Taronga’s 2024 Hatch Accelerator Program: The Groundswell Collective Named Winner

The Groundswell Collective has been announced as this year’s winner of the $50,000 Hatch: Taronga Accelerator Program (Hatch) grant. On Wednesday 19 June, 13 founders of six start-ups went head-to-head for the chance to win the grant in a competitive pitch event held at Taronga Zoo Sydney.

A not-for-profit organisation based in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, The Groundswell Collective focuses on creating densely packed patches of diverse, native vegetation in urban areas through their Tiny Forest initiative to support a thriving, connected and sustainable future for Lake Macquarie and beyond. The Groundswell Collective is co-founded by Anna Noon and Mark Colquhoun.

Winner of the grant co-founder Anna Noon said “We’re thrilled to be awarded the $50,000 prize from Taronga’s incredible Hatch program. It’s been a privilege and fantastic opportunity to engage with likeminded changemakers, subject matter experts and the wider Taronga network. We can’t wait to continue The Groundswell Collective’s purpose of bringing people together to create a better planet by building two new school-based tiny forest with the funding.”

Now in its fourth year, Hatch is the world’s only accelerator program that is led by a conservation zoo. The program is designed to help ecopreneurs take their idea from vision to reality and support innovators who are tackling some of the most pressing environmental and conservation challenges currently facing our planet. Over 14 weeks, the 13 founders were immersed in masterclasses and workshops led by Taronga’s network of subject matter experts. The program culminated in a pitch event, attended by more than 200 guests at the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning at Taronga Zoo Sydney.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia CEO Cameron Kerr AO and moderator of the 2024 Hatch pitch event said “We were so impressed with the calibre of this year’s cohort. Each of the start-up founders demonstrated a way forward for our world – whether that’s addressing the way we rethink food waste elimination through digital labelling systems, addressing challenges related to solar panel waste, redirecting medical supplies from landfill, and so much more. The Hatch founders have proven that when there is support, we can come up with innovative solutions that can benefit our environment and humanity. Last night’s judges were so impressed with The Groundswell Collective’s co-founders Anna Noon and Mark Colquhoun. Their impressive knowledge of the ecosystem and scalability is inspiring. The rewilding of urban spaces is so important and I cannot wait to see what they achieve. I am so grateful to our generous donors for their leadership and recognising the need to nurture and support innovative minds to ensure that together, we can make these ideas a reality.”

The six teams of ecopreneurs delivered their pitches to a judging panel which included philanthropist, businesswoman and urbanist Lucy Turnbull AO, one of Hatch’s founding donors Alexandra Holcomb, climate change and sustainability leader Andy Marks, and marine biologist and advertising legend John Preston.

In addition to the $50,000 Hatch grant awarded by the judges, the team behind Medical Pantry took home the additional $5,000 People’s Choice Award.

A key partner of Hatch, CEO and Founder of investment company BridgeLane Markus Kahlbetzer said “Hatch has become a leading accelerator for environmental and conservation projects globally and we couldn’t be prouder at BridgeLane to have supported an inspiring set of cohorts over the past four years. Hatch has a lot more to give and we welcome more entrepreneurs to apply to the program to contribute their impressive ideas to help conserve our environment.”

CEO and Director of Wollemi Capital Group, Victoria Denholm, has proudly partnered with Hatch for two years. “We’re proud to partner with an innovative and unique program that supports entrepreneurs to bring their vision to life. We know that navigating the startup process is challenging, particularly for women as they are traditionally overlooked in this space. The access the cohort has to experts is unparalleled and they’ve certainly succeeded in creating a supportive and diverse network of mentors and alumni. For us, Hatch embodies our mission of creating a better world for generations to come. It’s truly inspiring to see how people are blending technology, sustainability and conservation to achieve this goal.”

Across more than a decade, Taronga has continued to be a leader in identifying and supporting innovative conservation ideas. In 2011, Taronga launched the Taronga Green Grant program. Inaugural winner of the Taronga Green Grant, Take 3 for the Sea, was recently named the winner of the 2023 NSW Sustainable Tourism at the NSW Sustainability Awards. In 2020, the Taronga Green Grant program evolved into the Hatch: Taronga Accelerator Program. Over four years since its launch, Hatch has granted $199,000 in funding, and has connected 17 teams with more than 95 mentors and subject matter experts. Past Hatch initiatives include edible coffee cups Good-Edi and Xylo Systems, a cloud-based platform that uses AI for tracking and managing conservation programs.

Hatch is made possible with the support of Taronga’s donors BridgeLane Group Foundation, Wollemi Capital Group, Alexandra Holcomb, Auxilium Foundation, and the incredible mentors, guest speakers and subject matter experts who inspire our wonderful founders, including Tom Allen and Impact Boom.

Learn more about The Groundswell Collective: thegroundswell.azurewebsites.net

Learn more about HATCH: taronga.org.au