One of the world’s largest pre-seed investors, Techstars, will move into Sydney’s Tech Central district and run its flagship accelerator program for emerging technology companies after receiving a three-year support package from the state government.
The US-headquartered Techstars offers its accelerator programs in several cities around the world and has graduated more than 3000 companies with a collective market cap of nearly US$97 billion, according to the company. From the middle of this year, it will operate its flagship mentorship-driven Accelerator Program from Tech Central to service the Asia-Pacific region.
The program is being subsidised by the New South Wales government until 2025, when Techstars is expected to continue operating the accelerator program without state support. Terms of the government support package, including its total value are unclear, with Investment NSW declining to provide further information due to “commercial in confidence” reasons. The accelerator group’s previous forays into Australia include a defence focused program in Adelaide and a sports tech accelerator in Melbourne.
However, the Australian-based programs are open to participants from around the world, drawing criticism about the value to the local startup scene. Only one of the 10 companies Techstar backed out of its Melbourne sports tech accelerator this year was from Australia. See more here.
