Optus-Innov8 Seed, an Australia-based seed fund and accelerator which is a collaboration between Optus and SingTel Innov8, the corporate venturing unit of Asia-based communications company SingTel Group, is now open for applications all year round. The accelerator invests up to AUD250,000 ($235,000) per startup.
Optus-Innov8 Seed’s blog states: “We recognise that early-stage entrepreneurs have real-time needs for funding and support – their runway is short and their needs are immediate – now they’ve got the freedom to approach us when they need to.”
The accelerator has also changed its name from “Optus-Innov8 Seed Program” to simply “Optus-Innov8 Seed”. The company blog explains: “The thing is, we’re not really a “program” in the way that accelerator programs are: we provide funding and support to our invested startups, and we do it in a way that is a lot less structured – we provide a ‘menu’ of the support we can provide and work with our startups to make those things happen.”
Optus-Innov8 Seed has also recruited Humphrey Laubscher to its team as a Senior Associate, stating: “Humphrey brings a great combination of skills, early stage startup experience and the most important factors for us – the passion to help Australian startups and grow the local startup ecosystem.”