Deadline: 21-May-23
Are you one of the region’s most ambitious founders? Are you ready to take your startup to the next level? If yes, then apply now for the Startmate Accelerator that unleashes the ambition of Australia and New Zealand’s best founders and propels them toward their goals.
Who is right for the Startmate Accelerator?
- Solo founder to founding team
- From solo founders to teams of five, they have seen it all. Regardless of the make-up of the founding team, Startmate will bolster your company’s growth by surrounding you with equally ambitious peers ready to share the founder journey with you.
- Technical to non-technical
- Thanks to shifts such as the no-code revolution, it’s easier than ever for non-technical founders to build technology companies. Whether you’re a technical or product-led founder, they can help to plug the gaps and support you to find the skills and experience you’re missing.
- Idea stage to pre-Series A
- It doesn’t matter if you have $1 million in annual recurring revenue or haven’t even got a product… as long as you are wildly ambitious, pre-Series A and tech-enabled, they can help you.
- They’ve had founders with little more than an idea go on to raise a seed round, teams that have raised a Series A round mid-program and follow up with a Series B round 12 months later, and they’ve even have more established businesses come and attach rocket boosters to their month-on-month growth.
- Software to everything else
- Their 190+ alumni have all different offerings and span all different industries — think software, hardware, spacetech, sportstech, foodtech, agtech, autonomous drones, craft beer and beauty.
- In 2019, they launched a dedicated Climate Cohort to support startups specifically addressing the climate crisis. In 2020, the CEFC Innovation Fund joined them to extend their reach to even more climate-tech founders.
What is the 12-week Accelerator experience like?
- The Accelerator program surrounds you with a network of ambitious peers and the best mentors, investors and operators across Australia and New Zealand.
- They’ll help you define where to focus your energy, set your goals and unblock you so you can move more quickly than you ever thought possible.
- The program kicks off with an immersive week 0 designed to raise your ambition levels and help you set 12-week and 12-month goals.
- From there, each week comprises a mix of sessions (from cohort check-ins to 1:1 mentor sessions to more structured training on key topics from the best startup operators in the region).
- Of course, they want you to prioritise what will help move your business forward, so it’s up to you how much you immerse yourself in the program content.
- The official part of the program ends with investor pitches and the Demo Day celebration.
- They say official because while the Accelerator kickstarts your progress, the Startmate community will be with you for the rest of your life-long journey.
- You’ll forever be able to depend on your world-class squad of mentors, access Startmate’s ever-growing and rich startup community, and get first access to the talent coming through Startmate’s Fellowship programs so you can hire the best operators in the region to help you scale.
Who else is involved?
- Unlike most other accelerators, the $120k they invest in your startup comes directly from their mentor community.
- This means every mentor has skin in the game and is personally invested in seeing you succeed.
- And while this investment and intensive startup education is key to their leading Accelerator experience, the program’s most valuable ingredient, and what sets Startmate apart, is their community.
- From your cohort, to your mentor squad (read: your own personal SWAT team) to the Accelerator alumni and more, being part of Startmate is being part of a lifelong community of the best founders, investors and operators in the region and beyond.
Criteria
- They’ll be asking you questions about yourself and your company to help them understand if you’d be a great fit for the accelerator – they’re looking for Australia & New Zealand’s most promising early stage startups.
- They receive over 500 applications for the 12-18 places they have available, so clear, concise responses that allows your passion and ambition to shine through will help you stand out.
- At the core of your application is a 90 second video. This is your chance to really bring your company to life.
What are they optimising for?
- As always, their primary goal at Startmate is to attract the most ambitious founders across Australia and New Zealand, and changing their investment terms is a part of fulfilling that mission.
- They are excited to be able to support their cohort founders with additional funding and more competitive valuation terms from the Summer22 intake, while ensuring their incredible mentor community is as engaged as ever to help unleash that ambition on the world.
- To understand the importance of the ‘post-money’ valuation, check out YC’s article from when they adjusted their own terms a few years ago.
For more information, visit Startmate Accelerator Program.