Fourteen South Australian startups spanning space, health, sustainability, cybersecurity, construction and the arts have been selected for Adelaide University’s Venture Catalyst startup acceleration program.
Now in its 11th year, the Innovation & Collaboration Centre’s Venture Catalyst program supports early-stage founders to plan, build and grow businesses described by the university as sustainable, globally scalable and investment-ready.
The six-month program includes workshops, one-to-one mentoring, access to university resources, industry expertise and events designed to support business development.
Adelaide University Associate Director of Business Incubation Craig Jones said the 2026 cohort reflects the breadth of South Australia’s startup ecosystem.
“There’s a real diversity of ambition in this cohort, from founders rethinking how we manage water and climate data from space, to an art historian building tools that could help galleries reach new audiences,” Jones said.
“What they share is a genuine willingness to learn and adapt, and that’s ultimately what determines who succeeds.”
Of the startups selected, Adelaide University said 26 per cent are current students, 32 per cent are alumni and eight per cent are current staff.
Among the health-focused companies is SABRN Tech, founded by vascular surgeon Dr Abe Chandra. The company has developed portable diagnostic pods intended to deliver early cardiometabolic screening to communities without reliable access to traditional healthcare settings.
Adelaide University said SABRN Tech has built prototypes and has a pilot underway in Port Lincoln.
Also selected is SoMe, a platform that turns raw product footage into ready-to-post social media videos with captions and scheduling across major platforms. The university said it was founded by Sofia Kette and Louisa Para after they experienced challenges producing social content for their e-commerce businesses.
In the space category, EOI Space, founded by Murali Krishna, is developing low-flying satellites designed to provide high-resolution, near real-time imagery. Adelaide University said the company’s target use cases include defence, emergency response and critical infrastructure decision-making.
“We became aware of the Venture Catalyst program through the South Australian innovation ecosystem and recognised it as an ideal platform to refine our solution, build partnerships and scale a globally relevant, space-enabled business from South Australia,” Krishna said.
Adelaide University said the Innovation & Collaboration Centre has supported more than 150 startups and 239 founders since 2015. It said that in 2026 those companies continued to employ at least 577 people, with the majority in South Australia, contributing an estimated $39 million to the state’s economy.
The university said Venture Catalyst has provided almost $1.2 million in funding to new startups, and that participating startups have gone on to raise more than $116 million in additional funding.
The 2026 Venture Catalyst cohort includes Emify Pty Ltd, SABRN Tech Pty Ltd, SoMe Pty Ltd, SAM, and DIVELIO; and, under the Venture Catalyst Space stream, EOI Space, Tweaklogic, THE RED PLAN-ET, ALTDATA Pty Ltd, Rarity, AgMap, OffDev, and HALO Aerotech. The Venture Catalyst Social Impact stream includes LUMI.
