The startups supported by UOW's iAccelerate incubator have reached a historic high in 2023!

Wollongong was once an industrial city in Australia. However, in recent years, theIllawaraIllawarra region has been determined to develop the technology and innovation industry, turning Wollongong into a highland suitable for entrepreneurship and the development of high-tech industries. The emergence of these changes is also attributed to the innovation park of the University of WollongongUOW, especially theiAccelerateincubator located in the park, which plays a demonstrative role in the industrial transformation and development of Wollongong.

iAccelerateis a leading innovation center dedicated to helping startups and innovative enterprises in the Illawarra, South Coast, and New South Wales communities to have a significant impact on the Australian and global stage. This is also the University of Wollongong's incubator for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, and a scale-up accelerator.

iAccelerate

Contribution to the regional economy

According to the2023impact report, theUOWbusiness incubatoriAccelerateis thriving and growing. BetweenJanuaryandDecemberlast year, the sales ofiAccelerate's incubated companiesamounted to75.3 millionAustralian dollars, promoting the economic diversification of the Illawarra andUOWregions. Since its establishment in2016, the total revenue ofiAccelerateenterprises has exceeded416.5 millionAustralian dollars. In addition,iAcceleratecreated72local jobs last year, bringing the total number of employees iniAccelerateresident companies to322, including full-time, part-time, and temporary workers.

In 2023, iAccelerate supported a total of 69 startups and scale-up companies across multiple industries, covering: artificial intelligence, educational technology, energy, hardware, health and well-being, robotics, social enterprises, and technology. Since 2016, iAccelerate has supported a total of 385 startups.

Dr. Tamantha Stutchbury, Director of iAccelerate, said: "The 2023 Impact Report of iAccelerate shows the extraordinary achievements we have made in the past year, continuing to position us as a leader in the Australian innovation industry."

Enterprise evaluation of iAccelerate

Verbotics

Verbotics was founded by UOW robotics researchers Dr. Nathan Larkin and Dr. Andrew Short, joined iAccelerate in 2017, with the goal of revolutionizing robot programming, enabling small-scale robot automation.

Six years later, the team has completed two years of R&D, launched Verbotics software to customers in Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Europe, received private investment, seed investment, and last year received a $632,000 Accelerating Commercialization grant.

Dr. Larkin said: "Our biggest milestone in 2023 was selling our 50th license. It marks the attractiveness of our unique product in the market.""

Verbotics also won several industry awards last year, including the Advanced Manufacturing Award and the Technology Application Endeavor Award at the Australian Technology Competition. These awards were achieved by putting the skills cultivated by iAccelerate into practice.

Dr. Larkin said: "iAccelerate and the University of Wollongong have always been the pillars of our transition from academics to founders. These programs have provided us with many of the skills we now need to run our business and turned our ideas from research projects into successful products."

Breaking industry norms

iAccelerate continues to break industry norms, inspiring female founders to break barriers, recognize their entrepreneurial identity, and invest in themselves.

By2023, 53% of companies have at least one active female founder, far above the average benchmarks of domestic and international innovation ecosystems.Cenofex Innovations

Cenofex Innovations is a biotechnology company located in Wollongong, producing medical devices to measure and change the treatment of lymphedema, a disease caused by the accumulation of lymph fluid in certain parts of the body, leading to swelling.

Dr. Sheridan Gho is the CEO and co-founder of Cenofex Innovations, who completed the iAccelerate pre-accelerator activation program last year. Dr. Gho said iAccelerate played a crucial role in helping her and co-founder Dr. Michael Weaver consolidate their business.

She said: "Since joining the program, we have been able to utilize the outstanding research results of the University of Wollongong. In addition, we have collaborated with the University of Wollongong's Biomechanics Research Laboratory to conduct a pilot study project to collect the first field data this year."

"It's great to be able to move into such a supportive entrepreneurial work atmosphere. Everyone here understands

thispoint, and they are very willing to provide constructive actions to help themselves develop their business."A trend

The combination of industry with teaching and research; and the transformation of research results into industry are major trends in future higher education. UOW's iAccelerate undoubtedly brings more possibilities to the University of Wollongong, helping UOW to have world-class research results, transform production capacity, and ultimately have a greater impact on the local community and even the world. At the same time, this gives UOW students more entrepreneurial and employment opportunities, inspiring them to use their creativity to turn ideas into real products.

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