Home Articles Startup Onramp eyes expansion as its first cohort of pre-accelerator startups graduates

Startup Onramp eyes expansion as its first cohort of pre-accelerator startups graduates

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Startup Onramp plans to expand its successful program nationally as it recently wrapped up its inaugural 12-week pre-accelerator program at The Precinct in Fortitude Valley.

The celebratory “Pitch Night” event saw entrepreneurs, mentors and the investor community come together to support the eight startup graduates pitching their companies, sharing the problems they are solving and their journey throughout the program.

Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Mark Sowerby, who officiated at the event, congratulated the graduates and publicly recognised Startup Onramp for its unprecedented program aimed at producing best-of-breed startup founders.

Which startups are in this Startup Onramp cohort?

The teams are:

  • M3DIA – creating 3D shopping experiences for ecommerce brands
  • SurePact – contract risk management software to avoid cost blowouts in outsourced projects
  • Herobe – a booking engine and upsell solution for independent hoteliers
  • MetaFling – an app for seamless payments
  • Gather – streamlining the process of arranging group dining experiences
  • PiSeas – data analytics for the fishing industry
  • Ag Yakka – a payment app for casual workers in the agriculture industry
  • Nodefy – aggregation of data for aged-care providers
The Startup Onramp winners
The Startup Onramp winners

The Queensland Government supported Startup Onramp through  its Advance Queensland Startup Events and Activities Fund with $25,000 in funding to help build a scalable program that can be delivered across Queensland and interstate. Mr Sowerby says the quality of startups was impressively high.

“Startup Onramp’s first program has exceeded expectations and has set the bar very high for what the Australian startup ecosystem can expect over the next couple of years – a significant boost in the number of highly capable startup founders. Thanks to programs like Startup Onramp, Queensland is well underway to becoming a world-class startup ecosystem that’s on par with some of our global counterparts,” Mr Sowerby said.

Startup Onramp founder Colin Kinner announced the opening of a second program in Brisbane commencing in September, to be followed by expansion of the program into regional startup hubs across Queensland and then interstate.

Startup Onramp founder Colin Kinner and Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Mark Sowerby
Startup Onramp founder Colin Kinner and Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Mark Sowerby

What has Startup Onramp been up to lately?

Illustrating demand for the program, Startup Onramp recently partnered with Girl Geek Academy to deliver a condensed version of the program in Melbourne as part of #SheHacks, the world’s largest all-women startup incubator.

“The response we’ve received since we launched has been phenomenal. It’s confirmed that there is a gap in the Australian startup ecosystem, and one that Startup Onramp can fill.

“Startup Onramp is committed to driving the growth of Australia’s startup ecosystem by making the program accessible nationwide in the near future,” Mr Kinner said.

The pre-accelerator program is primarily aimed at aspiring startup founders with great ideas but who lack startup experience and are not yet ready to quit their day jobs.

Startup Onramp provides startup founders with the required knowledge, skills and contacts to get their startup through its first year and avoid predictable mistakes that can lead to failure. The program leverages the deep experience of startup mentor and investor Colin Kinner, co-facilitator Peter Laurie and a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs and investors as guest speakers. Selected founders pay between $2,490 and $2,990 to participate in the 12-week program.

The next Brisbane program will commence on 13 September and applications are now open.For more information and to register, visit www.startuponramp.com.