Startmate, a group offering mentorship and seed financing to Australia’s Internet and software startups, has announced a Trump Card program that sounds quite like a wannabe entrepreneur’s dream.
The Sydney company plans to pick 3-4 developers and designers for a five-month program with a lot of goodies thrown in. Each of the successful entrant will receive a $50,000 investment, mentorship from more than 25 successful founders, legal advice and a two-month trip to Silicon Valley. At the conclusion of the program, participants will be offered the additional opportunity to pitch to early-stage investors at two demo days – one in Sydney and another in Silicon Valley.
Selected participants, who will work out of the Startmate space at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern, will be paid a stipend of $6,000 to cover living expenses. Startmate says entrants will have one of two choices at the end of the Trump Card program: Start your own company or join a Startmate team as an early employee. It will also help others get a job at other startups in Sydney.
Mentors at Startmate include Hamish Hawthorn and Andrew Stead of ATP Innovations; Niki Scevak, managing director of Blackbird Ventures; and Pollenizer co-founders Phil Morle and Mick Liubinskas.
Startmate’s portfolio companies just this year include 7pmAnywhere, an online dating site; BugCrowd, a crowdsourced security vulnerability testing service; GetStall, which helps brands use social media for marketing; and Kinderloop, which calls itself an “Instagram for child care.”
Applications close 22 February. To apply, click here, or to know more, click here. Startmate plans a first round of online interviews the following week before inviting the final 8-10 candidates to an interview on 5 March at the ATP in Redfern.
