Meshpoints, supported by Spacecubed and Lotterywest, is proud to announce the five Western Australian founders and ecosystem leaders selected to attend SOUTHSTART 2026 in Adelaide from 17 – 19 March.
This trip represents a cross-section of WA’s innovation landscape, from early-stage startup founders building scalable ventures, to ecosystem leaders strengthening the foundations that support entrepreneurship across our state. Through this sponsorship, Meshpoints aims to strengthen national connections, expose WA innovators to new models and ideas, and bring valuable insights back home to share with our wider community.
SOUTHSTART has become South Australia’s leading gathering for founders, investors, policymakers and ecosystem builders. With more than 10,000 attendees and $30B+ in represented capital over its history, the event provides a powerful platform for cross-state collaboration, bold conversations and future-focused thinking. By backing this cohort, Meshpoints is investing not only in individual leaders, but in the long-term strength and connectivity of WA’s innovation ecosystem.
Meet the Meshpoints SOUTHSTART Cohort
Rochelle Bacon — Founder, Tempo Co
Rochelle Bacon is the founder of Tempo Co, a strategic virtual assistant agency empowering small businesses to move beyond survival and into sustainable growth. Tempo Co delivers bespoke strategy sessions tailored to each client’s goals, mapping out clear action plans supported by highly skilled VAs trained in emerging tools, including AI-powered workflow optimisation.
Stephanie Clarke — Founder, Multi-Coached
Stephanie Clarke is the founder of Multi-Coached, a platform delivering therapeutic activities and targeted occupational therapy solutions for children, teens and young adults. As a Plus Eight Accelerator alum, Multi-Coached has been carefully designed to support young people through structured, accessible and evidence-based programs.
Alice Abba — Founder, ROMI
Alice Abba is the founder of ROMI, a community platform connecting women through small-group hikes and offline experiences. ROMI’s mission is simple but powerful: help women build friendships, confidence and genuine connection outside of screens, one hike at a time.
Martin McGinty — Founder, Relait
Martin McGinty leads Relait, an AI-powered investor engagement platform supporting ASX-listed companies to streamline updates, track engagement and maintain transparency. As a Plus Eight Accelerator alum, Relait sits at the intersection of AI, governance and capital markets — helping listed companies improve how they communicate with investors in increasingly complex environments.
Harry Kwon — Program Coordinator, Fogarty Foundation
Harry Kwon represents the Fogarty Foundation, an organisation that has spent 25 years strengthening education outcomes and developing future leaders across Western Australia. By identifying unmet needs and piloting innovative models, the Foundation partners across government, corporate and social sectors to deliver programs that create long-term systemic impact. Its focus on Next Generation Leaders, Excellent Teaching and Future
This trip is about more than attendance. It’s about strengthening WA’s visibility on the national stage, building relationships across state lines, bringing back practical insights, partnerships and ideas, and elevating diverse voices from across our ecosystem. We’re excited to see how each individual engages with the SOUTHSTART community — and how their learnings ripple back into Western Australia.
We’ll be sharing updates from Adelaide, reflections from the cohort’s journey, and follow-up insights in the weeks ahead. To stay across ecosystem stories, founder journeys, funding announcements and future opportunities, make sure to follow Meshpoints on our LinkedIn and Facebook social channels.
