{"id":41905,"date":"2023-10-20T15:17:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/techstars-network-to-expand-incubator-model-to-australia-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:17:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:19","slug":"techstars-network-to-expand-incubator-model-to-australia-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/techstars-network-to-expand-incubator-model-to-australia-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"TechStars Network to expand incubator model to Australia – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"

A TechStars-based model is to launch in Australia next year, with the celebrated US start-up incubator handing a licence to an Adelaide-based firm via its TechStars Network program, StartupSmart can reveal. <\/span><\/p>\n

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SME Growth Capital was chosen to operate as part of the TechStars Network, a global group of independently-run start-up accelerator programs that operate in a similar way to TechStars in the US.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s anticipated that the Australian program will roll out in March next year, with applications tentatively anticipated to open in late November.<\/p>\n

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The initiative, which has been given a four-year licence to operate in Australia, will be known as Innovyz Start, to tie in with SME Growth Capital\u2019s own rebranding to Innovyz.<\/p>\n

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The arrival of a TechStars-based incubator scheme in Australia is likely to be warmly welcomed by tech start-ups in the country.<\/p>\n

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TechStars is seen by many industry observers as the world\u2019s premier accelerator of new businesses. Founded in 2006, it operates from four locations across the US, with a global affiliate network launched last year.<\/p>\n

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The program works by offering selected start-ups $18,000 in funding in return for a 6% equity stake. It estimates that 70% of its participants, around 60 businesses a year, receive further funding after completing the three-month TechStars mentorship program.<\/p>\n

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As reported by StartupSmart last month<\/a>, TechStars recently raised $24 million in funding, boosting the cash available to start-ups to $100,000 each.<\/p>\n

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SME Growth Capital says that it will offer $18,000 in funding to 10 start-ups in the inaugural Australian intake but that amount could rise, with the organisation in talks with potential funding partners.<\/p>\n

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The four-month Australian program will be run by American entrepreneur Jana Matthews, who was one of the original members of renowned entrepreneurial school the Kauffman Center.<\/p>\n

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It will be able to draw upon the IP, contracts and documents of TechStars, although the network will not financially support the new venture in any way.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is very exciting and it will get even more exciting when these well-known business leaders start working with these start-ups,\u201d Stuart Douglas, senior partner at SME Growth Capital tells StartupSmart.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe hardest thing is to get in front of the right people, so this is a pretty amazing opportunity. We want people with passion, not particularly people who have done it before or who are brilliant managers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe want innovators of up to three founders that we can build a team around.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHaving Jana come out here is very exciting too, as she is one of the top people in the world when it comes to entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTechStars is very similar to what we do. We work with early stage start-ups, mentor them and bring on the right people.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere will be one program next year and then we may look at running a few programs, such as a mining one in WA, a tech one in the east and an industrial one here. We\u2019ve still got to nail that down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A TechStars-based model is to launch in Australia next year, with the celebrated US start-up incubator handing a licence to an Adelaide-based<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}