Meet Hatchery+ Cohort 3
After 60 applications, fifteen hours of interviews and four hours of pitches, Hatchery+ has opened its doors to the Autumn 2017 cohort of the accelerator program.
This session we’ve got ten teams, six of which are led by a female founder or co-founder. Given about 25% of women are startup founders in NSW (a number that is on the rise), we’re stoked to be above average.
It’s not just the teams that are new to the program, I’m also a fresh face, coming from the startup program at UNSW Innovations. Since joining UTS I’ve been very impressed with the calibre of startups this side of Central station, and am looking forward to spending the next three months working with the teams.
Having 60 applications is an enormous increase from last year, for the first cohort back in 2015 we had 16 applications. UTS has recognised that its students don’t want a 9–5 job, a survey in 2015 found 40% of students wanted to be entrepreneurs or had already started their new business. We’re lucky we get to preach to the converted.
So without further ado, here are the teams for Hatchery+ cohort 3:
BUZZBOX
Founders: Boris Poletan, John Phung
BuzzBox is a gifting platform that makes it easy for you to create a unique gifting experience for the people that you care about.
“We wanted to be part of an environment that housed the same type of passion and energy that we have for our startup, sometimes its hard to go at it all alone and having a physical place to collaborate is nice.” — Boris Poletan
CARROTS MONEY
Founders: Jacqueline Park, Sarah Nguyen, Simon Warner
We’re making Fitbit for your money. Think your pocket financial ally, decluttering your money life and simplifying decisions, in a visual and gamified journey.
“We’re super excited to be part of the community. It’s going to keep us honest as we keep delivering on our milestones to all of the teams. Having demo day to show what we’ve built is an energising catalyst too, the clock is ticking!” — Sarah Nguyen
COU Tech
Founder: Peta Portelli
Shoes designed around your orthotic. Made-to-measure and customisable. For women who want to get through the day in both comfort and style.
“I joined because the opportunity to pitch in front of investors and the wider business community is an invaluable experience for any startup at any stage. I want to see my business go all the way to IPO!”
OPENVISA
Founders: Cory Mayfield, Elle Fleming, Theresa Nguyen, Yuxin Kwan
OpenVisa is a platform that automates and simplifies the visa application process, making it faster and more accessible to migrants.
“We joined Hatchery+ for the opportunities and doors the program will open into industry; giving our business legitimacy to potential partners.” — Elle Fleming
PROFEED
Founders: George El Boutstani, Sam Walsh, Thomas Hart, Brandon Hartshorn
Pro Feed is a global workout sharing community built on motivation, empowerment and inspiration. We connect you with your favourite athlete’s workouts so you can train like your heroes.
“Hatchery+ is one of Sydney’s leading university incubators, we have the priceless opportunity to leverage some of Australia’s leading startup mentors, office space, financial support, and industry connections.” — Sam Walsh
AKINA
Founder: Fabiana Alvarez
Shift is a social venture designed to connect artisans in developing countries to global markets through the valorisation, amplification and monetisation of their skills.
“I hope my business can drive people to re-think the way business between developed and developing nations is done.”
SIRK
Founder: Isabella Shields
SIRK enables better sailing with learning solutions that increase learning and sports retention.
“I want to make a real difference in how sailing is taught and accessed. Hatchery+ allows me to grow SIRK and my own skills as a founder.”
SKILLEDSMART
Founder: Paridhi Jain
SkilledSmart is on a mission to bring a world-class life-skills education to Australia. At SkilledSmart, students get a practical, hands-on education on critical life-skills topics, like mastering personal finances.
“I joined Hatchery+ to be part of a support network and community to help me while I’m building my business.”
TUNASOLUTIONS
Founders: Xixiang Ngan, Thomas De Kock
TunaSolutions is a global online B2B marketplace that brings buyers, traders and suppliers in the tuna industry together on one platform. Our objective is to create end-to-end transparency, visibility and accessibility across the entire tuna supply chain.
“With the assistance of the program we want to take our business from an MVP to Australia’s largest B2B tuna marketplace. We want to be the world’s largest sustainable tuna marketplace.” — Xixian Ngan
WALLSYNC
Founders: Geoff Bullen, Alex Bullen
We’re using Augmented Reality to make sticky notes even better. Live data from your task management system is shown on top and moving them around in the physical world updates your systems version.
“We are going to launch our first iteration of WallSync, we aim to be ready for market by the end of the program. Longer term, we want to make technology a help not a hindrance when groups of people are collaborating. We have some exciting ideas about making human computer interactions more powerful. Watch this space.”
Listen to these amazing entrepreneurs give their final pitches before they fly the Hatchery+ coop. Register to attend Demo Day on July 13th 2017 from 4pm.
Want to get involved in the program? Applications for the Spring 2017 Hatchery+ are open now!
