Startups selected for Aussie TechStars-style accelerator

Nine Australian startups have been selected to participate in a 13-week accelerator program designed to mirror the US TechStars program.

Of the nine Australian startups, seven are based in Adelaide, another in Melbourne, and the remaining one in Sydney. An additional tenth startup that operates out of Canada, US, and UK will also be participating. Next week, the startups will commence the Innovyz Start program, which will see representatives from each company spending the following 13 weeks working with their mentors in South Australia. Such mentors include Microsoft Chief Experience Evangelist Chris Bernard, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Martin Babinec, and DealsDirect co-founder Paul Greenberg.

Each founder will also receive AU$6,000, or up to a total of AU$18,000 where there is more than one founder, and a program director will work with each to help commercialise their product or service. Founders will learn how to grow their company, identify relevant markets to target, modify and rework their company plan, and present to investors.

Over 120 applicants applied, but the program, which is being run in partnership with ANZ Bank, only has room for 10.

"We were looking for break-through ideas that could be enabled by Web 2.0, software, and mobile. We have been very pleased with the breadth and depth of business ideas we've seen in the applications for the 2013 ANZ Innovyz Start program. The vision, passion, and ambition of our entrants is testament to Australia's burgeoning startup and small business eco-system," ANZ Innovyz Managing Director Dr Jana Matthews said in a statement.

The winning start-ups are The Unicoach, Kicktone, Yesoft, FitUsIn, Mobility Unlimited, Datamunch, Edgebox, Memtell, TowardsTheStars, and Agent Anything.