Start-up accelerator Innovyz set to hit the road

Adelaide-based start-up accelerator ANZ Innovyz START will hit the road in November by holding a series of intensive three-day workshops for early-stage ventures in each of Australia’s major capital cities.

The incubator, which recently completed its inaugural class for handpicked start-ups and confirmed a second program for next year, is aiming to hold the troubleshooting sessions in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Dr Jana Matthews, Innovyz’s program director, said that the sessions will follow a similar format to those she oversaw at US entrepreneurial hive the Kaufman Foundation.

“The sessions we had in the US were amazing – people said that they completely changed their businesses,” she tells StartupSmart.

“Entrepreneurs sometimes feel very alone, so it’s great to realise that others have the same problems and that you can get a laundry list of solutions.”

“Lots of start-ups said that they couldn’t move to Adelaide for three months (for the accelerator) so we are looking to do a road show focusing on the critical problems around growth.”

Each session will last around three days, with entrepreneurs split into groups of around 12 to tackle issues such as raising finance and dealing with staff.

Matthews says that a group of around four or five mentors will be on hand to talk through problems with the start-ups.

The experts are likely to be sourced from within Australia, rather than from Innovyz’s international network gained through its partnership with leading US tech incubator TechStars.

“It will be a combination of learning through those businesses still growing and solutions provided by experts,” says Matthews. “We are aiming to take portions of the Innovyz program and makes them available to people in short, concentrated forums.”