Nov 16th | 1:30pm-2:30pm ACDT
Join us on Wednesday 25 November to hear from the founder of Ping Services, Matthew Stead. Ping Services uses innovative acoustic technology and data analysis to predict and monitor the health of wind turbines. Find more
CBRIN: Innovation Showcase 2020. Wed, Dec 2nd | 2:30-3:30 ACDT
You are invited to celebrate the Innovation Showcase 2020! The Innovation Showcase is our way to celebrate the hardworking innovation and startup community in Canberra, highlighting their achievements and progress. This year, we are bringing the Innovation Showcase to you - into your homes, your offices and your classrooms.
10 Canberra Startups will go head-to-head in a live shark-tank style pitching competition judged by some of Canberra's highest-profile influencers. Tune in on Wednesday the 2nd of December for the pitch that stops the Nation...'s capital.
Register your Watch Party now! Find more
CyRise: Demo Day. Fri, Dec 4th | 2:30pm-3:30pm ACDT
Get a front-row seat for the CyRise virtual Demo Day. In a year that's been uncertain, this is what we know for sure: founders have stepped up to the challenge, and industry has rallied around in support. Now it's time to celebrate these world-class startups. Find more
SWITCH 2020. Dec 7-11th
Asia’s leading technology, innovation and enterprise festival is back from 7-11 December 2020 in Singapore! The Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) is the one-stop platform where innovation meets enterprise, with access to global startups, investors, corporates, innovation community and ecosystem players. Last year, SFF x SWITCH saw a record 60,000+ participants from 140 countries, 1,000 exhibitors and 569 global luminary speakers. Find more
Atto Accelerator: Demo Day2020. Wed, Dec 16th | 10:30am–1pm ACDT
We help female founders launch tech companies in an independent, scalable, and sustainable manner. Our goal is to become the number one educational provider for the world’s most promising female founders. Please join us for our upcoming startup showcase to wrap-up 2020 (what a year) and support the teams! Find more
Pause Fest Melbourne. Feb 3-5th 2021
Pause Fest is an independent, industry-driven movement with a mission to bring diverse intelligence together to fuel the next generation forward. We’ve been described as 'Innovation Capital', 'Octoberfest for business' and 'Woodstock for digital natives’. In 2020, we welcomed over 9,000 attendees and 10,000 online live viewers with over 50 media outlets from across the world. Find more
Bayamaral: Demo Day. Fri, Mar 19th 2021
Following the completion of the Barayamal Accelerator program, our Indigenous entrepreneurs will present their businesses at the demo day event. This national event will bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to showcase some of the best Indigenous entrepreneurs in Australia, break negative stereotypes and show the world that Indigenous entrepreneurs exist (like black swans) and they can also build successful businesses. Find more
👨💻 Jobs
Are you searching for your dream job startup job in South Australia? Have a look at the jobs boards through the link below:
💰 Venture Funding
Are you seeking venture funding for your startup? If so, consider reading my previous post #6 and have a look at the following database of venture capital firms and private investment groups.
This is all for today! If you like this post, leave a comment and connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn! If you would like to just say hi, or publish a story, event or job announcement on this newsletter, please drop me a line. Finally, click subscribe below to receive this newsletter every week by email.
Keep building,
Rob Blum