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Melbourne Town Hall. Photo credit: Alan Lam.

Startupbootcamp has opened its first outpost in Australasia (and its second in the Southern Hemisphere, following Cape Town) with the launch of its latest industry-focused accelerator in Melbourne today.

The new program will house startups working in the “smart energy, smart grid, smart production, smart homes, and sustainable energy” fields. This is the first accelerator in Startupbootcamp’s global network to focus on these particular areas (though its Amsterdam and Dubai sites are themed around closely related “smart city” technologies).

Up to 10 startups will be accepted into the three-month program offered by the Melbourne accelerator. Each team gets US$18,000 to cover their living expenses for the duration of the program, and upwards of US$530,000 in deals on services from the accelerator’s corporate partners. In addition to seed funding from Startupbootcamp, they will get free office space, mentorship from a large corps of industry experts, and opportunities to work with the organization’s corporate and investor partners around the world.

The program is supported by established local companies including utility EnergyAustralia and cross-industry conglomerate Spotless Group, as well as international players Amazon, Cisco, Google, and Intel. The government of Victoria – the Australian state of which Melbourne is the capital – is also backing the accelerator.

Australia is facing serious energy security problems, prompting one regional government to call in Elon Musk and Tesla to build a gigantic, wind-charged battery. Such an environment is sorely in need of innovative, renewable energy solutions – and it seems no accident that Startupbootcamp has selected the country to host this particular accelerator.

This will be Startupbootcamp’s fourth accelerator in the wider Asia-Pacific region, following the launch of fintech-focused programs in Singapore in 2015 and Mumbai in 2016, and a digital health accelerator in Chengdu late last year.

Startupbootcamp is accepting applications for the Melbourne accelerator until 27 October.

Converted from euro. Rate: US$1 = €0.84.

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