Co Connect joins Google AI accelerator for Australia

Co Connect has been selected for the 2026 Google for Startups Accelerator: AI cohort for Australia and New Zealand. The Perth company is one of 15 startups chosen across the two countries.

It is the only startup from Western Australia in the intake and the only one building for the resources sector. Google's 10-week program supports Seed to Series A companies working with AI and machine learning, giving participants access to engineers, AI specialists and mentors.

Co Connect develops software for frontline and remote workers on mine sites and other high-risk locations where mobile coverage can be unreliable. Its app is designed to work offline and includes communication tools, journey management, GIS wayfinding and a patent-pending personal duress function with location data.

The system is used by more than 20,000 people. It also includes multilingual content, kiosk mode, mobile-number login and a design intended for workers wearing gloves.

Emergency response teams use a separate permission-controlled area within the same app. That section covers call-out, training, equipment readiness, mapping and debrief.

Founder and Managing Director Erin Bell said the company was built around practical issues seen on mine sites in Western Australia.

"We built Co Connect in Perth around problems I saw first-hand on WA mine sites," said Erin Bell, founder and managing director of Co Connect.

"Getting the right information to the right worker, and knowing people are safe, sounds simple until you're dealing with remote locations, rosters, contractors and patchy coverage. Being picked for Google's cohort says something about what can be built out of this sector, and out of WA."

Bell founded the company after more than a decade working across human resources, health, safety and emergency response on remote mining operations. She said that background shaped the app's focus on workers who are often away from desks, outside mobile range or using shared devices during shifts.

AI focus

During the program, Co Connect plans to work with Google specialists on how AI can be applied to workforce and operational information in those conditions. The work will also feed into Co Connect People, the company's next product focused on rostering and facilities management.

That product received a WA Government Innovation Booster Grant in August. The AI work will examine how to handle personal and operational information responsibly in settings where safety issues can be immediate and connectivity cannot be assumed.

Bell outlined that approach in a separate comment on the company's AI plans.

"There is real value in AI for frontline workforces, but it has to be applied responsibly, especially when it touches people's safety and personal information.

"That's the work we'll be doing with Google's specialists over the next ten weeks."

The selection comes as mining and industrial operators face growing pressure to improve communication, safety and workforce coordination across dispersed sites. It also highlights a recurring challenge in the sector: many digital tools are built for office environments rather than for crews working in remote areas, on rotating rosters and under site access restrictions.

Offline use remains a practical concern across large resource projects in Australia, particularly for contractors and crews moving between pits, camps and processing areas. Systems that rely on continuous mobile or data connections can be harder to use in emergency response situations or in routine work where signal strength varies across a site.

Wider profile

Co Connect has also been named among 33 national finalists in the Australian Technologies Competition in the disaster, emergency and risk management category. Its submission centres on a single offline-capable app that connects workers, emergency teams and site information through mapping, alerts, duress response, live tracking and the emergency team area.

The company has also received recognition in other industry awards. Bell was named a finalist in the Women in Industry Awards in the Excellence in Mining category, while Co Connect was a double finalist in the INCITE Awards in Technology & Business Solution of the Year and Diversity & Digital Inclusion Solution of the Year.

Last year, the business won Emergency Preparedness & Response at the WHS Awards and Emerging Innovation of the Year at the PropTech Awards. The recent run of awards suggests the company has gained attention beyond mining, particularly in areas where worker safety, location awareness and emergency coordination are central operational issues.

Google has described Co Connect as an all-in-one workforce platform for frontline and remote workers. Bell said the company's starting point remains the same problem that first led her to build it: making sure workers can receive information and confirm their safety even when on-site technology infrastructure is limited.