Focus on defence industry for first APAC Techstars accelerator

Techstars co-founder David Cohen.

Adelaide will house the first Asia-Pacific outpost of the Techstars accelerator program, which launched in Colorado in 2006.

Techstars Adelaide’s corporate partners will include a number of the world’s largest defence companies, with BAE, Thales, Austal, SAAB, ASC, Rheinmetall and DCNS all participating in the program.

Up to 10 teams will be able to participate in the acclerator program, which will kick off in July. Techstars Adelaide is accepting submissions until 9 April.

The accelerator is currently recruiting for an APAC managing director.

“Defence research has driven some of the most transformative consumer innovation the world has seen, from the internet and GPS to superglue and digital photography,” Techstars co-founder and co-CEO David Cohen said in a statement.

“We are excited to invite entrepreneurs to join a program that will help them develop and commercialise cutting-edge products in collaboration with the defence industry.”

Cohen described Adelaide as a “tech-forward city,” citing the state government-backed Gig City project and its status as a Cisco ‘Lighthouse City’.

“Techstars Adelaide is designed to support companies to develop and commercialise state-of-the-art technologies connected to the defence and security sectors,” defence industry minister Christopher Pyne said in a statement.

“This is a welcome and encouraging step for new collaboration across defence industry, which will be critical to meeting the challenges of the future.”