The Deal
Minderoo Foundation is committing $8 million to Startmate over four years, structured as $2 million annually. The funds target women founders in the accelerator's cohorts.
Startmate runs two accelerators per year, investing $120,000 for 8% equity in each participating startup. In 2025, 43% of applications came from women-led companies, up from 20% in 2019.
The Numbers
Startmate's current portfolio shows 43% of backed companies have at least one woman cofounder, versus a 24% industry average. In 2025, 51% of accelerator capital went to women-led startups (defined as at least one female cofounder with meaningful equity). Companies with women-only founding teams received 33% of deployed capital.
Minderoo Foundation manages a $7.6 billion endowment after the Forrests added $5 billion via Fortescue shares. The foundation previously committed $160 million to Co-Impact for gender equity work.
The Context
This is strategic ecosystem funding, not a commercial client relationship. Minderoo's philanthropic arm (via Tattarang) previously partnered with Startmate on a women founders programme that invested $120,000 per startup.
Startmate CEO Phoebe Pincus noted application volume from women founders tripled from 100 in 2019 to nearly 600 in 2025. The partnership aims to maintain that momentum while addressing persistent funding gaps: research shows women founders remain consistently underfunded despite often outperforming male-led peers on key metrics.
Minderoo CEO John Hartman framed the investment as early-stage capital deployment: getting more resources to women founders before later funding rounds, where disparities widen.
What It Means
For ANZ sales professionals evaluating startup opportunities, this signals continued acceleration funding for women-led companies through 2030. Worth noting: Startmate is an accelerator, not a conventional sales organisation. No public data on their revenue, sales headcount, or CRO structure. This is about building the startup pipeline, not adding AEs.