Putting 2014 on the MAP

Melbourne University’s Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP14) for this year launches on Thursday with six diverse startups unveiled as participants.

Program manager Rohan Workman says the latest batch of startups were the best of 56 applicants, most of which have a strong base in technology or intellectual property which made them appealing to the program.

“What these startups all had were strong teams and markets that were growing,” Workman says

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The six startups include:

• Pathobin; a pathology photography image hosting service for pathologists, scientists, surgeons and students. Pathobin digitises microscopic slides to improve patient diagnosis, cancer research and education and allows for crowdsourced research.

• XLabs; a startup that has developed the first eye-gaze tracking solution that works with an ordinary webcam, doesn’t restrict your movement or need continuous recalibration.

• Brosa; is a marketplace helping industrial designers manufacture and sell unique homeware products to consumers. Industrial designers turn their real life ideas into products and make money by selling to a community of homeware lovers.

• SCANN3D; provides a 3D visualisation service that pioneers the next generation of real estate marketing content.

• Financial Ask; helps its users make the correct financial decisions. It connects its users with qualified advisors and provides financial advice for those who may not have been able to afford it previously.

• Quanticare Technologies; a startup that builds healthcare solutions which enable data-driven clinical encounters through the development of monitoring and tracking technology.

The will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the program’s alumni, many of whom have experienced considerable success.

The 10 companies that have taken part in previous iterations of the Melbourne Accelerator Program have raised upwards of $4.1 million in funding and investment.

They include the likes of Bluesky, who was a recent finalist at Oxygen Venture’s Big Pitch event, and Venuemob.

To be eligible for the program at least one of the members of the founding team must be a Melbourne University Student, staff member or alumni within the last five years from the Melbourne School of Engineering, Faculty of Business and Economics, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, or Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

Selected startups receive mentoring and support, including $20,000 of funding.

This year’s program will be a little different, Workman says, as organisers continue to tinker with the program to ensure the participating startups get the most out of it.

In the past, specific mentors have worked with each startup in what Workman refers to as a “vertical engagement” model, but this year participating startups will also have access to a mentor who visits and speaks to all six startups.

For more information on the Melbourne Accelerator Program 2014 Launch Party, visit its eventbrite page.