Founders Factory lands in Perth to lead two weeks of workshops, masterclasses and pitching opportunities for local and international startups.
The Western Australian (WA) Government's Nature Tech Accelerator partnership with global startup accelerator Founders Factory has returned to Perth for two weeks of intensive workshops with local and international startups.
Founded in 2015, Founders Factory seeks to build and fund startups in partnership with visionary entrepreneurs and the world's leading companies and organisations, running programs in cities including London, Milan, Berlin, Johannesburg and New York.
The Perth-based Nature Tech accelerator was added to its offering in 2024 with a $7.2 million investment from WA Government to upskill ambitious nature-positive startups.
Each startup receives $50,000 funding to support their enterprise in early development, often pre-revenue, stage and completes a four-month program covering product development, commercialisation, partnerships, and fundraising.
This culminates in two weeks of workshops, masterclasses and pitching opportunities held in Perth, WA, alongside cohorts of Founders Factory's other WA-partner programs run in collaboration with Rio Tinto and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Western Australia (MSWA).
The two-week long gathering enables attendees to build industry connections and facilitate global peer-to-peer learning, supporting the scaling of complementary nature tech and mining tech sectors.
Since its launch, 18 local and 6 international startups have participated in the nature tech accelerator, offering attractive innovations to support WA nature-positive industry transitions.
Previous WA participants include Seastock, Agra Farming Technologies and Fremantle Seaweed, which have all secured further funding since completing the program, and Tidal Moon's founder, Michael Wear, who went on to receive the Prime Minister's Prize for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems in 2025.
The six successful startups comprising the accelerator's fourth cohort are all WA-based. Congratulations to:
- Dura Terra - A microbial-coated magnesium sulfate granule that increases yields, rehabilitates acidic soils, and generates verifiable carbon insets for broadacre agriculture.
- HeatShield - A scalable algal probiotic, specifically heat-tolerant symbiotic algae, designed to protect coral reefs from bleaching caused by marine heatwaves.
- HydraLink - A wireless irrigation system combining self-powered valves and AI scheduling to modernise residential water use.
- SnailCam - An AI-powered camera system that maps snail populations in real time as farm machinery moves through fields, enabling precision pest management for Australian grain growers.
- Svanterra - An AI-native natural capital developer that acquires high-yield Australian land, builds premium carbon and nature projects, and sells high-integrity credits to hard-to-abate compliance buyers.
- Vernico - Commercialising the first TGA-listed, medical-grade coconut oil skincare product for premature newborns, with strong clinical validation and hospital demand.
The establishment of the WA Government Nature Tech accelerator program encourages local startups to pursue their global scaling goals in WA and attracted international founders to the State for investment, testing and scaling of their technology.
The Department looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Founders Factory to continue positioning WA as a leading hub for nature positive innovation.
For more information, and for startups looking to apply, visit the Western Australia Government & Founders Factory Nature Tech Program - Founders Factory webpage.
