Queensland’s ilab technology incubator launched its latest batch of entrepreneurs at a graduation event at the University of Queensland last night.
The launch showcased the work of ilab’s latest graduates, including navigation software for the aerospace sector and an online marketplace for spare storage space.
Funded by the Queensland Government, and a division of The University of Queensland’s main commercialisation company, UniQuest, the ilab program works as a ‘greenhouse’ and provides business mentoring, funding and network access to help entrepreneurs transform ideas into start-up companies.
“The three-month Germinate program gives selected applicants the chance to develop and test their new digital business ideas,” Germinate Program Director Bernie Woodcroft said.
The latest batch of graduates takes 10 start-up businesses on the next phase of their commercialisation journey and marks the opening of the next round of applications for the new Germinate program.
Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Ian Walker, said the State Government and iLab were laying the foundations for a strong and vibrant start-up economy in Queensland.
“Technology start-ups will be agents for the diversification of the Queensland economy,” he said.
Some of the latest entrepreneurs include:
CB Aerospace
CB Aerospace produces hardware and software for navigation systems in the aerospace sector. CB’s algorithms and device can replace and out-perform a $100,000 navigation system for less than $10,000.
Credosity
Credosity have taken their background in corporate training to create a business-writing innovation for Microsoft Office. It’s a tool to give businesspeople the knowledge and training to write more credible, readable and professional documents.
Spare Metres
SpareMetres is an online marketplace that brings together businesses and organisations with space to spare and those that need space. Space can be office, storage and industrial spaces, to community halls, commercial kitchens and garden plots. The goal is for SpareMetres to establish a dominant presence across Australia by early 2015, and to expand globally from there with a particular eye towards Asia.
Mapely
Mapely is a tool that combines contact and other business information from linkedin, twitter, facebook and CRMs and enables the user to merge, clean and manage those contacts, share them with colleagues and set reminders for follow up. Mapely ensures that the full network of the broader organisation is accessible by staff and can be leveraged to provide powerful business relationships.
The next Germinate program starts in mid May 2014. More information and application details are available here.
