Startmate is the most active early-stage investor in Australia. We invest at the very beginning of a founder's journey, making us best-placed to help budding angel investors. We help founders to realise their bold ambitions every day. We’ve been accelerating founders for more than a decade and we want to open this world to you.

We focus on the things you can't Google and provide unparalleled hands-on investing opportunities.

Over 14 weeks, you'll learn the craft of investing from world-class investors through the Startmate network, while simultaneously being exposed to 500+ early-stage startups. This is not about passively learning abstract concepts. It's about learning by doing and making real investment decisions on real companies with real outcomes.

Alongside other First Believers, you'll refine and develop your investment strategy, establish clear next steps in your journey to investing, and be supported in realising them.

Investing is a decade-long journey. We’re building a community to be there with you every step of the way. You'll develop deep relationships with First Believers and be a part of a community for life.

You also get ongoing exposure to Startmate's deal flow, and have opportunities to learn-by-doing (even if you don't have capital to invest right now).

If you want to build confidence in making early-stage startup investments, better understand the investor lens, or build life-changing relationships with other ambitious investors and founders, First Believers is the place for you.

You don’t have to be a sophisticated investor. You don’t need to have $$$ to invest. You can join with or without any prior experience.

First Believers come from a range of backgrounds, including past founders, corporate venture capitalists, high-growth technology company employees, and ecosystem champions.

No! First Believers is about developing future investors.

We understand the ambition to be an investor might come before the financial position to back your belief in founders.

Amongst a number of pathways for non-sophisticated investors, we have uniquely raised a $1 million Small Bets Fund exclusively for First Believers of all backgrounds to invest into founders at the very beginning (and earn carry in the fund while doing so).

The program runs virtually twice a year, kicking off in March and September, with applications due the month before.

As the program is run remotely, we encourage you to apply from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.

Each cohort is made up of ~60 people across a range of industries, locations and levels of experience.

First Believers requires a time commitment of three hours per week to engage with the content and community.

The First Believers program fee is $5,500 including GST.

We're committed to seeing better representation in the startup ecosystem, and we don't want financial limitations to be a prohibiting factor from participating in First Believers. Startmate offers full and part scholarships for the First Believers program. This fee will only be invoiced after program acceptance. The fee can be paid upfront or via instalments.

NZGCP proudly sponsor one NZ position per cohort.