Corrs Chambers Westgarth and the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) have entered into a three-year financial partnership.
The partnership between the national law firm the
University of Melbourne-based start-up accelerator program involves a six-figure investment as well as legal advice from the law firm.
“Our partnership with MAP will help us to further connect with the next wave of disruptive businesses,” said Corrs partner Jonathan Farrer.
“We will be able to learn from them, advise them and help them to increase their competitiveness, and in turn the competitiveness of Australia,” Farrer added.
MAP has produced the likes of Brosa, Australia’s leading online furniture store and BajaBoard, an all-terrain buggy at your feet.
“As the only legal firm to partner with the Melbourne Accelerator Program, we will have the opportunity to deepen our own start-up experience while also supporting the growing culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in Australia,” Jon Kenton, Corrs COO, said.
Each year, ten start-ups are accepted into MAP and provided with a $20,000 seed with no equity taken, office space, structured mentoring and networking and pitching opportunities across Melbourne and Silicon Valley.
According to Corrs, as a partner, it will run regular half-day legal clinics during which MAP founders and alumni can seek legal advice.
The law firm will also provide MAP founders and alumni with free access to Corrs’ proprietary legal software designed to helps start-ups produce legal documents – from incorporation to hiring, all the way to fundraising.
Corrs will also deliver the content of legal-themed “Master Classes” which will be run out of MAP’s Lab-14 office space in Carlton in Melbourne’s north.
