Postal firm Australia Post (AP) is launching an A$20m investment vehicle targeting e-commerce startups and co-locating the fund at Melbourne University’s Melbourne Accelerator Programme (MAP).
While based at Melbourne University, the fund will searching for opportunities in e-commerce from across Australia. Australia Post also hopes to grow the fund to over A$100m in the coming years.
As part of the three-year partnership, AP will provide $1m to MAP. Under the terms of the deal, AP will provide an A$20,000 annual scholarship to Melbourne’s Wade Institute for Entrepreneurship, partner on three outreach programmes targeting rural areas, women, and social entrepreneurs, and provide for two new places in the accelerator for e-commerce startups, with each startup receiving A$20,000 in seed funding as well as mentorship and access to networks.
Ahmed Fahour, CEO of AP, said: “Throughout our 207 years of serving the Australian community we have always innovated in response to social and technology changes. And innovation is essential to remaining relevant to our customers as their behaviour and expectations change.”
