Introducing INCUBATE Class 19 of 2023— how these startups are leveraging AI for sustainable business growth
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is driving the future of business growth and efficiency, with its innate ability to improve customer experience, automate processes and generate valuable customer insights.
As the global AI market continues to expand, with PitchBook estimating the market for generative AI applications to rise to $98 billion in 2026, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen many more generative AI startups coming onto the scene. ChatGPT’s chokehold on society reinforces the power of generative AI through its ability to fundamentally alter and overturn the way that companies operate, with valuable use cases existent for virtually every role.
Though the rise of AI-driven businesses is becoming more apparent, the thing of particular interest is the re-emergence of so many product-based startups. A.I is not taking the oxygen from other industries, rather these businesses are also leveraging AI to increase profitability and scale quickly. Moreover, as a result, the focus for these businesses has shifted from focusing on creating more products or services to providing core offerings in new, more innovative ways.
That’s what we’ve seen throughout the first few weeks of this Program — cross-collaboration across industries to ultimately aid in sustainable business growth by leveraging AI.
But who are our startups? Meet them all below👇🏽
INCUBATE is The University of Sydney’s Flagship Startup Program, offering a range of startup courses and programs for entrepreneurs. With the goal to turn good ideas into great businesses, we’ve been supporting The University of Sydney community for 11+ years to accelerate early-stage ideas and impactful research by providing mentorship, resources and equity-free funding.
AgX
AgX is building an operating system for agriculture, creating a frictionless experience for ranches to adopt new technology and increase their productivity amidst an increasingly volatile climate. AgX has recently exited Harvard and MiT incubator Prod, and has commenced trialing its products on Australian and US farms. CTO and co-founder Samuel Aubin brings a wealth of technical expertise having previously developed AI solutions for government through grants.
Body Biosense
Co-founded by Jett van der Wallen, Body Biosense is developing a muscle biosensor that unlocks the potential of athletes by quantifying their muscular performance.
Contentable.ai
Contentable.ai is a low-code generative AI platform enabling developers and designers to rapidly prototype, iterate, and deploy LLMs and AI applications. Plus, they offer advanced monitoring, testing, and analytics for these applications. Mas Abdi and Pratik Shelar co-founded Contentable.ai after building many AI products and wanting to make it easier for technical and non-technical users to create AI applications.
DataShield AI
With the rapid adoption of Generative AI use by businesses, the education sector, and other organisations, founders Paul Krajewski and Bastien Caribou built DataShield AI to guard the GenAI interactions of staff or students, one byte at a time; unlocking the productivity gains in a compliant privacy-first way.
Empathetic AI
Empathetic AI leverages Generative AI technology to build intelligent customer service assistant and enterprise knowledge distribution systems. Co-founded by Angela Shi and Dr Nassim Belbaly, Empathetic AI is revolutionising the way enterprise communicate, streamline the workflow, reduce client loss and increase employee efficiency.
Everyday Zero
Most buildings struggle to reduce their landfill, so the Everyday Zero team developed an AI tool to educate & engage people at the bin in real-time, improving landfill diversion and ratings. Everyday Zero was co-founded by Raveen Senanayake and Jack Purdon with a mission to empower people to transform their environment to be effortlessly sustainable.
Kazacos AI
Co-founded by Cameron Aume, Peter Kazacos and Crystal Xu, Kazacos AI are developing a mechanism for children to reconnect with their peers and their imaginations, fostering endless creativity without the need for screens. We look to a future where technology fosters in-person connections and is not only inclusive of all children, but sparks that light which makes every child unique.
Santí and Me
Santí and Me — A skincare startup dedicated to hydration, nourishment, and conserving water with innovative, sustainable water-free formulations. Founded by Sophie Pereyra Bowdler who is fuelled by a mission to create a sustainable, nature-friendly skincare line that nurtures both the skin and planet.
SetDose
Directors Rebekah Moles and Nial Wheate, alongside their co-founders, have leveraged their 20+ years of experience in medicines science to build a University of Sydney spin-out medical device company called SetDose. They are committed to the safe and effective delivery of liquid medicines to vulnerable patients, especially those in aged care.
SUNLUV
Emily Foster has a passion for learning and educating about skin cancer prevention, founding SUNLUV- a portable UV camera to ensure correct sunscreen application.
The Blue Green Domain
The Blue Green Domain is an NGO founded by Colin Finn, which works with the community to co-design, co-advocate and co-deliver precinct scale visions of blue-green infrastructure through gamification of urban design.
Vale
Vale is a SaaS platform that helps lawyers, institutions and executors of deceased estates collaborate more effectively when someone dies. Founded by Tom O’Neill, a wills and estates lawyer who was frustrated by the confusing, costly, paper-heavy process his bereaved clients face when trying to administer the estates of their loved-ones.
As one of the market-leading industry-agnostic Accelerator Programs — we pride ourselves on our level of diversity when it comes to the startups and founders in our programs.
From all of the applications received for INCUBATE Class 19:
- 50% female-led, 50% male-led startups
- 48% current students, 34% alumni, 9% staff members, 8% researchers
- 9% building mobile apps, 25% building web apps, 26% building software products, 23% hardware products, 17% other categories
- 57% Australia, 43% international founding team
These statistics reinforce our belief that innovation has no age, gender, culture or sexuality.
If you’re keen to learn more about the startups or want a personal introduction, drop us an email at hello@incubate.org.au.
⏰ Mark your calendars for Class 19 Demo Day on Thursday, November 9th and sign up to our Newsletter to be first to know once the tickets go live.
