Founders Edge

$99 for early bird tickets 🫡

𝐖𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐲... 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 🚀 It’s wild to think about how much has happened in the past 6 or so months. From a tiny Comms Corner pilot with a handful of friends… to a packed-out Pitch Night with 200+ founders, operators, investors, and builders. It’s all been a heck of a ride! But while it’s tempting to keep riding the momentum straight into more events, if we want to continue supporting founders - we need to build Founders Edge into a sustainable business. So over the next month or two, we’ll be taking a short pause on events while we focus on setting up Founders Edge for the long term. We're not slowing down - it’s very much the opposite. Behind the scenes, we’re growing the team, working closely with the ecosystem, and building the foundations for something much bigger than we ever imagined. In the meantime, we'll be sharing regular startup and ecosystem insights, plus a backstage pass into the evolution of Founders Edge. Our goal has always been to serve the community that’s served us so well - and we want you to feel part of the journey as we grow. In the meantime, if you’re looking for great startup events around Sydney: Check out startup circle by the wonderful Jane Oja And the very cool Linh Le’s 😇 event list at https://lnkd.in/g_uc9YdV If there’s something you need help with, feel free to reach out - and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction. You’ll usually find the team working from the public space at Stone & Chalk (Level 1), so if you’re around, come say hi. Massive thanks to everyone who has supported us and been part of the journey so far 🙏 Happy building everyone! #SydneyStartups #BuildInPublic #FounderCommunity #VentureCapital #AusInnovation #FounderLife #BiggerAndBetter

Founders: here are the grants, accelerators, and founder rooms with deadlines looming that deserve your time this week: 💰 Funding & Program Opportunities (Australia + Global) 🤝 CRC-P Grants: Round 19 (Federal) Industry-led collaborative research grants with matched funding of $100k–$3M over up to 3 years. 📅 Closes: 12 May 2026, 5pm AEST 📍 Australia (national) 🎓 UNSW Founders 10x Accelerator Australia's #1 recommended accelerator. $100k seed investment, 10 weeks of intensive mentoring, and up to $130k follow-on. 📅 Closes: 18 May 2026 📍 Sydney (hybrid) 🚀 Startmate Accelerator — Winter 2026 ANZ's most competitive accelerator. Program runs 27 July to 16 October 2026. $120k investment at a $1.5M post-money valuation, 14 weeks, remote-first with in-person weeks in Melbourne or Sydney. 📅 Closes: 11 May 2026 📍 Australia / New Zealand Startmate 🌏 Y Combinator — Summer 2026 Batch $500k investment on standardised terms. Open to any early-stage startup globally. 📅 On-time deadline: 4 May 2026 (late applications still accepted) 🌍 Global (in-person San Francisco) 🇪🇺 EIC Accelerator 2026 — European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) Up to €2.5M in grants plus up to €10M equity for deep-tech startups scaling breakthrough innovations. 📅 Next deadline: 6 May 2026 🌍 EU + associated countries Wirtschaftsagentur 🌐 Techstars Anywhere Remote Accelerator — September 2026 Remote-first, any-industry accelerator. $220k investment, 3 months, three in-person offsites. 📅 Closes: 10 June 2026 🌍 Global (remote-first, American timezones) Techstars 🤖 Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First — Australia Ten-week equity-free accelerator for Australian Seed to Series A startups building AI/ML-driven platforms. Participants get dedicated Google engineer mentorship, up to $350k in Google Cloud credits, early access to new AI products, and deep technical support. 📅 Rolling applications — close June 30 📍 Australia (hybrid, Sydney in-person days) 📅 Startup Rooms Worth Being In 🇦🇺 SaaS Summit Sydney 2026 Australia's dedicated half-day event for SaaS founders and investors, presented by Five V Capital. Focused on winning in the AI era with sessions from active investors and exited founders. 📍 Sydney, NSW 📅 13 May 2026 🇫🇷 VivaTech 2026 — Europe's Largest Startup & Tech Event VivaTech 2026 runs 17–20 June at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, celebrating its 10th anniversary. Organisers expect over 180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups, and 3,600 investors and partners. Key themes include AI, GreenTech, cybersecurity, and health. Dedicated startup passes available. 📍 Paris, France 📅 17–20 June 2026 Save this, tag a co-founder, and follow Teem if you want the best startup opportunities curated for you each week: funding, accelerators, and the rooms where real progress happens.

𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 > 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 Founders Edge 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 🤝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 > 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 We’ve always thought it’s a bit strange that Pitch Nights bring in expert judges, but rarely give them the space to actually share what they’re seeing and thinking 🤔 So we're going going to shake things up a bit and get this incredible group to not just review the startups, but also have a chat about what’s actually exciting them in AI right now. 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 🎤 Max Meyer | Principal Blackbird Stela SOLAR | CEO Stone & Chalk Harry Godber | CEO Spark Festival 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 💡 Mas Abdi (PhD) | NextDocs Kara Bombell | EthicAI Hayley Saddington | Peak Medical Bastien Cabirou | Aona AI Matteo C. | flyweel 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 🐦⬛🌅 𝐱 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 📅 Tues 28 April ⏰ 5:30–8:30pm 📍 The Collider, Tech Central 🎟 Tickets Here 👉 https://bit.ly/4tdtqf2 We might sell this one out soon, so if you're planning to come you might want to register sooner rather than later 👀 Big thanks to Blackbird and Stone & Chalk for helping this come to life Katie Tholo Josephine Tay Roshae Riske #AIPitchNight #Startups #VentureCapital #Founders #TechAustralia #SydneyStartups #AI #Innovation #BuildInPublic #StartupCommunity #Entrepreneurs #AusTech #PitchNight

Sooo... we were supposed to have 5 companies pitch - but the applicants were so good we had to pick 6! Introducing the founders taking the stage this Tuesday at our 𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 🐦⬛ 🌅 We've got PHD's, 🇦🇺's largest Pre-Seed Company, Ex-Film Makers, Robotic Surgeons, and a Melbourne local who's flying in for the night - still can't believe it! Tickets 👉 https://bit.ly/4tdtqf2 Huge privilege to be working alongside: Mas Abdi (PhD) | NextDocs Millie Marconi | TestFeed Kara Bombell | EthicAi Hayley Saddington | Peak Medical Bastien Cabirou | Aona AI Matteo C. | flyweel Shaping up to be a seriously good night. Big thanks to Blackbird and Stone & Chalk for helping this come to life Katie Tholo Josephine Tay Roshae Riske Max Meyer Stela SOLAR #AIPitchNight #Startups #VentureCapital #Founders #TechAustralia #SydneyStartups #AI #Innovation #BuildInPublic #StartupCommunity #Entrepreneurs #AusTech #PitchNight

Is your tech ready to compete on a national stage? Entries are now open for the 2026 Australian Technologies Competition, and we're encouraging our founders to get in early. This isn't just an awards program. It's a multi-month growth journey giving you access to: • Expert mentoring • Growth workshops & Masterclasses • Investor and industry connections who can open real doors • National recognition • The chance to win cash and investment prizes And it's completely free to enter If your technology is ready to make an impact, this could be the opportunity that takes it further 🚀 Learn more and apply by May 10: www.austechcomp.com #ATC26 #australiantech #growthprogram Leo Denes 🌏↗️ Pooja Nair Marine Rugliano Ines Boudet du Mochet Alyssa Cornut Celine W. Ivy Hoang Australian Technologies Competition 💼 Vinisha Rathod

I think we managed to Decode it 🤔 We covered a massive amount of ground at our recent 𝐀𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 session. It’s one thing to read the headlines about AI, but another entirely to sit in a room with founders actually navigating the trenches. The energy was high, but the advice was grounded. If you couldn't make it, here are the big themes every founder should be weighing up right now: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧: The next 5–8 years represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build. That said, starting a business is still a grind, and this is not the time to be average. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞: Speed is everything, but so is flexibility. We discussed building systems that are “deletable by design.” Because like a snake, you need to be able to shed your skin to continue to grow. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Tech is the "easy" part; managing morale and culture through constant change is the real challenge. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: Data risk and compliance aren't "later" problems - they are Day 1 requirements. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝: AI isn't your business. Obsess over your customers, solve real problems and add real value. Huge thanks to our speakers 🎤 for an amazing job 👏 Yash Varma 🧠 🚀🦄 | Empress Capital Daniel Lord-Doyle | Mary Technology Ashwini Rattihalli | Atlassian Mark Monfort | Foundry Labs And to our partners who made this possible 🥰: Dinesh and the Probits team: the go-to for offshore development. UTS Startups: absolute legends To everyone who helped out on the night - 🫶 u Join us next week for our AI Pitch Night with Blackbird 🐦⬛ 🌅 (𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 👇) #FoundersEdge #AIDecode #Startups #SydneyTech #Founders #AI #StartupAus

🚨 Founder Fridays is BACK — and this one's going to hit different. On May 1st at Stone & Chalk, we've got Andre Dean Smith taking the stage — co-founder and CEO of ScreenApp, a bootstrapped SaaS he scaled to $2M+ USD ARR with two founders, zero VC money, and zero paid ads. No funding rounds. No sales team. No excuses. Just AI, SEO, relentless hustle, and a playbook that's quietly outperforming competitors who raised 500x more capital. If you're building lean, growing scrappy, or just tired of being told you need a $10M raise to compete — this is the talk you've been waiting for. 🗓 May 1st 📍 Stone & Chalk Come ready to take notes. 👇 https://lnkd.in/gqAkYi6h

𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 Just a quick PSA to get your pitch applications in (link in the comments 👇) or grab Early Bird tickets, before Midnight on Friday 17th April. 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 🐦⬛🌅 𝐱 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 📅 Tues 28 April ⏰ 5:30–8:30pm 📍 The Collider, Tech Central 🎟 Tickets Here 👉 https://bit.ly/4tdtqf2 (𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴) We sold out tomorrows 𝐀𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 event a full week in advance - so if saving $10 wasn’t enough motivation, this is your sign. Spots will go fast, and this is not one to miss! #AIPitchNight #StartupPitch #BlackbirdVC #FoundersEdge #StartupsAustralia #SydneyStartups #TechEvents #AIFounders #VentureCapital #StartupCommunity #Entrepreneurship #PitchYourStartup #InnovationEcosystem #EarlyStageStartups #BuildInPublic #StoneAndChalk Katie Tholo Josephine Tay Roshae Riske Lucinda Batey Stela SOLAR