Turn your passion for a problem into a thriving startup business.
Curtin Accelerate is a free ten-week program designed for individuals who want to grow their entrepreneurial capabilities and acquire tools to take their innovative product or service to market quickly and effectively.
Our facilitators and mentors are some of the world’s leading innovators and startup founders. Previous cohorts have had the opportunity to learn from high profile individuals such as venture consultant Larry Lopez, Kanopy founder Olivia Humphrey, and angel investor Bill Tai.
Benefits of participating include:
- Access to 40+ innovation and entrepreneurship experts as well as resources through Curtin’s Venture Studio
- $5,000 equity-free grant funding to achieve your next milestone
- Up to $100,000 in AWS credits to use towards scaling your innovation
- Chance to be considered for a $50,000 Safe Note investment through our Kickstart+ Program.
At the conclusion of the program, founders present their innovative idea to Western Australia’s business leadership community, at our annual Pitch Night on 1 May 2025.
Applications for Curtin Accelerate 2025 are now closed. For more information about this program, email accelerate@curtin.edu.au.
2025 Accelerate Cohort
Curtin University is pleased to announce the 12 teams participating in the 2025 Accelerate program. This diverse group of companies, who are rapidly developing the next generation of innovative products and services to benefit society, will over the next 12-weeks convert their business into a scaleable venture taking their innovations to market.
- Anonymous Real-Time (ART): Advanced VPN software using post-quantum cryptography and port hopping to ensure secure, anonymous communication across industrial networks.
- ARGOS: Cloud-based surveillance software that transforms camera networks into intelligent systems with real-time situational awareness and 3D tracking.
- CuddleCup: Self-heating baby milk package ensures stress-free feeding for parents on the go.
- Eat Sustainably: A social enterprise helping organisations reduce emissions and improve health through evidence-based nutrition services, while providing environmental, social and governance reporting for sustainability compliance.
- The Handover: A cloud-based platform to streamline mining maintenance handovers, ensuring regulatory compliance while providing real-time visibility and data analysis for operational improvements.
- HearChoice: A personalised decision support app helping people with hearing loss make informed choices about hearing healthcare, developed through NHMRC-funded research.
- HydroPro: A traction pad for water sports with built-in waterproof storage and an innovative camera mounting, compatible with various boards and cameras.
- MYLO: An AI chatbot that guides users through self-discovery using personalised questions, helping reduce distress while maintaining privacy and accessibility.
- Organic Ocean™: 100% natural seaweed-based health products derived from locally cultivated green seaweed.
- SMAAT: A software application using computer vision and machine learning to help speech pathologists diagnose speech sound disorders.
StepAhead: An AI-powered virtual dance education platform, bringing interactive, personalised lessons to rural primary schools, increasing student engagement. - Western Australian Organoid Innovation Hub: An innovation hub providing advanced drug development platforms using organoids for precision medicine, incorporating bio-printing and machine learning technologies.
Program details
Meet Our Accelerate Alumni
VetChip
VetChip is a world-first smart technology providing accurate, real-time analytics and health monitoring for animal owners and veterinarians.
Curtin engineering graduates Ross Khambatta and Zyrus Khambatta participated in the Curtin Accelerate 2021 program along with co-founders Garnett Hall and Maxwell Hall to finetune their innovation. The team have since gone on to win the 2024 Purina Pet Care Innovation Grand Prize and formed a partnership with AgriPark, Charles Sturt University, to advance research trials and testing.
Fibre Economy
Fibre Economy is a social enterprise working towards a world without textile waste. The organisation established a workwear recycling program that provides donation systems at remote mine sites across Western Australia along with community workshops addressing textile waste through education and awareness.
Curtin fashion design alumni Molly Ryan and Claudi Janse Van Rensburg and co-founder Shannon Itzein partnered with Good Sammy to save used and unwanted high vis workwear from landfill, collecting more than 700kg worth of mining uniforms.
Hyprfire
Hyprfire is a cyber-security company developing software solutions to detect and mitigate malware transfer and denial of service attacks.
Its products are based on cybersecurity research at Curtin, which won the overall Curtinnovation Awards prize in 2017. Curtin PhD candidate, Stefan Prandl then participated in the Curtin Accelerate 2018 program to build the business model and go-to-market strategy. The company has now raised $2.25 million and is actively selling its software solution.