The win for the Sydney startup, which is pioneering the way forward for work by agentic AI, with a platform that lets anybody construct a staff of AI brokers, got here after taking residence the AI Gamechanger award earlier within the night.
The gala dinner with greater than 200 friends at Sydney’s ivy Ballroom was a celebration of the nationwide startup ecosystem, with founders and winners from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
As soon as once more, a number of awards went to girls main the best way, together with LaunchVic-backed Press Play Ventures, which took out The GSD Award for its position in serving to Victorian girls develop into entrepreneurs, with 120 girls who’ve taken half in this system happening to launch 104 startups.
Paz Pisarski, founding father of The Group Collective, which trains folks to be group builders, was named the Future Chief of the Yr, whereas Finest New Founder went to Rebecca Keeley, founding father of speech pathology app Yarn Speech.
Startup Every day editor Simon Thomsen saved the celebrations going because the occasion host, whereas keynote speaker Dr Ian Oppermann, a world thought chief on the digital economic system and serial founder, spoke of his expertise as an information scientist and his position in creating 3G and 4G – the muse know-how for cellular communications.
Thomsen mentioned the third annual awards set a brand new document with greater than 270 nominations, whittled right down to 56 finalists and winners throughout 14 classes.
“Choice standards was primarily based on key achievements, degree of influence and tech innovation, and the way they’re contributing to creating the world a greater place,” he mentioned.
“Variety, fairness and inclusion are central to Startup Every day’s ethos. That’s why entry to the awards is free, and we provide our finalists a complimentary ticket to be a part of the enjoyable. We need to embrace founders simply beginning out.”
Thomsen added he was happy to see girls and various founders well-represented among the many finalists and winners.
“One of many friends mentioned they had been pleasantly shocked by the variety of girls within the room for tech awards. I replied that ‘It’s not by chance, however by design. You probably have the need, it may be executed’,” he shared.
Crowd favorite among the many 14 winners was Clayton Franklin, a Western Australian Indigenous founder masking mining vans to electrification. Carrying his trademark cattleman’s hat with a crimson herd tag on the again, his local weather tech startup, Electrical Energy Conversions Australia, gained Most Progressive Startup, and he shared information that they’d simply signed a significant cope with Qatar to transform their truck fleets.
The Startup Every day Finest in Tech Awards 2025 had been supported by main associate AWS Startups, with supporting associate Vanta. Award companions embrace Carta, techvisa, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Tank Stream Labs, The Nudge Group and The Pillars, with Sensible Firm, Fishburners and Startup&Angels as group companions.
Right here is the complete checklist of winners from the Startup Every day Finest in Tech Awards 2025:
Asseti – Scaleup of the Yr
Supported by AWS Startups
Asseti makes use of AI to analyse visible knowledge at scale, reworking asset and facility administration. The corporate is already on tempo to exceed $10 million ARR by the tip of 2025, attaining that landmark after elevating simply $2.5m in capital.
Asseti gained an 8-figure multi-year cope with Walmart, beating well-funded opponents, and not using a US staff on the bottom. and likewise signed Meta for situation knowledge throughout its international knowledge centre community.
The firm is now money circulation impartial and now seeking to increase a Collection A.
Relevance AI – Startup of the Yr
Supported by Vanta
Relevance AI provides groups the facility to rent digital teammates – AI brokers that may act autonomously, deal with complexity, and scale operational excellence.
In contrast to conventional automation instruments that depend on inflexible logic and developer-led builds, the Relevance platform empowers subject-matter specialists to create, handle, and collaborate with AI brokers with out writing code.
Electrical Energy Conversions Australia (EPCA) – Most Progressive Startup
Supported by Tank Stream Labs
EPCA is the primary Australian firm to retrofit a 100-tonne mining haul truck from diesel to full battery-electric. Proudly Aboriginal-owned and operated by Clayton Franklin, EPCA is main the decarbonisation of the Western Australian mining fleets, eradicating emissions from operations and manufacturing, the place most carbon is already embedded. Retrofitting affords a quicker, lower-cost, and extra sustainable path to electrification, preserving precious property in service whereas aligning with ESG targets.
Cauldron Ferm – Finest Regional Startup
Supported by Carta
It’s back-to-back wins for Cauldron Ferm, which additionally winner the 2024 Finest Regional Startup award. Cauldron is pioneering the following frontier in biomanufacturing to rework how every thing from meals to fibres, animal feed, fuels, and extra are created.
Over the previous 12 months below founder Michelle Stansfield, the regional NSW biotech acquired federal and Queensland authorities funding to construct a biomanufacturing facility within the tropical north.
Relevance AI – AI Gamechanger
Supported by AWS Startups
That is the second award for Sydney startup is pioneering the way forward for work by agentic AI, not chatbots or copilots. The platform lets anybody construct a staff of AI brokers and in Might this 12 months, introduced a $37 million Collection B increase led by Bessemer Enterprise Companions.
Mick Liubinskas – Trade Champion
Supported by Sensible Firm
Local weather Salad, a group of 700 local weather tech firms and 10,000 supporters, is the newest journey for one of many pioneers of Australia’s startup sector, Mick Liubinskas.
Mick based 4 startups, plus incubators and accelerators with Pollenizer, Startmate and muru-D. He’s a believer that Australia will play an enormous position in constructing local weather options and likewise been a robust advocate for variety, fairness and inclusion. He’s written two books – most significantly, She’s Constructing A Robotic, a novel to encourage teenage women into the world of STEM.
Watch and hearken to Mick on the newest episode of our podcast, Startup 360, proper right here.
Xefco – Finest Sustainability Startup
The textile business is among the world’s most polluting sectors, liable for 20% of worldwide industrial water air pollution and three% of worldwide carbon emissions.
Xefco is fixing this drawback at its supply. Their breakthrough know-how eliminates the necessity for water, steam, and dangerous chemical substances in dyeing and ending: resulting in zero wastewater, lowering GHG emissions by 94%, and chopping chemical use by 97%.
It additionally improves office security and allows just-in-time manufacturing, to cut back overproduction and textile waste.
Cell Bauhaus – Finest New Concept
Supported by Fishburners
The mission at Cell Bauhaus is to convey computer-aided design to biology, permitting engineers to check and refine organic programs computationally earlier than constructing them, dramatically lowering each time-to-market and improvement prices.
The implications are far reaching – predictive organic design might speed up improvement of safer greener bio-chemistries, drought-resistant crops, and personalised therapeutics from a long time to years.
Rebecca Keeley, Yarn Speech – Finest New Founder
Supported by Nudge Group
Darwin-raised Rebecca is a speech pathologist who devoted her profession to creating healthcare extra accessible, notably for households in rural and distant areas.
She launched Yarn Speech in 2024, a first-of-its-kind digital resolution and app, reshaping how Australian households entry very important speech pathology companies, redesigning how allied well being companies are delivered throughout Australia within the course of.
What units Bec aside is her distinctive mixture of scientific experience and entrepreneurial imaginative and prescient. Yarn Speech is co-designed with clinicians, for clinicians and households so households have the instruments to be lively members of their youngster’s improvement.
Sumith Jitta, Lawpath – Finest Technical Chief
Sumith Jitta is the top of engineering at Lawpath and the visionary architect behind one in every of Australia’s most transformative legaltech platforms.
With 20 years of expertise spanning AI, knowledge structure, and enterprise platforms, Sumith has led Lawpath’s evolution from a promising startup right into a scalable, AI-driven authorized infrastructure engine powering greater than 500,000 Australian companies.
What units Sumith aside is his skill to bridge engineering with empathy. He leads a staff of over 30 engineers, product designers, and knowledge scientists with a relaxed readability, unblocking complexity whereas fostering a tradition of innovation and integrity.
Paz Pisarski – Future Chief
Supported by techvisa
Paz has turned an thought throughout Melbourne’s lockdowns right into a motion that’s reshaping Australia’s startup ecosystem and the world. What began as a 17-person meetup has developed into The Group Collective, now has a world viewers of greater than 16,000 and 700+ communities throughout 18 international locations.
Paz created Australia’s first dwell cohort coaching program for group builders, legitimising what was as soon as seen as “fluffy” work into recognised strategic experience.
_Southstart – Startup Occasion of The Yr
_Southstart is one in every of Australia’s longest-running and most cherished innovation festivals, born in 2013 to bridge the emotional, relational, and structural gaps within the startup journey. The three-day Adelaide gathering that delves into coronary heart and thoughts, in addition to loads of South Australia’s most interesting wines.
As Josh Garratt, CEO of Southern Angels mentioned: “_Southstart has constructed a cathedral to human connection. This isn’t a convention, it’s a pilgrimage for startups and buyers who’re obsessed with altering the world collectively.”
Euphemia– Startup Investor of the Yr
Supported by The Pillars
Euphemia is on a mission to Go Massive and Develop House, and its secret mission is to create extra “Euphemias” by backing folks they consider will reinvest their capital again into the ecosystem down the observe. Dom Pym and his staff below CEO Judy Anderson-Firth spend money on fintech, local weather tech, women-led ventures, and startup infrastructure, unlocking capital by a 245+ robust Euphemia Syndicate on Aussie Angels, and new fintech fund, Triple Bubble.
Within the 18 months main as much as nomination, Euphemia invested almost $2 million in 14 firms throughout 21 transactions, together with: main 2 x Euphemia Syndicate offers and backing 7 new startups.
As Heatseeker cofounder Kate O’Keefe mentioned: “Euphemia wasn’t simply our first cheque, they had been our first believer.”
Press Play Ventures – The GSD Award
Supported by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Press Play Ventures, launched in 2024 with assist from LaunchVic, has helped 120 girls to launch 104 startups, driving a 12% uplift within the variety of girls founders in Victoria in comparison with 2023. Press Play’s 12-week pre-accelerator helps girls transition from employment into entrepreneurship by fully-funded and partial scholarships, zero fairness, and hands-on, high-touch assist.
It’s alumni are 65% mid-career girls over 35, 62% multicultural, and 73% new to startups.
Thanks to our Startup Every day Finest in Tech Awards 2025 companions:
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