The Accelerator is a 12-week program designed to help founders build on strong foundations, scale their ventures and become investment-ready. 

We’re looking for founders with the ambition, determination and resilience to transform a significant idea into an impactful global business. 

The program is perfect for teams with a product ready to be put in front of customers, or those seeking to grow quickly or to find experienced mentors and facilitators to guide their next steps.

All participants get access to:

  • 12-week Accelerator Program – mix of seminars, mentoring and accountability
  • five-startup strong cohort to connect with and leverage on the journey
  • $20,000 equity-free funding opportunity to scale your business across the 12 weeks paid in three trenches
  • rent-free incubation space at the Fire Station (Swinburne Innovation Hub) for three months
  • access to world-leading entrepreneurs, academics, mentors and investors
  • credits to professional services (legal, accounting, app development and cloud computing)
  • the opportunity to pitch to mentors and investors at the Demo Day event
  • priority access to the investment committee of the Swinburne Ventures Limited.


To be eligible for our program, at least one founder in your startup must be part of the Swinburne Family (student, staff or alumni).

  • “We wanted some good mentors that have real business experience and that’s been huge in getting us to the next level

    Samantha Nicolaides , Scriibi

Applying for the Swinburne Accelerator Program? 

Learn more about program requirements and eligibility from our Info Night. Watch the recording of our Info Night and download the slides  [PDF 4.2MB] now.

If you’d like more information about the program in general, please email innovationstudio@swinburne.edu.au.

If you have more specific questions, you can schedule a 20-minute chat with our team to talk about your application and goals with the program. Please email innovationstudio@swinburne.edu.au to schedule a time.

Swinburne Accelerator Program – Demo Night

Swinburne Accelerator Program – Demo Night

Are you a startup with a product that’s ready to be put in front of customers? Take your idea from go to whoah with Swinburne Innovation Studio’s Accelerator Program.

Hear what the movers and shakers have to say about our intensive, 12-week program. (Hint: it’s infinitely better than the office!) Gain access to mentors and facilitators to guide the next steps of your startup journey.

Our recent Accelerator Program startups

Our 2020 startups

Little Green Panda is a sustainable packaging startup making compostable drinking straws from agriculture waste products. To date, they’ve replaced 3.1 million straws in over 10 countries from polluting our landfills and oceans.

Founders:

Manon Beauchamp-Tardieu
Darine Djendoubi 
Teresa Aylott 
Loris Campanile

Find out more about Little Green Panda. 

Automation Acoustics is introducing a remote monitoring tool that provides data visualisation (industry 4.0) to industries using automated welding. In doing so, it aims to solve the lack of real-time visibility in production process required to make decisions. 

Founders:

Anthony Lele 
Armando Manzano

Find out more about Automation Acoustics

milkdrop is designing a new wave of breast pumps and accessories. They draw on the latest technology in design, materials and manufacturing to help mums express milk faster, more comfortably and with less fuss. 

Founders: 

Alexandra Sinickas 
Andrew Mason 
Ravi Bessabava 
Daniel Prohasky 

Find out more about milkdrop. 

Through smartphone interfaces, Fishable is creating simple, accurate and fun ways to measure your catch that helps build knowledge of sustainable fishing practices.

Founders: 

Adj Professor, Jacyl Shaw, Co-Founder
Dr Adrian Collins, Co- Founder & Director

Find out more about Fishable.

mDetect detectors use particles from space to give X-ray style scans of substances. They can create a 3D image of the density of a region allowing identification, monitoring and evaluation. mDetect can reveal hidden structures that no other technique can, using detectors that are small, robust and cost-effective thanks to their patented microelectronics.

Founders:

Prof Alan Duffy - CEO
Dr Jerome Donovan - COO 
Dr Eryadi Masli - CFO
Shanti Krishnan - CTO
Craig Webster - Chief Engineer  

Find out more about mDetect

Our 2019 startups

Scriibi is an online tool that teachers use to develop their students' written communication skills. Scriibi's data-informed teaching and learning tools integrate into existing frameworks and help teachers develop practices and differentiate learning to ensure students reach their full potential.

Founders:

Samantha and David Nicolaides

Find out more about Scriibi

Strong Room is a health-tech startup founded to further integrate the healthcare IT ecosystem. Early case studies have shown that the Strong Room pharmacotherapy management software can save pharmacists up to 30 per cent in time.

Founders:

Max Mito, Christopher Durre and Kieran Start

Find out more about Strong Room

Making the unseen visible, SNA Toolbox helps organisations to realise their social capital through its unique technology platform optimising the hidden social structure of organisations.

Founders:

Dean Lusher and Peng Wang

Find out more about SNA Toolbox

ASPIRE connects resource generators with reuse and recycling users, using technology developed by CSIRO and Data61 to reduce the rate of landfill across Australia. ASPIRE is currently helping 300 businesses covering 15 councils across Victoria with their resource management.

Founder:

Cameron McKenzie

Find out more about ASPIRE

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, in order to be eligible to participate in the Accelerator program you must either be a staff member, student or alumni of Swinburne.

Not all founders need to have a Swinburne affiliation but the founder with affiliation must hold at least a 10% equity in the business.

Founders are the people who established the company; they share both the risk and reward of creating something from an idea.

Yes, we would love for you to apply for the program. 

The expectation is that one founder (or equivalent hours across founders) will be working full-time in the start-up.

No, you retain full ownership of the company including any IP.

Yes, you are still welcome to apply for our program.

No, there is no cost to apply for the Accelerator Program. However, all participants are required to have a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) in order to be able to participate in the program as it's partly delivered on Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus. Learn more about Working with Children.

Explore more of our programs

More startup and spin-offs

Learn more about other Swinburne startup and spin-off companies

Want to know more?

If you have any questions, need more information or you're wondering how Swinburne Innovation Studio can help turn your big idea into a real thing, contact us via email at innovationstudio@swinburne.edu.au.

Contact us now