Telstra has recruited the first cohort of IoT-focused start-ups into the Melbourne branch of its muru-D start-up accelerator program.

The four successful start-ups have been offered $75,000 upfront in seed capital investment and, Telstra says, will benefit from a highly developed network of mentors and industry professionals.

Muru-D’s Melbourne entrepreneur-in-residence Marc van Hoof said that Telstra had received more than 75 applications. He added: “We’re confident that the start-ups we selected are best positioned to benefit from muru-D’s experienced team of entrepreneurs, start-up and technology professionals, and our mentor and investor network.”

The four start-ups are: Smart Paddock: a farm management tool that hopes to modernise the global livestock industry through intelligent data analysis, using IoT data “straight from the pasture”; Alpha Centauri: an organisation “geared towards producing cheap and sustainable production of food for all”; Moduware which “creates phone cases and power banks to extend the hardware and software capabilities of your smartphone”; and Sofihub, “a hardware and AI platform using IoT sensors to learn what is normal in elderly residents’ homes.”