Months ago the folks at Techstars decided that one of the next Techstars Accelerators would be in Australia. Although many Australian communities had hosted Startup Weekends and Startup Weeks (another part of Techstars) there were not any Techstars Accelerators in Australia yet, or in the Asia Pacific region. Thanks to great support from the community, a group of investors ready to support the effort and some intense lobbying by Dr. Jana Matthews at the Centre for Business Growth, Adelaide was selected.
This is a great article based on an interview with Techstars co-founder and co-CEO David Cohen answering the question, “Why Adelaide?”
Techstars heads “down under” launching its first APAC based accelerator in Australia
I officially went on the payroll for Techstars on Thursday morning as the Managing Director, and at nearly the same time several papers picked up the news. My first real day at work was answering all the emails that came in as a result, and responding back to everyone “please help me find my ten companies!” Here are just a few of the articles . . .
Techstars strikes Gold in Adelaide as inaugural leadership team is announced Lucky me, I already had a team to work with and they are great. The press loves to focus on the MD or CEO but it is the team that makes a company. They should have spent more time on Chris and Aainaa. We’re already working well together to get the word out about finding our ten companies.
Techstars goes for Gold in Adelaide I used to get a lot of jokes about my name in school, but it’s working for me now I guess.
Terry Gold to lead Techstars accelerator in Australia It’s even made the news back in Boulder. Not surprising since Techstars is becoming such a force and is headquartered in Boulder. One of the reporters in Boulder didn’t even realise I had left town and was surprised to hear I’ve been in Australia nine months, so clearly it is the Techstars name drawing the attention! And for good reason. Check out this amazing graphic from the Techstars.com homepage.
Think about that and remember it next time you hear that “90% of all new business fail.” Not if they go through Techstars they don’t. Of course only the best get in, but still . . . that’s impressive. Techstars started in Boulder, Colorado USA ten years ago and has grown into a global company that is having a huge impact on the startup world. I am humbled to be a part of this great organisation and will do my best to help keep the winning streak going.
I wrote a blog post for the techstars.com website that went live at the same time, so if you want to see what Techstars is all about and why I’m looking for ten companies read this blog post. The short answer is that I get to be a part of picking 10 startups to join the very first class of Techstars in Adelaide, Australia and we’ll draw from Adelaide as well as the rest of Australia. I expect we’ll also bring some companies in from around the world. If a startup is doing something interesting in robotics, drones, Internet of Things, big data applications or sensors, then I’m going to encourage them to apply for this first class regardless of where they are located. If picked we’ll make an investment in them and give them thirteen weeks of intensive mentoring along with a lifetime of connections to industry people and investors that they would have a hard time reaching on their own.
As I said to someone on Thursday, “I’ve done nothing yet” but I am proud and excited to be a part of Techstars. So, do you know any great startups I can talk to about visiting Australia?