The City of Melbourne is partnering with Startupbootcamp and EnergyAustralia to bring some of the world’s best smart energy startups to Melbourne and work on possible solutions for Australia’s Energy Industry. The City of Melbourne joins an impressive group of partners including Spotless Group, DiUS, KHQ Lawyers, Pitcher Partners, YBF Ventures, Amazon Web Services, Cisco as well as the Victorian Government through LaunchVic.

Together with a unique selection of technology startups from around the world, Startupbootcamp Australia (SBC) and the City of Melbourne will partner to explore energy and sustainability challenges of the future during the 2019 SBC EnergyAustralia Smart Energy Innovation Program.

This collaboration highlights a focus on smart cities and sustainable energy solutions in the SBC program that brought companies such as WePower, Cognitum and EnergyTech Ventures to Melbourne in its 2018 accelerator. The 2018 cohort of ten startups have so far raised a combined total of $60,652,500 and as well as helping solve problems in energy efficiency, grid stabilisation and energy independence many have setup offices or relocated to Melbourne creating local jobs.

Chair of the Small Business portfolio, Councillor Susan Riley, said the City of Melbourne was excited to partner with Startupbootcamp and EnergyAustralia.

“Melbourne has one of the fastest growing startup ecosystems in the country and is one of the top five globally for strongest growth,” Cr Riley said.

“Melbourne continues to invest in an innovative future to attract and retain talent and create an environment for startups to start, grow and go global. All of these factors are what make us uniquely placed to attract the top-end talent needed to tackle an issue as important as energy solutions.”

With the success of its first Smart Energy Program in 2018, SBC Melbourne is focusing on startups specialised in energy efficiency, digitalisation, energy independence and smart living. The program will invite teams from 10 of the world’s most innovative startups to head to Melbourne and shake up the smart energy sphere.

Startupbootcamp CEO Trevor Townsend said: “We are pleased to add the City of Melbourne to our partners for the 2019 program, to provide our selected startups with further opportunities to test their solutions with real customer challenges. We are looking to bring smarter solutions to life within the program and customer validation is key to success.“

SBC is currently meeting founders and assessing applications from startups located in 26 cities around the globe for the 2019 Program which launches on 14 January.

Teams undergo a three-month accelerator program, receive support from SBC and mentoring through SBC’s extensive, international network culminating in Demo Day and the chance to pitch their ideas in front of mentors and more than 150 investors.

The 2018 program, Melbourne’s first global startup accelerator program, selected 10 startups out of 459 applications from 47 different countries, with over 58% of the applicants from the Asia Pacific region.

Applications are now open to interested startups. For more information, visit Startupbootcamp Energy Australia