Pollenizer – StartupSmart

WINNER OF THE BEST START-UP INVESTOR

Pollenizer is a Sydney-based start-up incubator, co-founded by tech veterans Mick Liubinskas and Phil Morle, which recently celebrated its fourth birthday.

The Pollenizer team is made up of 30 people in Sydney, and 50 mentors from around the world. To date, Pollenizer has co-founded more than 25 online companies.

Last year alone it tested 16 ideas, started eight new businesses, raised $7 million for portfolio companies, raised $1.1 million for incubation, and sold Spreets for more than $40 million.

It has also introduced the Pollenizer “pod structure” whereby set teams work over four-month semesters, thus bringing consistency to the incubation process.

According to Liubinskas, the new team structure and four-month process is proving very successful, saying it’s “something we can see one day taking to other cities around the world”.