Smart 100 2011

Home Smart 100 2011 Page 3

Aviator (SMART 100)

Aviator is a venture spun out of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. Leveraging UTS’ proprietary software around thought classification for controlling electronic devices, the venture is developing a wheelchair control solution to respond to the needs of the severely disabled and paralysed.

Mouse Eye Tracking version 4 (SMART 100)

Mouse Eye Tracking enables online marketers, webmasters, web designers and developers to analyse and generate actionable insights that drive online marketing strategy. This is achieved via three key features: Heat Maps, Mouse Tracking and Page Navigation. These features give Mouse Eye Tracking the unique ability to record and display user interaction on each web page.

mylocalsalon (SMART 100)

Shortcuts realised that whilst the Internet offers significant revenue opportunities, less than one fifth of Australian salons have an online presence -- and are missing out on potential business. Already enabling salons to take bookings online, Shortcuts wanted to drive more business to salons at minimal risk and cost to them, and enable potential clients to find Shortcuts salons anywhere, anytime.

DeepCloud MPP database (SMART 100)

After working with companies that needed to store massive and growing data collections on computers that could no longer match their growth in I/O capacity each year, we realised that eventually all these companies must resort to parallel processing of their large data collections. They simply have no other direction to go in. Our approach was to bring together the best available technologies to make the world's fastest MPP system that permits simple expansion beyond the size of the largest systems in operation in the world today.

Freelancer.com (SMART 100)

We realised that although there are 6.8 billion people of the earth, only 2 billion have the Internet. However, they are now getting online at record rates. While people join up, looking to improve their socio-economic situation, the Internet began delivering a tectonic shift to the global labourforce. Freelancer.com was created to facilitate this shift -- by connecting businesses of all sizes to the world's largest liquid workforce -- over 2.3 million professionals.

Smart-Trace Monitoring System (SMART 100)

Inventor Don Richardson was approached by AFGC with a problem that its food industry members were confronting; it had to do with improving and monitoring the refrigerated distribution of perishables -- foods and pharma products -- during distribution. The industry wanted a more responsive way to ensure their product food safety. Richardson was then granted patents in numerous OECD countries for its unique business process.

eFarmersMarket.com.au (SMART 100)

Carla Penn, the founder, was visiting her monthly local farmers' market early on a Winter's morning in the pouring rain. She thought to herself, there must be a better way to access the same food products without having to physically be at the market and without having to wait another 30 days before she could repurchase. So she went home and started with a simple Google search and nothing appeared.

Infomaxim (SMART 100)

This innovation came to life after spending ten years in the Internet business and finding it was still way too difficult for the average business to run an online store. Worse still, marketing online was getting more complex, and you needed a swag of different tools to make it happen.

321 Water (SMART 100)

It came to life after reading Anita Roddick's book of collected essays, Troubled Water, which amongst other things predicted wars on water in the 21st century. It was not long after, when I was tackling more water-related dilemmas, I determined that the conundrum of bottled water could use a marketer's approach. The notion that in a country where there is perfectly safe tap water available it is ridiculous that we are quenching our thirst with bottled water. My solution: 321 Water.

O3Office (SMART 100)

Vickie Johnson (founder & director) was working in her car between coffee shop meetings in the North Queensland heat in December 2009. Sweating and watching the battery power of the laptop depleting, she reflected on the fact that using her iPhone right now she could book a hotel room or a flight to England, but here she was working in the car and having meetings in coffee shops with no other options. Being a woman of action rather than negativity, she set about creating a network providing businesses with access to work or meeting space Australia-wide.

Sunraysia Beetroot & Apple juice (SMART 100)

The Sunraysia team became aware of research studies on the benefits of beetroot juice in relation to lowering blood pressure, and this, paired with the knowledge that heart health is a major concern for Australians, resulted in an opportunity to create a juice that combined the health of beetroots with the sweet taste of apples. With no beetroot juice readily available in Australian supermarkets, Sunraysia Beetroot & Apple juice was born.

OrionVM Cloud Computing Platform (SMART 100)

Some members of this team were trying to build an Artificial Intelligence 'Learning' search engine that required plenty of computing power. After seeing what was out in the market, the idea to build a High Performance Cloud computing company was born.

Virtual DBA (SMART 100)

Despite the lack of data management, businesses have come to depend on data for core operations and the cost of this data not being accessible in a timely fashion can be staggering. Virtual DBA came to life to meet the day-to-day challenges of availability, performance and administration of an organisation's critical Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Mozo Rewards Revealer (SMART 100)

We conducted some analysis of the rewards credit card market for our website and discovered that the vast majority of rewards credit cards fail to deliver real value for Australian consumers. We were gobsmacked to learn that some cards even put consumers in the red, charging more in fees than they deliver value in a year. It was time someone made it easy for the average person to compare rewards cards and rewards types, and to expose the sneaky marketing tactics banks and financial institutions have long used to promote ‘rewards’ cards.

Soldonline.com.au (SMART 100)

David Scholes, a noted Real Estate auctioneer, and myself [Brian Edmonds] decided it was time to take one of the world's oldest professions and introduce it to the digital age. We wanted to use the opportunity to create a better way of buying and selling property, one that is transparent and less stressful than the normal auction process.

Shop, Stock and Bill (SMART 100)

Shop, Stock and Bill is an integrated online 'in the cloud' system that manages and tracks products and payment, from retail or wholesale client orders via a shopping cart (or e-catalogue) through a stock inventory control system, tracing components, enabling warehouse management and location, freight, and finally interfaces with the client's existing accounts system to deliver customised reporting.

Nanotek Car Cleaning Service (SMART 100)

After six years of success as Ecowash Mobile, we conducted market research into the consumer perception of the brand. We found that consumers were more interested in our technology. As a result of this research, we re-positioned our service and re-branded based on the unique and exclusive liquid nanotechology via which we provide our service. Whilst still having the same environmental credentials, the new Nanotek brand better conveys not only the technology but the unmatched quality of the service.

Rock Anthem (SMART 100)

I saw an opportunity to meld my passions of music and business. I knew that music created a connection between people, and could therefore be a foundation for an innovation in team building that would bring the energy back into companies and teams. Our approach is to understand the culture and drivers of a business and its people and then work out how that culture translates into a musical composition. The composition allows people to connect their energy with their company through music. It provides a physiological and psychological link and it’s fun.

ThisRing.com (SMART 100)

"There was a point where I was looking to buy an engagement ring, and even though I felt confident, I could never have been sure about my decision. I would have preferred to know that she was 100% happy. I was caught between asking my partner at the time what she wanted, and wanting to surprise her. For a man to try and choose what a girl wants, it is rarely a good idea.”

Ultra efficient marine hull (SMART 100)

I stumbled upon some published research work being undertaken by an overseas research establishment. Their research was not related directly to my invention but had direct application to what I saw as being directly applicable to my area of interest.
Subscribe to the Newsletter Over 30K subscribers

FREE BUSINESS TOOLS

FREE BUSINESS TOOL

Generating Web Traffic with Mark Middo and James Tuckerman [FREE REPORT]

Not all websites are created equal. That’s the first – and perhaps harshest – lesson when venturing into the ever evolving world of online marketing. Websites don’t draw visitors just by existing; they require love, attention and an understanding of how search engines think. In this Cheat Sheet, Anthill Magazine’s James Tuckerman and guest Mark “Middo” Middleton share their combined wisdom on generating web traffic for new and old websites.

INFOGRAPHICS

New Zealand’s Xero eyes US IPO, further disruption as subscribers increase...

Xero recently held its annual meeting in Wellington, during which the company revealed some interesting details about its future. As has been widely suspected, the...

OPINIONS & ADVICE