Despite a recent downward trend in R&D expenditure, when it comes to innovativeness Australia punches above its weight. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report (released late last year), Australia ranked 16th and 18th for ‘Business Dynamism and ‘Innovation Capability’ respectively; two predictors that increase a country’s contribution technological progress.
Start-up accelerators play a key role in helping bring much of this latent capacity to life. Griffith Hack is proud to support one of Australia’s first innovation incubators the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP), through principal Karen Sinclair’s contribution as a program mentor.
Since inception, MAP has supported over 150 start-ups which have generated revenue in excess of $117M and created more than 1,400 jobs.
Speaking about her involvement with MAP, Karen said, “there’s something special about the creative passion, energy and vision each founder brings to the process.”
“I see my contributions as helping these innovators get past IP roadblocks and make smarter decisions about their IP early on; which hopefully means they don’t fall into one of the many pitfalls facing start-up businesses.”
Velocity Program – Applications now open!
Alongside the standard MAP accelerator, is the 15 week Velocity initiative. Velocity helps early-stage founders pressure test their start-ups – speeding up their discovery of first customers and pathway to product-market fit. Velocity is open to both for-profit and impact start-ups, with founders participating in evening workshops that include expert speakers, founder stories, and group activities to challenge and inspire.
MAP is currently looking for 25 new teams to join the program – the application deadline is Sunday 26 July, 11.59pm. You can find more details, read FAQs or apply to Velocity here: https://www.themap.co/programs/velocity
