Eleven Australian startups have been selected for the second intake of the muru-D accelerator program.
Backed by Telstra, muru-D provides $40,000 capital investment in return for six per cent equity in the startup. The startups train for six months at the accelerator, which is based in the Sydney suburb of Paddington.
A Telstra spokesperson said that muru-D provides mentoring and support for startups to build their customer base and “open the right doors for them.”
“Through our contacts and business mentoring/networking we take their businesses to the next level of their development,” the spokesperson said.
In August 2014, nine of the 10 startups that entered the first intake of the muru-D accelerator program graduated, with eight securing investors for the next stage.
Two startups who didn’t get into the program earlier this year went away and worked on their business and have now qualified for the second intake. These are online catering platform You Chews and digital marketplace Freight Exchange.
You Chews CEO Liz Kaelin said the muru-D mentor told her to hire a CTO, which she subsequently did.
“We simply wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the continued support and mentoring that the muru-D team gave us in round one. They inspired us to come back bigger and better and now we’re here – we couldn't be more excited,” she said in a statement.
According to Freight Exchange CEO Cate Hull, its idea was still in its infancy when the startup applied for the accelerator program. After spending two days at “muru-D bootcamp” the startup has accelerated its plans and progress.
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Other startups taking part in the accelerator program are:
- FanFuel - a sponsorship marketplace where companies search, measure and secure their sponsorship deal
- Wattblock - Web-based roadmaps for residential and commercial strata buildings
- Disrupt Surfing - custom surfboards made using 3D modelling
- TripALocal - an online platform that connects travellers with local hosts
- Peep Digital – a phonetic English language technology platform to help children, teenagers and adults struggling with English pronunciation and comprehension
- VClass – a hybrid education platform that combines the Internet, VoIP with traditional pen and paper to create an online teaching experience
- Instrument Works – developers of wireless, portable sensors and instruments to build the Internet of Things for research
- CrowdSourceHire - a pre-hire assessments marketplace platform that crowd sources industry experts to assist with job assessments
- SoccerBrain – provides interactive training sessions week-by-week for soccer coaches and players
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