Telstra has showcased the achievements of this year’s cohort of start-ups that have just completed their stint in the Sydney branch of Muru-D, the No. 1 telco’s start-up accelerator.

Muru-D entrepreneur in residence Ben Sand said this year’s cohort was “by far the most ambitious, mature and advanced cohort we have to date. Coming into the program they had 10 times the combined revenue: $3m versus $300k last year. Now, at the end of the program their combined revenues are more than $5m.”

Sand said the biggest worry for investors in start-ups and for accelerators like Muru-D, was not the money they lost on those that failed, but the money they missed out by not backing start-ups that went on to become hugely successful. “The way to control for that is to make yourself as attractive as possible to the most interesting companies in the world,” he said.

To try and do this, he said, Muru-D had changed its mode of operation. “Now there is $75K of funding in return for $150K of equity, which is the best deal out there for accelerators. On top of that they get the space, the coaching and everything else that comes with Muru-D.”

Start-ups presenting included FluroSat, which analyses satellite imagery to optimise fertiliser usage; Near Sat, which is planning to launch solar-powered aircraft at a height of 20-100kms to provide ultra-high resolution imagery; and Snooper, which has developed a system and app that allows consumer goods suppliers to recruit members of the public to check how stores are displaying their goods.