From making scuba diving safer to knowing when a bottle of wine is at its best to drink, QUT startups are set to showcase a host of innovative ideas.
Entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas to investors at the QUT Accelerator Program Demo Day, powered by qutbluebox, tomorrow (THURSDAY, MARCH 2) at 3pm, Level 1 J Block, QUT’s Gardens Point campus.
It comes after a report released today (WEDNESDAY) from Universities Australia and Startup Muster found around one in five startup founders have benefited from a university acceleration or incubation program. More than four in five startup founders in Australia are university graduates.
The three month QUT Accelerator Program guides startups through the process of establishing a business, from developing their idea to taking a product to market. All team members are current QUT students and staff or alumni.
The seven startups are:
- Conpago
A device which creates a social connection between seniors and their families. - WineMinder
A device and app designed to monitor your wine and tell you when to drink wine at its best. - Canary Scuba
A visual gauge that monitors tank pressure and breathing rate for scuba divers. - Fundu
A platform to connect creatives with investors. - Budget Eating Buddy
A price comparison service that finds the cheapest supermarket for your shop. - Spring & Grove
A naturally flavoured carbonated spring water with real fruit flavours and nothing else. - Lagswitch
Uses commercial computer games to train executive teams and develop life skills in students
qutbluebox Chief Entrepreneur in Residence, Dr Tim MacTaggart, said the demo day was a valuable opportunity for startups to demonstrate their ideas to industry insiders.
“The teams have worked incredibly hard over the summer to progress their technologies and business models,” Dr MacTaggart, who is also a co-founder WineMinder, said.
“They have created original, exciting solutions to solve a wide range of problems, and pitching them to an informed audience is a crucial step for a startup.”
The accelerator program is part of a wider drive to make QUT a hub for emerging entrepreneurs.
In October, QUT Foundry was launched, a startup incubation space to nurture the next generation of business leaders, and the QUT Blue Book, which offers tips for startup founders from entrepreneurs, investors, academics and professional services firms is available soon.
Next month, QUT will host entrepreneurs from all over the world at the MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at Gardens Point campus.
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
