Google for Startups Accelerator: Introducing our 2026 Australia & New Zealand AI Cohort

Australia has a well-established reputation for turning local innovation into globally competitive technology, particularly across software, healthcare, and climate science.

Today, artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, and local founders are at the forefront building world-class platforms capable of competing on the global stage.

Following the success of our previous cohorts, we are thrilled to announce the 15 startups selected for the 2026 Google for Startups Accelerator: Australia & New Zealand. As part of our ongoing commitment through the Digital Future Initiative, this 10-week, equity-free hybrid program is designed to help Seed and Series A startups leveraging AI and machine learning scale rapidly and responsibly.

We have seen tremendous excitement across the ecosystem this year, with a significant surge in applications from ambitious founders across both nations

Meet the 2026 Cohort:

• Blunge: An AI design agent that turns ideas into finished, on-brand, editable designs, removing the bottleneck between marketing and design.
• Bower: The operating system for research that captures lab experiments, observations, and decisions in real time via smart interfaces and automates research administration.
• Co Connect App: An all-in-one workforce platform keeping frontline and remote workers informed, engaged, safe, and connected through critical communication, journey management, and GIS wayfinding.
• CounterCurrent: Delivers trusted, hyperlocal maritime forecasts and decision support tools for intelligent ship routing, asset optimisation, and safety at sea.
• Eyes of AI: Transforming dental care with AI-powered imaging technology that enables faster, more accurate diagnosis and clinical decision-making.
• Gheorg: A friendly robot companion helping children around the world navigate the top 5 mental health and neurodiversity conditions.
• Kimia: Building the chemical intelligence layer for the materials industry, transforming specialised chemistry knowledge into operational data for manufacturers and distributors.
• Mentana: An agentic autonomous supply chain manager transitioning global supply chains from human-centric to AI-led forecasting, planning, and execution.
• Merchmix: An AI-native inventory operating system helping retailers plan, buy, allocate, replenish, and execute inventory decisions in one connected platform.
• Rainstick: Uses Variable Electric Field technology to mimic lightning, helping seeds grow bigger, faster, and more sustainably without chemicals.
• RossOps: Operational memory for manufacturing—capturing context across shifts, systems, and personnel to surface actionable intelligence on the factory floor.
• Terria: The spatial data intelligence layer for urban planning, helping cities and developers build smarter infrastructure.
• Tiliter: Uses computer vision to turn visual inputs and imagery into actionable operational data.
• Totex Energy: Captures, reuses, and shifts building energy loads to low-cost renewable hours, turning properties into flexible, dispatchable grid assets.
• Unseen: The trust layer for commercial real estate—rebuilding verified asset states from source documents to power auditable AI valuation workflows.

We congratulate each of the 15 founding teams and look forward to collaborating with them over the coming months to accelerate their technology and impact.