Startups making a difference: Frank Lab 2020 launches
Clinical hypnosis, crowdsourcing for volunteers, AI and IoT-enabled agricultural solutions. Not enough for you? How about a technological solution to plastic waste, a digital investment service, a lifestyle resource that disarms dads with humour then arms them with life-changing strategies? Add to that a community-building initiative focused on preventing family violence; compliance tech; real estate deal management and dispute resolution software, and you have Frank Lab 2020.
Ten businesses were selected to participate in Frank Lab 2020, which runs for six months (March to September). It follows the success of the 2019 program, which helped accelerate a broad range of businesses and entrepreneurs – from rocket engine engineers to contraceptive technology designers, from Neobank developers to social enterprise creators.
Hall & Wilcox’s accelerator program for emerging businesses, Frank Lab provides legal support and networking opportunities to help selected startups grow their business. Throughout the whole program, successful applicants get to work with experienced lawyers as their trusted advisors to help prioritise their legal and commercial needs. They have regular meetings with their advisors and receive an initial $5000 to spend on legal services.
By participating in Frank Lab, companies will receive 50 points of the 100 points required to qualify as an Early Stage Innovation Company (ESIC). Investors in eligible startups receive significant tax incentives, such as an immediate tax offset or rebate equal to 20% of their investment, capped at $200,000 in each income year, and can access modified capital gains tax treatment for their shareholding.
As an additional benefit, Frank Lab runs masterclasses for program members and provides them with access to Hall & Wilcox networks, including accountants and investors. They also get to use Hall & Wilcox office space nationally and the firm’s Smarter Law technology solutions.
Jasmine Koh and James Bull, who head up the firm’s Frank startup practice said, ‘We are now seeing a surge of fantastic ideas targeting critical issues faced by our society today, such as climate change and mental health. Being able to support our cohort on their journey to make the world a better place is both humbling and inspiring. We cannot wait to get started.’
The Frank Lab 2020 businesses are:
| Advice RegTech | An innovator and specialist in compliance-tech, with an initial focus on the efficient assessment of financial advice files and responsible lending reviews. |
| Communiteer | A crowdsourcing community that connects and mobilises volunteers to tackle the world’s greatest social challenges. |
| Mindset | Mindset is an iOS application that provides clinical hypnosis audio recordings on areas like anxiety, IBS, sleep and low self-esteem. |
| Modron | Provides dispute resolution software to courts, tribunals, governments, major retail brands, enterprise and professionals. |
| OutofBox Solutions Tech | Creates and delivers solutions for the agriculture and conservation sectors using Artificial Intelligence and IoT technologies. |
| PlastOil | PlastOil tackles the problem of plastic waste with a technological solution, which turns plastic waste into fuel. |
| QuietGrowth | QuietGrowth is a digital investment management service, which manages clients’ investments to achieve risk-optimised returns over the long term. |
| rePrecinct | Real estate precinct, ‘rePrecinct’, is a commercial real estate deal management platform. It allows commercial real estate landlords to more efficiently manage their pipeline of leasing vacancies. |
| The Father Hood | Designed to help dads survive and thrive in the only job that really counts. The Father Hood is a lifestyle resource that delivers information, inspiration and light relief, disarming dads with humour then arming them with life-changing strategies. |
| YiaYia Next Door | Imagine communities where people feel safe, and neighbours connect and care. YiaYia Next Door inspires, educates and innovates to help prevent family violence. |
Related article – Frank Lab 2019:
What do rocket engines and contraceptives have in common? Frank Lab starts with a bang