River City Labs announces selection of five startups to participate in its first accelerator programme

2 September 2015

A month ago, non-for-profit Brisbane coworking community River City Labs announced a trial partnership with Telstra-backed startup accelerator muru-D that would see River City Labs host its first in-house accelerator programme. Today, RCL has unveiled the five tech startups accepted into Class 1 of the inaugural programme: Otheyos, Greensocks, Outbound, Parkfit and Puntaa.

The five startups were selected by an independent panel of technology executives, funding experts and entrepreneurs, based on the strength of their team, product and global scalability.

Powered by Sydney and Singapore-based startup accelerator muru-D, the River City Labs is providing each startup with $20,000 seed capital along with three months of coworking space, business development support and introductions to global mentors, customers and investors.

Entrepreneur in Residence at muru-D and self-titled Mr Focus, Mick Liubinskas, said: “Our ambition is global, and tools are digital, but startups are still primarily about working closely with a group of people sitting next to you.”

“The community around River City Labs has really caught fire to quickly attract such a quality group of companies and I can’t wait to see how far they go.”

muru-D will also provide the participating startups with access to Telstra’s network of partners, suppliers and customers. Jacob Turner, Co-Founder and CEO of ParkFit said this highlighted the value of being introduced to “a priceless network, generally inaccessible to a business at such an early stage.”

“[Through] this programme we believe we can tap this global market at an accelerated pace.”

Co-Founder of GreenSocks, Andrea Martins, is still pleasantly surprised that her startup was accepted into the programme: “I’m still pinching myself that I get to be a part of such a high calibre accelerator program in Queensland. The mentor network of Telstra muru-D and River City Labs is absolutely mind-blowing and I know this will be an amazing opportunity for our company.”

The programme will commence this month on the 14th and concludes on the 18th of December.

More information on the selected startups are presented below:

Otheyos is an emerging SaaS company looking to systemise the process of finding parents to volunteer at their children’s schools, while also addressing other inefficiencies around minutes, motions and meetings for School Parent Bodies and Incorporated Associations.

Green Socks is a platform that connects people who don’t want to mow their own lawns with people who want to earn extra income mowing lawns.

Outbound is a social network for travellers to connect and share experiences.

ParkFit’s mobile app helps users discover nearby crowdsourced workout structures, making it easier for people to exercise outdoors without having to be confined to a gym.

Puntaa is a peer-to-peer social betting platform, allowing friends to bet on anything, share those bets and be paid out, all on a mobile app.

Read the full articel from Startup Daily here: http://www.startupdaily.net/2015/09/river-city-labs-announces-selection-of-five-startups-to-participate-in-its-first-accelerator-programme/