Perth entrepreneurs and their teams are getting ready for this year’s Plus Eight Accelerator.
THE Plus Eight Accelerator, powered by Spacecubed, is a top-tier program for leading startups and business owners looking to scale their operations.
Established in 2017, the Plus Eight program has already gathered some impressive alumni, including SpacetoCo, uDrew, Unocart, Humm and Komo Digital.
A new, staged approach was introduced last year in order to get to know the startups and the founders better, while preparing them for success.
Phase one kicks off this month with 18 hand-picked teams participating in a pitching bootcamp. Up to 14 of them will progress to a 10-week sprint consisting of a lot of hard work, hustling, mentoring and support.
Between six and eight teams will then be selected for phase two, which provides up to $100,000 in seed funding, international trips to Silicon Valley and Singapore (subject to COVID-19 restrictions), and additional hands-on masterclasses to prepare the businesses to scale globally.
New program partners have come on board this year, with Woodside Energy and RAC’s BetterLabs, alongside Mirvac, Eastcourt, Hawaiian, Jackson McDonald and DFK Gooding Partners providing support.
Here are some of the teams taking part in the pitching bootcamp (the full list is on the Plus Eight website).
Agrisave Technology
Uses sensors and analytics to help farmers understand the composition of their soil profile.
Audio Scriptr
Audio Scriptr is Audible for the professional world, converting documents into audio-generated content so people can listen on the go.
Cradle Accounting
Automates the accounting for a mandatory lease accounting standard that applies to all listed companies. Users input the contractual information in Cradle and get a set of financial reports, essentially removing the accountant.
LearnBite
LearnBite is a new era in teaching and learning, built for maximum student engagement. Using micro learning theory, LearnBite delivers bite-size business videos designed for Gen Y and Z, featuring interactive content and ESL-student friendly.
RadiXplore
RadiXplore is an AI that helps resources companies find hidden leads and unrecognised mineral deposits within unstructured text data through a user-friendly web application.
Ready Team One
Ready Team One applies gamification principles to experiential learning and develops the latest interactive VR technologies to make entertainment and training engaging.
Snackr is revolutionising the stadium experience with mobile concession and merchandise ordering solutions, so fans can skip the queues and enjoy the action.
Tender Relief
Tender Relief is a simple online tool helping small businesses understand, and therefore submit, better tenders.
The Tooth Market
The Tooth Market connects prospective dental patients to practices by helping patients to diagnose, quote, book and fund the dental treatment they need, when they need it.
Success stories to emerge from previous iterations of the Plus Eight program include: KIXXFIT (connecting coaches and members in the health and fitness industry online); Hey Lady! (a platform for women learning English to meet and practise their skills); and DiGii Social.
DiGii Social chief executive Claire Orange told Business News its training platform gave 10- to 13-year-old children the skills and knowledge to protect themselves online.
The contacts made in the Plus Eight program enabled DiGii Social to establish industry mentorship and a community of supporters willing to help the business along its journey, Ms Orange said.
DiGii Social was one of seven final teams last year.
Ms Orange said it had since closed a seed investment round led by BetterLabs, appointed a full-time general manager with experience in education and sales, had established a school in the UK, received interest from Asia, and had achieved accreditation through Beyond Blue’s ‘Be You’ federal mental health initiative in schools as an evidence-based program.
She said a recent example of the program’s effectiveness involved a critical incident at a school recently, during which the student knew how to respond appropriately to the digital threat to her safety due to her use of DiGii Social.
Plus Eight this year will include a demo day, which will feature pitches from the teams that make it through.
It’s wonderful to see the startup community continue to grow and for these companies to flourish in local, national and global markets through the network of mentors, investors, partners and supporters.
