This year, I’ll be even more Remarkable. Will you?
I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be returning to the Remarkable.org.au accelerator program for 2020 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and I hope to see your application in our queue!
Last year I had a very challenging and rewarding six months working part-time with Adeline Chu and Jake Muller as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiRs) mentoring the six startups selected for the fourth cohort of the Remarkable accelerator program operated by Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
Remarkable helps startups working on technology solutions for the needs of people with disability, in care, and with special needs. The 2019 cohort included six startups tackling challenges like increasing the diversity of workforces using artificial intelligence, improving the emotional wellbeing of people in aged care, reducing the burden on families needing to coordinate multiple service providers, and improving access to clinical speech therapy services in remote regions.
Remarkable has worked with 25 startups so far and they are kicking impressive goals – servicing more than 32,000 customers and raising more than AUD23M in venture capital across just the first four cohorts. Remarkable has a dual focus on ‘impact’ (making the world a better place) but also on venture (developing scalable, high growth commercial models) that maps perfectly to my own set of values and priorities.
Australia’s potential for growth in this market is enormous. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) goes a long way towards helping startup customers choose and fund their use of startup services and technologies. A strong insurance sector seeking innovative solutions, a thriving impact investment community, a best-of-breed public health system, and the investment capital of the Medical Research Future Fund between them make Australia arguably the most attractive nation in the world to build your disability and inclusion startup.
I am not the easiest entrepreneur to work with and when I look back on my work with the Remarkable program in 2019, to be honest, it feels like I created two problems for every one problem I helped solve. But I also felt like I did some of the best work of my career, made life-long friends with some amazing founders, and felt like I had found my dream ‘work family’ among Pete Horsley, Margaret Cheng, Grace Langford and Cerebral Palsy Alliance CEO Rob White.
So in 2020, I’ve set myself the goal of being even more Remarkable than I was in 2019 – doubling down, re-upping, and putting it all on purple. I’m stepping up from part-time EiR to full-time, and from a six month commitment to eight months.
As well as working with this year’s accelerator cohort I’ll begin offering advice and support to the rest of the portfolio startups and working with the Remarkable team on super secret plans for total world domination that I hope we’ll get to tell you more about in the future.
In the meantime, applications for the 2020 accelerator cohort close February 1st. If you and your cofounders have an MVP for a technology solution to a problem facing people with a disability of any kind you can find out more about our program and how to apply here.
