HATCH

Welcome to HATCH: Taronga Accelerator Program. HATCH aims to inspire, support and launch innovative ideas and actions to help address some of the most pressing environmental and conservation challenges currently facing our planet.

We are calling on innovators, thought leaders, disruptors, developers, passionate individuals and everyone in between to help develop and implement brilliant ideas for the planet.

One simple idea could change the future. The future starts today. What’s your brilliant idea?

HATCH 2020 teams

We are delighted to announce the 2020 HATCH: Taronga Accelerator Program participants and initiatives! After a delay and restructure of program plans due to COVID-19, and a competitive national selection process, we selected ten passionate founders who are driving five exciting initiatives to address environmental issues.

We are so excited to support these teams to progress their brilliant ideas for the planet. Check out their initiatives here, and follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with their HATCH journeys.

Every Drop Counts

Our vision is to help communities across Australia engage with and protect their local water resources. We all know how important our water is and, with the escalating impacts of climate change, we are starting to feel the reality of water scarcity and poverty in many of our communities. We believe that the safest hands our water resources can be in is our own, and so we aim to give you the agency to take charge of your relationship with water by providing you with the tools to accurately monitor and stay informed about your local water resources, connect with your community and advocate for improved local and federal water management. While one short shower won’t end a drought, Every Drop Counts offers you the opportunity to join a growing movement that cares for and protects our communities, improves climate resilience and conserves our most precious resource.

Founder: Samantha Moody

Good-Edi

We are dedicated to solving the disposable cup problem. When we grab that takeaway cup, we are making a big mistake and become part of a huge environmental issue. Disposable cups are lined with plastic so aren’t recyclable or biodegradable. They create 60 tonnes of plastic waste per year in Australia, causing a huge amount of carbon emissions and water pollution. We have an innovative solution that actually solves the problem, an edible cup that is waste-free. It functions like a takeaway cup without harming the planet or compromising on convenience. Our cups are a healthy snack, plastic and paper-free, and if they end up in the bin they break down naturally in less than two weeks.

Good-Edi introductory video.

Visit the Good-Edi website.

Co-founders: Catherine Hutchins and Aniyo Rahebi

PoopLoop

The PoopLoop is a community-based composting system designed to manage the copious amounts of dog poo produced in parks and green spaces every day. It will divert the dog poo away from landfill which once processed becomes a safe and productive compost for local parks and gardens. We want to close the waste loop by helping people to see dog poo as a resource, not a waste-product.

Co-founders: James Lyle, Samuel Hughes, James Chan and Sam Quinn

RePlated

RePlated wants to make single use history with our thoughtfully designed reusable takeaway food container systems. We manufacture our containers from recycled PET and glass right here in Sydney for distribution globally. As a business that is truly circular; from our philosophy to design and manufacture, we even take containers back at the end of their life for recycling into new products.

Practical solutions to our waste crisis are urgently needed to shift away from single-use. It takes just 15 washes for a reusable food container to be better than even the best compostable container. As we recreate a brighter and more socially and environmentally conscious future post-COVID, RePlated offers Australian businesses and organisations the opportunity to shift away from single-use for good.

Visit the RePlated website.

Founder: Naomi Tarszisz

TOMbag

TOMbag is on a mission to rid the world of single-use garbage bags with our sustainable and functional reusable alternatives. Designed from the ground up, we’ve created a reusable garbage bag that is waterproof, durable, washable and is made with recycled plastic. A reusable garbage bag to replace single-use plastics at home and at work.

Visit the TOMbag website.

Follow TOMbag on Instagram.

Co-founders: Johnathan Pestano and Aleksandra Pestano

Program overview and structure

HATCH is a 14-week accelerator program designed to help you develop your brilliant idea into a not-for-profit or social enterprise venture that has a positive impact on the environment. The program will involve two immersive events, weekly online workshops that you can attend from your home location, and a final pitch event.

What is an accelerator?

Think of an accelerator as similar to a University or TAFE unit – a structured, fixed term development program. However, the purpose of an accelerator program is not only to educate, but to help participants to develop and refine their initiative or business venture.

During the HATCH program, you will undertake education sessions, peer collaboration, and have access to mentors from a range of different expertise. You will also undertake work on your game changing idea or product for the planet in your own time.

Accelerators often provide seed capital to participants as well. HATCH: Taronga Accelerator Program will provide $2,000 to each participating team.

At the end of the structured program, participants will present their ideas to a panel of experts. The panel will provide feedback and determine which idea or product is the overall winner and recipient of the major funding.

If you have an innovative idea, an accelerator such as HATCH is a great place to develop your idea with the support of experts, and to meet and collaborate with like-minded people.

HATCH program inclusions

The opportunity to receive up to $50,000 to bring your brilliant idea to life
$2,000 seed funding for each team participating in the program (at zero equity)
A blended approach of face to face workshops, online sessions and digital modules to provide you with the knowledge to develop your initiative
Expert learning, guidance and support from mentors and subject matter experts including Taronga experts, industry professionals, and not-for-profit and social enterprise leaders
Co-working space during the program, subject to availability

Your brilliant idea is...

Targeted to address a key conservation or environmental challenge
An innovative approach to address the issue you’re targeting
Designed to make a positive impact on the natural environment
Aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Taronga’s 360 degree approach to conservation
Early stage – you bring the concept, we’ll help you to assess, test and validate it
Is established as, or plans to develop into, a not-for-profit or social enterprise organisation
Ideally it has potential to scale up for ever greater impact over time

Taronga's 360^o approach to conservation

Taronga's 360-degree approach to conservation.

At Taronga we recognise that to achieve successful conservation of species we must also consider and support the habitat in which the species live, and the communities that interact with the species and habitat. Below are some examples of activities that Taronga undertakes under each area that may help you to consider how your initiative aligns to these areas.

Species

Monitoring of wild populations
Breed for release programs
Rescue and rehabilitation of injured native wildlife
Research and development of suitable nutrition

Habitat

Habitat restoration, e.g. tree planting for Regent Honeyeaters
Ensuring suitable habitat for native species within our two Zoo grounds
Researching and monitoring habitat use

Communities

Guest, student and community education programs
Tools to enable the public to protect wildlife, e.g. the Wildlife Witness app
Working with local communities to address challenges and be self-sufficient, e.g. Beads for Wildlife

Key dates

View the key program dates

We are excited to confirm updated dates for the HATCH Program 2020!

Stage	Dates
Applications close	5pm on Tuesday 9 June 2020
Application review	June 2020
Short-listed applications to provide additional information	Early July 2020
Short-listed applicants panel interviews	Second-half July 2020
Program participants confirmed	End July 2020
Program welcome session (online) 5pm - 7pm Sydney time	Tuesday 11 August 2020
Immersive One - Day 1 (online) Full day	Saturday 15 August 2020
Mentor introduction session (online) 5pm - 7pm Sydney time	Tuesday 18 August 2020
Immersive One - Day 2 (online) Full day	Friday 21 August 2020
Weekly workshops (online) Tuesdays 5pm - 7pm Sydney time	Tuesday 25 August to Tuesday 15 September 2020
Immersive Two - Day 1 (if run in-person, in Sydney)* Full day	Friday 18 September 2020
Immersive Two - Day 2 (if run in-person, in Sydney) OR Day 1 (if run online) Full day	Saturday 19 September 2020
Immersive Two - Day 2 (if run online)* Full day	Tuesday 22 September 2020
Weekly workshops (online) Tuesdays 5pm - 7pm Sydney time	Tuesday 29 September to Tuesday 3 November 2020 and Wednesday 4 November 2020
Pitch event run through (online) Evening	Monday 9 November 2020
Pitch event (online) Evening	Tuesday 10 November 2020

_{*We hope to bring all participants together at Taronga Zoo for Immersive Two, if the situation allows at that time. If we are unable to run the immersive in-person, it will be run online.}

Eligibility criteria

Open to Australian citizens and permanent residents only
All applicants must be 18 years and over
Teams can be a maximum of 5 people per team; individual applicants are welcome
Initiatives must align to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to Taronga’s 360 degree approach to conservation
Initiatives must be delivered in Australia to benefit/support the Australian environment
Not for profit and social enterprise initiatives are welcomed; for profit initiatives are not eligible for this program
If applying as an organisation, the organisation will likely have an annual revenue of less than $150,000
All participants must comply with the Terms and Conditions associated with the HATCH Program
All participants must comply with Taronga’s Code of Conduct

Header photo: Shunsuke Ono

Mentors and subject matter experts

HATCH participants are supported by a range of mentors and experts from across the startup, business, and for-purpose arenas, as well as Taronga’s in-house expertise in conservation, community engagement, education and not-for-profit management. A huge vote of thanks to our mentors and experts for their commitment to support the HATCH participants and program.