Telstra's muru-D just picked 10 new startups for its accelerator program

muru-D, the accelerator program backed by Telstra, has just picked 10 new startups to support.

An autonomous passenger aircraft, virtual reality being used to rehabilitate stroke victims, and autonomous tree-planting robots are among the technologies being developed by the startups accepted into the SYD5 program.

“It was important to us to select teams that have a social purpose element, using technology in innovative ways to solve real problems and create solutions for societies today and into the future,” says the head of muru-D, Julie Trell.

“We received almost 20% more applications compared to last year, and we were delighted to see the number of applications from companies with female founders also rose by that same amount.

“From our 10 successful companies that made it into the cohort, it’s great to see that six of the 10 have a female co-founder on the team.”

Each of the 10 startups gets $75,000 in seed capital investment. They will get access to a highly developed network of mentors and industry professionals to help accelerate their businesses.

“With over 100 companies now in our portfolio, and 15 of these having raised $1 million or more in funding, we’re committed to continuing our support of the startup ecosystem throughout Australasia,” says Trell. Read more

Chris Pash - Business Insider Australia - 13 Feb 2018