<article><a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.telstra.com" target="_blank">Telstra</a>-backed startup accelerator <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/muru-d/" target="_blank">muru-D</a> has announced its inaugural class in its Asian edition &#8211; based in Singapore &#8211; which attracted applications from 15 countries, including Chile and Russia.</article>

<a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.telstra.com" target="_blank">Telstra</a>-backed startup accelerator <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/muru-d/" target="_blank">muru-D</a> has announced its inaugural class in its Asian edition &#8211; based in Singapore &#8211; which attracted applications from 15 countries, including Chile and Russia.
Backed by Telstra, muru-D provides each startup with S$40,000 seed capital enables founders to access six months of business support, a collaborative workspace in Singapore’s central business district and introductions them to world-class mentors, coaches and investors – critical to helping them grow, develop and expand their businesses.
Of the nine teams, three have female founders, with the average for other accelerator programmes in Singapore being 19 per cent. This is significant, as having a cohort where 33 percent of the founders are women compares to its Sydney programme where 40 per cent of founders are women.
A broad range of concepts, covering sectors like healthcare, consumer applications, financial services, law, mobile payments and advertising services are represented, with an international cast of founders from Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Half of the founders are from outside of Singapore and the composition is highly representative of the region, with the average age of Muru-D founders being 32 years.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.apvera.com/" target="_blank">Apvera</a>, a security intelligence company, which derives behavioural-based assessments of corporate security threats and <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0VV9db9l8NENUlqZ2s4ZVRjMjg/view" target="_blank">Maxine</a>, a document generation application that drafts complex contracts and corporate documents are just two examples of the innovative ventures selected to enter the first class of nine companies in muru-D Singapore.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="https://au.linkedin.com/pub/annie-parker/19/329/789" target="_blank">Annie Parker</a>, co-founder of muru-D, said, “Building on the successful launch of muru-D in Australia in 2013, we had very high hopes for our inaugural push into Southeast Asia from here in Singapore &#8211; and we were not disappointed. We’ve been delighted by the passion and the quality of world class entrepreneurial talent that applied to be a part of muru-D Singapore class #1.&#8221;
Parker added, “We were blown away by some of the ideas coming through the muru-D doors, which showcased the very best technology innovation and creativity from across the region. [&#8230;]. I was thrilled to see such a strong selection of ideas, each solving a broad range of everyday business and consumer problems.”
Other startup ventures present in this cohort are:
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.youradhero.com/">AdHero</a>, which crowd-sources copywriters and designers for business owners, specifically those of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to create social media ad campaigns that can be tested across social and mobile channels.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://getcardable.com/">Cardable</a>, which helps Asian cardholders better utilise all their credit card privileges with recommendations and analytics.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://gcall.vn/">GCALL</a>, an e-commerce platform that removes language barriers to enable buyers and sellers to trade regardless of country.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.investorz.com/">investorz</a>, an online crowdfunding platform for people to learn how to invest, meet new experts and execute investments in a range of opportunities.
sendhelper, a pair of mobile apps that matches households with professional cleaners.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.stash.ph/#intro">Stash</a>, which connects healthcare professionals with patients with an online appointment scheduling and enables sharing of updated records via a SaaS platform.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.hellovendi.com/">Vendi</a>, which provides vending operators with a single full-stack solution for mobile payments, monitoring and marketing via the cloud, as well as enabling users to purchase from an app.
<a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotteyarkoni" target="_blank">Charlotte Yarkoni</a>, president, Telstra Software Group and co-founder of muru-D, said: “muru-D is a strategic commitment for Telstra to expand its global footprint and nurture the rapidly expanding Southeast Asian start-up community.
&#8220;Each company that comes into muru-D is an exciting, potential disruptor in a rapidly changing marketplace, and that is of critical importance to Telstra, which itself is innovating every day throughout Asia, Europe and the United States&#8221; Yarkoni added.
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Telstra accelerator Muru-D has unveiled the participants of its inaugural Singapore accelerator programme.

Muru-D accelerator unveils pioneer Asian cohort

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Muru-D accelerator unveils pioneer Asian cohort

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