Accelerating South Australia’s future with six innovative startups

Some of the 2023 Venture Catalyst program cohort at UniSA’s Enterprise Hub
Credit: Innovation & Collaboration Centre

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Festivally, Hairy As, ID8R, Calm-Vax, ScanDi, eDon

The University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) is excited to announce the next cohort of participants in its leading six-month accelerator program.

As the seven startups proceed through the ICC’s Venture Catalyst program they will be supported through expertise, resources and funding to accelerate their businesses, taking them to market sooner as they cement their place in South Australia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

UniSA Deputy Director: Business Incubation Craig Jones says the diverse organisations joining the program this year include two social enterprises.

“We have an exceptional group of startups within this cohort, with several looking to make transformative impacts within the medical sector,” he says.

“Being involved with these companies in their infancy allows us to push their potential on what could be possible, and the positive ripple effects that has on the wider South Australian community.”

Calm-Vax co-founders Dr Sarah Sheppard and Kirsty Harvey are using their ICC opportunity to further build their business towards the goal of reducing needle-related anxiety in children, alongside secondary aims of improving community attitudes towards vaccinations and coping.

“We are especially excited about the individualised business support provided as well as the connection, networking and mentoring opportunities,” Sheppard says.

Hairy As founder Daryl McMahon aims to support a stronger, more equitable community through delivering steady funding to its social purpose partners through sales of its beard products.

“I saw Venture Catalyst as an opportunity to get the support, expertise and resources I need to take Hairy As from concept to launch and beyond, with a solid underpinning to ensure ongoing sustainability,” he says.

eDON co-founder Supriya Dixit is looking to help hospitals address understaffing by enabling them to fill gaps in their rosters directly with qualified nurses, using a software solution her business has developed.

“We feel that being immersed in the startup community will be immensely beneficial for our team and that being surrounded by other companies in their early stages will provide us with opportunities to learn from each other's progress,” she says.

In joining the ICC community, these startups now have access to a pool of global industry experts who will help drive their progress over the next six-months, as well as a $10,000 stipend, tailored workshops, university resources and one-on-one mentoring.

The social enterprise component of the Venture Catalyst program is partly funded by the Pank Family, who support social innovation and enterprises developed by UniSA students, staff or alumni.

Find out more about the program at https://icc.unisa.edu.au/programs/venture-catalyst/#about-venture-catalyst

Innovation & Collaboration Centre’s 2024 Venture Catalyst cohort:

Social Enterprise category
Festivally	FESTIVALLY Consultancy evaluates and audits the digital accessibility and user experience design of online platforms for special interest events and festivals to drive tourism to Australia.
Hairy As	Hairy As is a social enterprise producing natural, sustainable men’s beard grooming products. Through promoting society’s beard love, their aim is to develop a fun and engaging brand in order to generate profits-for-purpose.
General category
ID8R	ID8R empowers NFT collectors and artists to personalise, showcase, and enhance their digital assets. ID8R aims to revolutionise the NFT space by enhancing expression, interaction, and engagement.
Calm Vax	Calm-Vax is exploring cutting-edge immersive technology solutions for children with needle anxiety to experience when receiving a vaccination. Their technology aims to provide a highly engaging and immersive experience which can reduce needle-related anxiety and pain.
ScanDi by McDemco MedTech	ScanDi by McDemco MedTech looks at digital health, it involves a mobile app to improve clinical assessment, capture and analyse data to give predictive outcomes and promote telemedicine and remote health surveillance through the use of personal mobile devices.
eDon	eDon is a marketplace solution that connects Hospitals that have gaps in their roster directly with qualified nurses that can fill their required shifts without needing a middleman to facilitate the matching of the two parties.
Spark Medical Solutions	Spark Medical Solutions is aiming to revolutionise the operations of occupational therapists in Australia using a unique digital platform to leverage AI and machine learning technologies to automate admin tasks, streamline workflows and improve collaboration and communication.

 

The 2024 participants began the 6-month accelerator program in October, with a four-week induction featuring workshops from leading industry experts.

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