Meet The Startups That Pitched At Curtin Accelerate’s 2026 Demo Night

13 WA startups pitched at Curtin Accelerate’s annual pitch night, capping the 13th year of the university’s flagship commercialisation program. The 2026 cohort spans paediatric heart surgery, solar-powered ocean robotics, menopause therapeutics, Noongar-led cultural learning, and a domestic-violence safety app, among others — a 12-week sprint that began in January.

Curtin Accelerate is a free program that takes a small cohort of Founders through structured commercialisation training, mentoring, and access to industry networks. Curtin University says alumni have launched more than 70 ventures since the program began, collectively raising over $41 million in funding.

The program is open to Founders well beyond the university’s own student and alumni base, and this year’s intake reflects that breadth. The 2026 cohort includes researchers, clinicians, returning Founders, and first-time entrepreneurs working across healthcare, education, environmental tech, public safety, beauty, mining services, and consumer goods. 

Meet the startups

AchieveAble

Founder: Christian Bien

A fun and engaging maths tutoring experience powered by coaching, micro-practice, and multiplayer game-show challenges to build confidence, engagement, and long-term learning. 

aisembl

Founder: Ben Caine

An intuitive design-to-documentation platform that streamlines material selection and project planning for homeowners, designers, and contractors.

Eikonic

Founder: Ingrid Rodriguez

A pioneering oral care company developing the world’s first menopause-focused Advanced Oral Crème, powered by regenerative gold-calcium technology to support a smoother, more comfortable oral environment for women in the menopausal life stage. 

Gawawater

Founder: Salva Kessy

A whole-home water purification service delivering affordable, reliable access to safe drinking water for households across Africa through a simple monthly subscription model. 

Minerva 

Founder: Michael Ovens

A virtual-reality imaging platform that transforms CT and MRI data into true-scale 3D anatomy, reducing cognitive load and improving diagnostic accuracy and surgical planning for complex paediatric cardiac conditions. 

NeuroAnalyse

Founder: Blossom Stephan

Delivering advanced data analytics, risk insights, and evidence-informed guidance that support healthy brain ageing and dementia risk reduction, helping to reduce the growing burden of dementia globally. 

Next Generation Sensors

Founder: Elena Gorenskaia

Portable electrochemical sensors using ionic liquid-based film and gel technology to deliver fast, low-cost, lab-grade on-site detection of explosives and water pollutants for safer, more efficient field operations. 

Respiradigm

FounderS: Anya Jones and Ian Brown

A First-Year Digital Health companion that predicts infant asthma risk through clinically validated assessment and provides parent-friendly guidance and clinician-ready insights to enable earlier, preventive intervention. 

Safe Call Up

Founder: Kristy Gallagher

A discreet safety-monitoring app for domestic violence survivors that uses timed check-ins, silent alerts and disguised interfaces to support wellbeing during high-risk situations without increasing danger or detection. 

Sonowest Healthcare

Founder: Narelle Morin

An integrated health service delivering Telehealth enabled primary care, 24/7 clinical support and local workforce development to improve healthcare access and outcomes for Western Australia’s most remote and underserved communities. 

Sunfish Robotics

FounderS: Nikki Staltari, Morgan McDermont and Taylor Odishoo

Solar ocean robot engineered for long-duration, low-cost ocean data collection, making large-scale marine research more accessible and scalable. 

Suss Beauty

Founder: Miah Gardner

A waterless skincare brand creating powdered, refillable products that reduce environmental impact while delivering high-performance results, redefining sustainability as the new standard in beauty. 

Yalkarang Consulting

Founder: Tamara Tucker

A Noongar-led organisation offering culturally grounded learning experiences that support the continuation of Noongar knowledge and strengthen cultural understanding within workplaces and communities.