CivVic Labs

How might technology make farming safer?

We are seeking solutions from Victorian startups to reduce the physical and/or mental health risks on farms. Solutions may look to focus on:

• Addressing risks associated with powered plant and machinery or animal handling;
• Managing risks associated with working in isolation and/or fatigue;
• Addressing risks associated with manual labour and/or repetitive tasks;
• Improving workforce management, inductions, and training requirements for people working on farms;
• Reporting of incidents or issues more effectively; or
• Any other technology that results in an increase in safety on farm.

Your solution will look to improve safety, health and wellbeing on farms across Victoria, and increase productivity and efficiency across the agriculture industry.

Read more in the Program Guidelines.

LaunchVic is seeking to admit 10 aspiring founders or early-stage startups to the program. There is no fee for participation. Rather, participant teams will receive $15,000 on completion of the program.

The program is structured to cover topics such as lean startup, codesign, and hypothesis testing, delivered by startup experts. The program is designed to assist innovators in their solution design in the following ways:

• Access to world-class mentors and a cohort of top innovators to build a solution alongside
• Access to community and stakeholder experts, with local know-how of the challenges faced by businesses or organisations that operate community facilities, parks and/or recreational facilities; and
• The potential of promotional support from Agriculture Victoria and LaunchVic highlighting innovative startup solutions.

At the conclusion of the program, a judging panel will select up to two startups to receive $35,000 in equity-free seed funding to further develop their solution.

Agriculture Victoria are looking for idea to early-stage startups.

• Idea Stage = working on an idea that has not yet been fully developed or launched in market; or
• Early Stage = testing a prototype in-market, without a significant customer base or revenue.

As per the challenge guidelines, your startup idea must aim to contribute to improving safety on farms. Please refer to the above “What’s the Challenge?” section for further details of ideas we may be looking for.

No. As per the “Early-stage” definition, this includes startups who are testing a prototype in-market, without a significant customer base or revenue. For the full definition of an eligible startup for the program, please refer to the program guidelines. 

All CivVic Labs related enquiries can be directed to civvic@launchvic.org 

As part of all CivVic Labs programs, LaunchVic and the Challenge Owner will endeavour to provide unique insights, knowledge and data to the participating startups. There will also be multiple opportunities to connect with stakeholders within Agriculture Victoria to address specific priority areas.

LaunchVic does not provide specific direction on how funding should be allocated. However, there will reporting requirements for the startups to demonstrate how funding is being allocated. All expectations surrounding the funding will be articulated in a contract between LaunchVic and the startup (separate from the contract signed for participating in the program).

Subject matter experts will cover a range of topics across both startup-building knowledge (such as pitching, customer insights, and business structures) and industry/policy knowledge.

Up to 10 Startups will be accepted into the program, each receiving $15,000 in seed funding per startup to develop their idea after the program is completed. 2 Startups will receive a further $35,000 in seed funding to build out their solution.

Startups participating in CivVic Labs will need to allocate time outside of the 6 weeks for orientation prior to the program starting, and in between sessions to iterate based on feedback they receive during sessions. You may also have the opportunity to participate in office hours outside the program days. The minimum suggested additional time to allocate is three hours per week.

We recommend that teams limit the number of attendees to 3, to maximise the learning opportunity for all participants.

CivVic Labs helps founders launch their idea, or go full time on their idea by providing seed-funding whilst building alongside subject matter experts, to fast track your problem solution fit. At the conclusion of the program 2 teams are awarded further seed funding. The ideal founder profile is someone who has an idea, all the way through to someone with a very early product in market. If that is you, and you have a strong interest in the challenge statement, then you are absolutely the right stage to apply and you will benefit from CivVic Labs.

CivVic Labs is designed to help passionate founders apply innovative thinking to some of the state’s most pressing challenges. There are 3 reasons you should launch your startup within the CivVic program:

Fast-track problem solution fit: CivVic brings together a network of both subject matter experts related to the challenge and startup experts;

Seed-funding: The program is completely free, and you will receive seed-funding to participate in the program. Multiple teams will receive further seed funding at the end of the program.

A proven model: Alumni startups like InternMatch and HAL Systems were developed within CivVic Labs, going on to to become thriving startups.

Each Challenge is held at a different venue, but generally they are in the Melbourne CBD or inner suburbs.

The exact application process may vary depending on the challenge requirements. Generally though the process has four stages that run over a two month period:

Expression of interest: Submit your details to register your interest in the program

Application stage: Complete an application form and short video

Interview stage: Submission is reviewed and an online interview is conducted to select the successful applicants

Contracting stage: Successful applicants are required to enter a contract with LaunchVic

You will need to attend all sessions including the final showcase event. You will also need to send an invoice at the conclusion of the program.

Each startup selected for CivVic Labs will receive a $15,000 grant. 2 Startups will receive a further $35,000 in seed funding to build out their solution.

No, the funding provided in CivVic Labs is equity-free. The money will be processed as a grant, with required milestones needing to be met to receive the funding.