On the MAP: Meet this year’s cohort for the Melbourne Accelerator Program

The Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) has announced its 2018 cohort of startups, and they’re a diverse bunch, with focuses ranging from Korean skincare to facial recognition in the classroom.

The program, backed by the University of Melbourne, saw the 10 startups selected from 75 applicants.

The teams will present their companies at the MAP 2018 Accelerator launch on 30 May, and will then begin a five-month program designed to help them accelerate their growth through mentoring, access to advisors, and $20,000 in funding.

Now in its seventh year, MAP is focused on social impact, and doesn’t take any equity from the startups it supports.

Interim-director of the programme Paul Jensen said in a statement: “The diversity of this year’s cohort reflects a group of founders who are set to make a truly powerful impact in this world.”

The startups participating in MAP 2018 are:

Atticus: A legal document management system, based on the cloud, intended to help in the drafting of complex financial documents.

Nudie Glow: A website offering hard-to-find Korean beauty and skincare products to the Australian market, with a promise to only source safe products with zero harmful ingredients.

OwlTail: An online platform listing the iTunes top 200 podcasts, and the top-10 rated of each, including ratings and recommendations.

Pride Cup: An organisation that champions diversity and inclusion in sport for LGBTIQ+ athletes, officials and supporter through an annual main event, and many footy matches at local grounds and schools country-wide.

Syncio: An app designed to sync a vendor’s inventory across multiple online Shopify stores. The app promises near-real time updates to inventories, customisation for individual online stores, and synced product descriptions, if required. It’s also free for sellers with 50 products or fewer.

Tremolo: A live music promotion app to “connect independent artists with independent fans”, allowing bands to post profiles and upcoming gigs, and music fans to find them.

Acusensus: A camera technology focusing on identifying distracted drivers, using automated recognition. Acusensus also offers a range of affordable road safety technologies, in a bid to reduce the number of road accidents in developing countries.

Mingle: A food company creating natural seasoning with “no nasties”, that is, no fillers, low salt content and no animal ingredients.

Sleigh Group: A company that works with movie producers to assist with the localisation of global blockbusters.

LoopLearn: Facial recognition to determine the presence of students in a classroom at any given time, while also recognising engagement and detecting students’ emotions, building a picture of wellbeing and engagement over time, and providing insight and feedback for teachers.

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