What's up, Adelaide? Welcome back South Australian founders! In this fifth edition, you will meet CarSwap, a South Australian startup that is changing the way people buy and sell cars. In addition, you will find a number of new programs, events and startup jobs available in South Australia… lots of them!
Opportunities:
Y Combinator — Due: late applications for Summer batch open!!!
We think founders are most productive when they can spend most of their time building. Our goal is to create an environment where you can focus exclusively on building product and talking to users. Twice a year, we invest a small amount of money in a large number of startups. We have two batches per year — one from January through March and one from June through August. Find more
Pitch Night: Education Tech! — Due: asap, event is on Jun 30th
At Pitch Night: EdTech, we’ll be focusing on those founders and startups who are offering tech solutions in the education industry. In particular, we want to hear from startups and founders who have reacted and engaged with the new demands of students, parents, educators and other customers as the pandemic has changed how we think about education. Find more or apply
GATE AgTech Incubator — Due: June, undefined
GATE Incubation is a unique program which supports early-stage agtech projects and ideas to develop and grow. The 2020 program varies between 3 to 6 months part time and takes researchers and entrepreneurs through intensive business coaching, developing prototypes and refining their value proposition. Find more
Spark Lab Cultiv 8 Accelerator — Due: undefined
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.
DXC Invitational AU/NZ 2020 — Due: Jun 21st
The DXC Invitational 2020 consists of an online workshops and a virtual pitch day, throughout June and July. Participants entering the competition should look to fulfill, but not limit themselves to one of the following problem areas: prevention, operational excellent, engagement, risk reduction, integrative solutions, and solutions for provisioning, distribution and broking. Find more.
iAccelerate Incubation & Acceleration Programs — Due: Jun 30th
If you have big plans for your business, iAccelerate gives you what you need to get where you need to go in record time. It’s not simply a place to plug in your computer and build your bank account, though we can help with that too. It’s a diverse and stimulating environment with community at its heart, where a spark of innovation can be shaped into a sustainable business that contributes to society in meaningful ways. Find more.
Skalata Ventures Seed Investment Program — Due Jul 1st
Our six-month program is designed to help companies develop a growth engine, achieve product-market fit and build a sustainable business model. Throughout our program, we work with companies on customer growth, product, strategy, operations and management. Companies in our program receive practical guidance and operational support from program coaches, up to $250K in funding and access to the Skalata network of investors, prospective customers and advisors. Find more.
ARC’s MVP Accelerator 2020 — Due Jul 1st
This full-time 12-week program is designed for early stage-hardware startups that have identified a market need, have a functional prototype and would benefit from access to advanced prototyping equipment and know-how to develop an MVP and secure industry/customer trials. Find more.
ARC Post Accelerator 2020 — Due: Jul 1st
This 12-week program is designed to guide more advanced hardware startups through the critical stages following the completion of an Accelerator program. After startups have developed their prototypes, refined their business strategy and have started to gain interest from potential clients and industry partners, they will need to focus on manufacturing their product and expanding within compatible international markets. Find more.
SBE Life Sciences Program — Due: Jul 15th
Designed for healthcare and life science industries, this program assists companies in seeking seed and growth funding, while establishing expert connections and resources. Being a part of our program gives you access to influential business experts and their invaluable knowledge and experience. Find more.
Neurohack by Biogen and the Australian eChallenge — Due: Jul 20th:
The Neurohack is a fast-paced program that poses a number of problems, pain points, and hindrances around improving the mental and physical outcomes of those suffering from neurological disorders. Find more
Barayamal Indigenous Accelerator Program — Due Aug 9th:
The five innovative Indigenous businesses will receive a funding total of $50,000 in grants with all participants also receiving free co-working space, mentoring and training from industry experts at the Victorian Innovation Hub, Goods Shed North. The Barayamal Accelerator incorporates a competition model to select our innovative Indigenous businesses. Fund more.
Rocket Seeder Accelerator — Due: Aug 14th
Rocket Seeder is an accelerator for startups in the Food and Agriculture sector in Australia. We help innovators and founders take their startups to the next level by providing them with the tools and guidance they need to scale. Find more.
Founders Institute Melbourne Virtual 2020 — Due: Jul 26th
As the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, the Melbourne Founder Institute can help you:
— Focus on what’s important, using a structured growth process that defines your next steps, helps you move quickly, and has proven to reduce the time and cost to build a startup.
— Make smart decisions, through constant feedback on your strategy and progress for the entire lifecycle of your business from the world’s top entrepreneurs and investors.
— Build a global business, by leveraging the world’s largest network of startup mentors, founders, and investors (based in Silicon Valley, with chapters spanning 185+ cities across six continents). Find more.
Founders Institute Sydney Virtual Spring 2020 — Due: Aug 9th
The Founder Institute is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator. We help you get to traction and funding with a support network of startup experts that are invested in your success, and through a structured business-building process that has helped our alumni raise over $950M. The Sydney Founder Institute, led by Benjamin Chong (Founder and Investor at Right Click Capital and the Sydney Seed Fund), includes intensive mentorship and access to some of the most distinguished entrepreneurs in Sydney and abroad. Find more.
Pitch to EnergyLab’s Cleantech Round 8 — Due: Aug 19th
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.
Startup Pitch Fest at Australian Healthcare Week 2020 — Due: Sep 3rd
Electing the Australian Healthcare Startup of the Year, the Pitch Fest is your chance to educate both the healthcare industry, and leading technology players, about your organisation and the problems you help to solve. It will feature 8 of the leading health startups in Australia and New Zealand, battling it out to be crowned this year’s champion. Find more.
ICC Venture Catalyst for Regional Startups — Due: rolling basis until October 2020
The General category is open to any industry sector and supports startups with the potential for high growth, who are developing new services, markets or business models that compete in global markets. Accepted applicants will receive a tailored program based on their current needs as well as a $10,000 stipend and other benefits. 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.
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 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. The program is supported by Artesian’s Clean Energy Seed Fund to invest in scalable, high growth startups, encouraging innovation and creating opportunities in the development of clean technology. Find more.
Featured Startup
Meet CarSwap and co-founders Cyrus, Kane and Tanami
CarSwap is helping tens of thousands of people get that ‘new car feel’ without spending any money by essentially hosting an ongoing online car swap meet. Using the free CarSwap app, users can list their car and see other cars nearby with a fun, intuitive, matchmaking interface which was hailed by 7 NEWS as the “Tinder for Cars”.
Business description: CarSwap is the #1 platform for trading/selling/buying cars globally. The freemium app has a fun and intuitive swiping interface with intelligent matchmaking to help users get the best deal for their car. CarSwap has also established the #1 largest and #1 most engaging auto-classifieds social media presence in Australia.
Founded: 2016
Co-founders: Cyrus Rafizadeh, Kane Ellis and Tanami Muller
Stage: Growth
Total fundraising: >$1M (self, family and friends)
Location: Adelaide
In the current difficult economic climate, this solution has proven to be increasingly effective as Australians are feeling the financial pinch. The ability to simply trade your existing car for a different car gives people that same excitement without the cost.
The founding team led by Cyrus Rafizadeh and Kane Ellis has developed a patent portfolio with dozens of patents which they anticipate will lead the evolution of e-commerce, which they have dubbed “V-Commerce”.
For example, the “E2V” patent co-authored by Cyrus enables car dealerships to automatically generate advertising campaigns based on their current inventory, with zero scheduling or graphic design required (Patent: PCT/CN2016/081529 & AU2016260749A1).
Another novel addition, the “ARV” patent automatically determines which products and services to advertise based in response to ambient factors such as weather, time, temperature, and other factors. An example of this would be advertising car tinting on a particularly hot day (Patent: US20180018699A1 & AU2017204785A1).
Aside from technological innovations to help car dealers, CarSwap has also attracted millions of social media followers by establishing the largest and most engaged auto-classifieds social media presence in Australia across leading platforms. Their Facebook page has amassed over 200,000 followers, while their Instagram has over 300,000 followers, and their Twitter page has a whopping 400,000 followers.
Kane credits the success of user adoption to engaging social media content, as a cursory review of their last 20 Facebook posts yielded an average of hundreds of comments and shares for every post. This helps the startup obtain more car listings, facilitating more options for you to possible trade cars with, so it is a win for everyone.
If you wish to learn more about CarSwap, you can contact them directly through LinkedIn or drop me a line and I will be happy to make an introduction.
Webinars and meetups:
Innovation Bay: When will Australia be in space? Wed, Jun 24th | 7h30–8h30am ACST
Four leaders in space tech Adam Gilmour (Gilmour Space Technologies), Flavia Tata Nardini (Fleet), Martin Duursma (Main Sequence Ventures), and Steve Marshall (SA Premier) will discuss Australia’s growing landscape for space tech. They’ll also address questions such as:
— What can Space-based tech be used for?
— What industries will utilise this tech?
— Where do space-tech companies find funding?
— How do we continue to strengthen the Australian space industry? Register
RMIT Activator LaunchHUB Showcase . Thu, Jun 25th | 3h30 pm ACST
We invite all of you to join us and celebrate our startups’ achievements. The graduating LaunchHUB March 2020 cohort has surely been a special one for all of us here at the Activator. From joining forces with the Vietnam campuses to virtual delivery shift in this extraordinary time only prove that nothing will dampen the teams’ entrepreneurship spirits. Register
Antler 2020 Sydney Demo Day Rewired. Thu, Jun 25th | 7pm ACST
Antler is focused on helping chart the path to recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. We are searching for solutions to problems created by this crisis and will continue to invest in early stage companies that can help lift us out of this crisis. Register
Innovation Bay: Rise of Grants — Review of Direct Funding & Grants Landscape. Tue, Jun 30th | 11:30am ACST
Dr Jehan Kanga (KPMG High Growth Ventures) and industry expert Alun Needham (Principal Director, KPMG’s national Government Incentives practice) will join founders and successful grant applicants, Anastasia Volkova (Founder & CEO, Flurosat) and Emma Weston (Founder & CEO, AgriDigital) to discuss the power of grants and government incentives to help your startup. Register
Startup Victoria: Pitch Night: Education Tech! Tue, Jun 30th | 5:30–7pm ACST
At Pitch Night: EdTech, we’ll be focusing on those founders and startups who are offering tech solutions in the education industry. In particular, we want to hear from startups and founders who have reacted and engaged with the new demands of students, parents, educators and other customers as the pandemic has changed how we think about education. Register
Jobs:
Sine in hiring spree!
Sine develops technology for workplace safety, security, and compliance:
— Product Designer (UX/UI)
— Business Development Manager (Remote, AU)
— Business Development Manager
— Business Development Manager (Remote, NZ)
— Business Systems Engineer
— DevOps Engineer
— Full Stack Javascript Engineer
— Software Engineer
Fleet in hiring spree!
Fleet is an agile, next generation connectivity company:
— Golang Developer
— Technical Customer Support
— Product Owner
— Front-end/UI Developer
— Principal RF Payload Engineer (Adelaide HQ)
Junior Software Developer
Platfarm is one of Australia’s leading precision agriculture startups:
— Do you have a passion for building tools to help farmers, community building and regional development?
— The ideal candidate would have strong Javascript and communication skills
— Women, indigenous and culturally diverse individuals are highly encouraged to apply. Find more
Senior Automation Engineer
Chrysos provides ore grade analysis to the mining industry:
—Tertiary education in engineering with mechanical, mechatronic, electrical, instrumentation and control, or equivalent experience
—At least 6 years’ experience in a control system engineering role
—Report directly to the Chief Technology Officer. Find more
Community Development Manager
Like AirBnB for new solar and battery solutions:
— You will be responsible for recruiting local partners to support our solar and battery campaigns
— The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of experience in either sales or business development
—Skills: Sales, business development, community development, strategic partnerships. Find more
Co-Founder
Barbados Nutrition is a new startup working in the food sector:
— Do you have a passion for the future of food? Are you highly ambitious, love to build, and get excited about solving global problems?
— Strong marketing skills: design, branding building and online ad.
— The ideal co-founder would have prior experience in CPG, DTC and startups.
— Full-time, founder, 20–30% equity.
To find out more email Rob here.
Startup Jobs List
Airtree has created an open-source spreadsheet listing startups currently hiring. It is open for anyone to edit and they are asking all founders who are hiring to add the roles they’re recruiting for. You can access the spreadsheet here.
This is all for today! If you like this post, leave a comment connect with me through 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
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