What makes a ‘cool’ company?
According to Anthill founder and Cool Company MC James Tuckerman (aka ‘MC Cheetah Shark’) at the Under The Sea themed ceremony at Inspire9 on Thursday night, “cool” companies are “remarkable” companies.
“They can be amazing, innovative, one-of-a-kind,” said Tuckerman. “They can be all those things. But what sets cool companies apart is that they are, by their very nature, worthy of being ‘remarked’ about.”
This year’s top honour was awarded to Dyesol Limited, an Australian-Swisse research consortium that has created a new kind of low-cost solar tech, known as Dye Solar Cells, which can be “painted” onto glass, metal, or plastic surfaces to generate energy much like the light-absorbing chloroplasts of a plant.
In other words, it has harnessed the powers of photosynthesis to create a “paint on” a source of power.
“Imagine a world where paint powers houses, cars and factories. Now that’s cool,” said Tuckerman.
Other category winners included a beer that tastes like Chamomile Tea, a social media tool that happens in real time, on location, using augmented reality, an Australian disruptor that has saved Australians hundreds of millions of dollars in international transfer fees, an address system that will reinvent how posties find letterboxes, a micro-loan business that rejects 80% of applications and an invisible spray that stops crooks in their tracks.
AND THE WINNERS ARE
By rank and alphabetical order.
| ORGANISATION NAME | RANK | CATEGORY(IES) |
| Dyesol Limited | WINNER | COOLEST COMPANY |
| Geepers | WINNER | X-FACTOR AWARD |
| Nubis | WINNER | ONLINE BUSINESS AWARD |
| Nimble | WINNER | BIG KAHUNA AWARD |
| OzForez | WINNER | GLOBAL GROWTH AWARD |
| Who Gives A Crap | WINNER | SOCIAL CAPITALIST AWARD |
| Kwencher | WINNER (TIE) | MICRO BUSINESS AWARD |
| DNA SECURITY SOLUTIONS | WINNER (TIE) | MICRO BUSINESS AWARD |
| 3 Wks | FINALIST | MICRO BUSINESS |
| Anecsys | FINALIST | GLOBAL GROWTH |
| Bendelta | FINALIST | BIG KAHUNA |
| Bent Over Silicone Nozzle | FINALIST | MICRO BUSINESS, INNOVATION |
| Bound Round | FINALIST | ONLINE BUSINESS |
| CloudHerd | FINALIST | INNOVATION |
| Envie Fitness | FINALIST | BIG KAHUNA |
| Fifty Acres | FINALIST | SOCIAL CAPITALIST |
| Giggedin | FINALIST | ONLINE BUSINESS |
| Magicdust | FINALIST | BIG KAHUNA |
| Mummu | FINALIST | GLOBAL GROWTH |
| MVP Genius | FINALIST | ONLINE BUSINESS |
| Ollo Mobile | FINALIST | SOCIAL CAPITALIST |
| Our Community | FINALIST | SOCIAL CAPITALIST |
| Project Tripod | FINALIST | X-FACTOR |
| Pure Poppet | FINALIST | MICRO BUSINESS |
| Quick Boats | FINALIST | INNOVATION |
| School 24 | FINALIST | ONLINE BUSINESS |
| Thank You | FINALIST | SOCIAL CAPITALIST |
| Virtual Coworker | FINALIST | GLOBAL GROWTH |
| Allripe | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Bannershop | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Connect2Field | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Ettitude | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| finder.com.au | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Health.com.au | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Body Beyond Baby | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Jumbo Vision | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Lighting Matters | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Macro traffic Control | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Moneysoft | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Mozo | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| On Tap Recruitment | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Planex | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Run 4 | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Tomcar | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Wish Registry | HIGHLY COMMENDED | |
| Alive Mobile | TOP 100 | |
| Apple Isle Sports Car | TOP 100 | |
| Astaricks | TOP 100 | |
| Aust Payroll | TOP 100 | |
| Beat the Q | TOP 100 | |
| Bebenook | TOP 100 | |
| Blink Mobile | TOP 100 | |
| Bluechilli | TOP 100 | |
| Boxer and Co | TOP 100 | |
| Bright Conferences | TOP 100 | |
| Cat Napping | TOP 100 | |
| CQ Nurse | TOP 100 | |
| Creativa | TOP 100 | |
| Ecetera | TOP 100 | |
| Edge | TOP 100 | |
| Empyrean Lighting | TOP 100 | |
| Five Am | TOP 100 | |
| Foresight Consulting | TOP 100 | |
| Gold Company | TOP 100 | |
| Info Ready | TOP 100 | |
| Ingogo | TOP 100 | |
| Institchu | TOP 100 | |
| Investorist | TOP 100 | |
| Lendly | TOP 100 | |
| Livingstyles | TOP 100 | |
| Ludwina | TOP 100 | |
| Mates Rates | TOP 100 | |
| Media Heroes | TOP 100 | |
| My Guitar School | TOP 100 | |
| My Tool Kit | TOP 100 | |
| Naked Wines Australia | TOP 100 | |
| Net Engine | TOP 100 | |
| Notemaker | TOP 100 | |
| Occasional Butler | TOP 100 | |
| One Flare | TOP 100 | |
| Open Shed | TOP 100 | |
| Pax Leader Labs | TOP 100 | |
| Portable Studios | TOP 100 | |
| Provisio | TOP 100 | |
| PT Essentials | TOP 100 | |
| Retail Care | TOP 100 | |
| Search Factory | TOP 100 | |
| Selz | TOP 100 | |
| Simply Raw | TOP 100 | |
| The Entrepreneur’s Tribe | TOP 100 | |
| Smart Forums | TOP 100 | |
| Snepo | TOP 100 | |
| Social Property Selling | TOP 100 | |
| Socially Sorted | TOP 100 | |
| Step Change Marketing | TOP 100 | |
| Suntrix | TOP 100 | |
| SWG Studio | TOP 100 | |
| The Entourage | TOP 100 | |
| Trade Risk | TOP 100 | |
| Trade Review | TOP 100 | |
| Urban Society | TOP 100 | |
| Veilability | TOP 100 | |
| Venue Mob | TOP 100 | |
| Vinomofo | TOP 100 | |
| WardyIT | TOP 100 | |
| Xixilu | TOP 100 | |
