The Startmate Accelerator is designed to fast-track your growth in 12 weeks. You'll get $120k investment, build a better product with more users, and get access to the best platform in ANZ to raise capital.
Raises Series A to take its electric boat motors global.
Raises $72 million Series B to help property managers, lenders and investors make better management decisions.
Raised $1.28M Seed to make the fashion industry more sustainable with their unique circular wardrobe.
Raises $8M Seed to replace plastics with seaweed.
Raises $30M in Series D to expand its bug bounty platform.
Raised $1.3M Pre-Seed to roll out insurance-at-checkout vision.
Raised $24M Series A to end the world's reliance on petroleum-based plastic packaging.
Raised $170M Series B to accelerate the manufacture and distribution of its energy efficient, long-range WiFi chips.
Raises $17.8M Series A helps people with chronic conditions learn to manage their health.
Raised $25M Series B to provide comprehensive cyber security risk assessments.
%201.svg)
Put simply, we help you grow your company much, much faster. You’ll get $120k investment, access to the best mentors in ANZ, and an unrivalled fundraising platform. The accelerator gets you laser-focused on what matters most - your customer and building something people want.
Being a founder can be incredibly lonely. The most powerful thing that will happen to you at Startmate is that you’ll work alongside some of the most ambitious founders of this generation who are facing the same challenges you are, as well as founders who were in your shoes a few years before. These founders will become some of the most important people in your journey.
Startmate invests $120k at a $1.5m post-money valuation for founders who haven’t raised a previous round, and we’ll match the latest valuation for those who have. You can find all the details about our investment terms here.
We’ve curated a community of 4000+ of ANZ’s best founders, operators and investors. You’ll plug in to the very centre of this universe. Your unfair advantage is that you’ll get the first pick of the best fresh talent through our fellowships and a warm intro to any VC, angel investor, or mentor you need.
Think of us as your fundraising co-pilot. Fundraising is both the most important and least important job of an early stage founder: it's often critical for the success of your company, but it takes huge amounts of time and energy away from building the company. We help bulletproof your pitch, create a fundraising strategy, and get you in front of the right people, including in the US.
companies invested in by Startmate that are worth a combined $3.5+ billion
of companies raise capital post-Accelerator
is the median round size of companies that raised equity rounds post-Accelerator in the past 2 years
The Startmate Accelerator is a hybrid program that you can join from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. Weeks 1-12 can be joined remotely, while Week 0 and Demo Day week are in-person.
Come together in Melbourne to get to know the cohort and the Startmate mentors, establish ambitious goals, understand your blindspots and set a vision for your company.
You’ll be laser-focused on the most important thing – customers and growth.
This is your chance to showcase your progress throughout the program to an audience of 1000+ investors, operators, founders. You’ll get media as well as customer, investor, and hiring leads obtained on the night. Check out the video from our last Demo Day.
This is your chance to showcase your progress throughout the program to an audience of 1000+ investors, operators, founders. You’ll get media as well as customer, investor, and hiring leads obtained on the night. Check out the video from our last Demo Day.
An optional US trip for founders to expand their network to the US network. Whether you’re looking for US investment, customers or mentors, you can shape this trip to your startup needs and leverage the Startmate network to get the outcome you’re looking for.
We've invested in companies spanning an insanely diverse range of industries. From ed-tech, health-tech, prop-tech and climate-tech to space-tech, fin-tech and legal-tech.
67% of Accelerator companies had no revenue when they applied and every cohort has had at least one company that is idea-stage and pre-MVP.
Diversity builds smarter solutions. Since 2021, 40% of our companies have 1 or more women co-founders.
“The impact of Startmate was that we wouldn’t have achieved any of this without going through the Accelerator. The Accelerator stretched expectations of what was possible of ourselves as founders and our business in a short period of time. It helped us grow momentum by practising good habits as founders and put us in front of mentors who had the belief and means to help us scale our business.”
Co-founder and CEO @ Heaps Normal
“When we applied to Startmate we didn't have much more than an idea, if you're in a similar position, go for it anyways. You can get into Startmate regardless of where you are in your journey. I think what really helped us was being very clear about our ambition and where we wanted to take our technology and showing it was possible on a very small scale.”
Co-founder & CEO @ Aquila
“I think a lot of people have an idea, and then they get paralysed about what to do. Launch Club provides really great clarity around the next steps.”
Founder @ Lyrebird Health
Move faster than you ever thought possible, build a better product with more users, and join the best platform in ANZ to raise capital. The Accelerator is ready for you.
Startmate is able to match the valuation of your last raise.
There are a couple of conditions that need to be met for Startmate to match the valuation of your last raise:
Note: We will ask for executed investment documents (i.e. a SAFE / Subscription Agreement / Term Sheet) as part of the selection process to confirm the above.
Startmate Accelerator selection is a 3 step process over the course of 3 weeks at the end of which we make an offer to join the cohort.
Stage 1 - online application + 90sec video (~1h)
Each application is reviewed by at least 3 mentors independently. Mentors are all personally invested in the fund and are looking for the founders who stand out the most - connection to the problem, size of ambition, customer conversations etc.
Stage 2 - round robin interviews (2.5h) - remote
At this stage you get to meet 10 mentors in 10mins back to back conversations. This is a high energy fast speed interview round that allows you to really hone the story of your company.
Stage 3 - in depth interview (1h) - remote
Finally, you’ve got an hour in-depth interview with 3-4 of our mentors including a Startmate team member. Here we’re going deep into your product, vision and any open questions from the previous rounds.
At Startmate we like to keep it simple without hooks or surprises.
Startmate invests AUD $120,000 with the following investment terms:
You get to choose whether we invest via a SAFE, or in your priced equity round.
You’re still a great fit for the program! We’ve invested in startups with angel, pre-seed, and seed funding. The program’s laser focus on customer feedback and market validation is incredibly relevant to companies that are looking to scale. Additionally, handpicked mentors in your corner helping you address challenges as they arise continues to be invaluable for more established teams.
You can read about the application questions and top tips for your application here!
