Aus accelerator program links disability startups to 150 investors

Remarkable, Australia’s first disability focussed startup accelerator program, hosted its fourth Demo Day to showcase the six startups which have recently completed the 16-week accelerator program. The startup pitched to more than 150 investors at Fishburners Sydney.

Since March 2016, Remarkable has intensively supported 26 startups. Remarkable looks for early-stage startups who are focused on using technology to create life-changing solutions for people with disability – addressing core activities such as wellbeing, independence and inclusion.

The startups in the 2019 cohort are solving a wide range of problems experienced by people with a disability, everything from reading and speech development, to care coordination, employment pathways and social isolation.

Some of the startups that pitched include Bookbot, a startup that empowers those with learning disabilities to become confident, independent learners through a reading assistant app.

Using artificial intelligence to recruit a more accessible and inclusive workforce was the model of another startup called Jobmatcher. It particularly tackles the low employment rates for neurodiverse job seekers.

NomadVR, another featured startup, pitched their model of bringing highly stimulating virtual reality experiences to empower anyone without the means to go outside with the ability to do so.

PolySpine, a customised torso and head support system, talked about enabling people with physical disability to live life to the fullest, while Sameview , a startup solving the challenge of disability care coordination with their digital platform that reduces the stress and workload on families, talked about improving the effectiveness of care through better teamwork and collaboration.

Finally, Spokle, a speech therapy app pitched about providing practical, family-centred communication strategies to support children with communication disorders.

The Remarkable Accelerator has been a successful launchpad for previous cohorts who have gone on to secure a combined total of over $12.1m in funding in the past four years.

According to Startup Muster, the largest survey of Australian startups, 4.3 percent of startup businesses are now working in the disability space. The disability market in Australia is valued at more than $70bn, and around one in five people have a disability.

Pete Horsley, Founder of Remarkable says “advances in tech design and manufacturing have radically cut the time and cost to bring new solutions to market. This creates a huge global opportunity for Australian entrepreneurs and technologists, as they seek to solve problems for people with a disability in new and innovative ways.”

Remarkable has already invested almost $700k in seed funding into startups and a further $250k will be invested in 2020.

As this accelerator program comes to a close, applications for the next accelerator program are now being accepted and startups have until the beginning of February to apply for the program which will commence in March 2020.

Pearl Dy

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Pearl Dy is a community manager and journalist. She is passionate about business and development particularly involving not-for-profits, charity and social entrepreneurship.

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