Ten start-up company teams from around the world have presented their products and ideas to a crowd of potential investors and industry in Adelaide, as part of the final phase of the Asia Pacific’s first Techstars Accelerator program.
The Techstar “demo day” at Adelaide Oval last week saw an audience of around 300, including South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and Federal Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, watching the 10 pitch to potential investors. All will now graduate the 13-week Adelaide based mentoring and teaching program designed to take entrepreneurs from start up to Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Chosen from hundreds of applicants, the 10 Adelaide Techstars companies were selected as proposing ideas or products with possible defence applications, spanning 3D-printed rocket engines, infrared sensors, cybersecurity, analytics, and unmanned aerial systems.
Successful applicants received the equivalent of around $150,000 in funding and relocated to Adelaide to take part in the program, which included mentoring from Techstars’ global network of industry experts and support and collaboration from defence technology companies such as Boeing, Codan, Thales and Saab.
“We tell the companies that demo day is just another day in the life of your company,” Techstars Adelaide managing director Terry Gold said. “But it is important, it introduces them to more people in the community and potential investors and it makes sure that they’re ready to go out and tell their story tomorrow and the next day.”
Each company gave a five-minute pitch on its product or service, followed by a networking function and short meetings with preregistered potential investors.
Golding said presentations such as that of US 3D-printed rocket engine company ARC Engines showed that Techstars participants had often been developing their concepts for some time.
“We finished with the CEO of ARC, and he told his story about being inspired by watching the Star Wars movie and creating the first 3D-printed rocket engine as a school project, and how that’s led to an internship at SpaceX and now being here in Adelaide, unveiling a new product.”
Gold said Techstars participation has already created opportunities for participating companies including Australian start up Iridium Dynamics, which is developing an unmanned aerial system with wings that double as rotor blades, allowing the vehicle to take off and land vertically and transition to fixed-wing flight.
“Ian Conway Lamb, the CEO of Iridium Dynamics, was accepted into the Airbus Accelerator and will be spending the next six months in Toulouse, France, furthering his product development,” Gold said.
“We have had great support from Investment Attraction South Australia, and they are meeting with ARC Engines and others to help them explore how they might establish operations here in South Australia. Four of the five companies that joined us here in Adelaide from overseas are now considering South Australia in their expansion plans.”