Startup & Entrepreneurship

The Bamboo Bubby Bag has become a practical and popular choice among parents worldwide, minimising damage caused by scratching from eczema, dermatitis and even chicken pox as well as stopping thumb sucking and even helping babies who would wake from cold hands. Eczema is a particularly unpleasant condition that is quite common in infants, and can continue into adulthood. The condition, also called atopic dermatitis, can cause painful blisters, dry sky, redness, inflammation, and leather-like patches on the skin. Especially with the case of young children, eczema can be very frustrating for baby and mother alike.

Seven years is a long time for an online business. It's also been the majority of Joshua Kamil's adult life. He has been doing his thing as "the Robin Hood of printing" for precisely that long -- even as the Internet has evolved and forced the extinction of many entrepreneurs who couldn't keep up.

It was a golden moment when all of the bars lit up in Cameron Tanner's head: how can mobile phone users on the go stay connected when their batteries die? Thus, Chargebar was born. The company is responsible for over a hundred mobile charging stations popping up throughout the Sydney area (and soon to expand to Melbourne).

Melinda Weaver saw the strength of the keepsake industry in Australia and decided to introduce a forward-thinking concept into the market: a printing kit free of harmful chemicals. Baby Ink makes use of ink-free technology that's safe for infants' hands and feet. Congratulations, Melinda: it's an enterprise!

Cara-Ann Simpson is interested in how sounds are made, distorted, and perceived by the human ear and in society. As a sound installation artist, her works frequently rely on the participation of visitors, who willingly submit their aural nerves to be tickled and strangely enlightened.

Two guys, one business, zero bricks and not a trace of mortar. Elliot Ramler and Jonathon Green are in their fourth year turning ELJO.com.au into a superstar online retailer, selling electronics and appliances from the best-known brands on the market.

The Melbourne group was selected from a field of more than 40 applicant organisations. Among other things, the test included six months in an intensive business planning incubator program. The funding, and much more, will help CoDesign Studio attain business and other skills, and grow into a commercially viable social enterprise.

Linda Vydra's social enterprise, Lydra, is a mashup of sorts, kind of like the name itself. It marries the coolness of vintage design to a belief in rewarding the labour of the person behind it, creating a special link between the artist and the customer.

Brad Smith has revved up his big idea for small bikes and made braaap into not only Australia's biggest authority on off-road bikes and motocross accessories, but the world's largest online mini bike store. (Not to mention, the funnest brand to say out loud.)

Jack Delosa sums up his purpose in seven stately words: "Inspire freedom, enable greatness, change the world." In less decorative terms, he's on a mission to shake up the education system as we know it.

Ernst & Young has announced the launch of its Global Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a new online platform that is designed to provide guidance to entrepreneurs and innovators on their ascent toward business growth, and of course, eventual success. The concept hinges on enabling fast-growing companies to connect to each other and share ideas proactively.

Professional investors eye businesses with the potential to rapidly grow. Christopher Golis, author of ‘Enterprise & Venture Capital,’ thinks if the potential market of your business is lower than $100 million, venture capitalists would simply pass the investment opportunity. So make sure you can demonstrate a large enough market that can deliver the expected ROI.

For an extremely reasonable fee, providers of goods and services can reap the many benefits of this brand new Australian wide service. By creating a profile that can be updated as required, service providers become discoverable to a wide network of independent and state schools.

The motivation behind Australian daily deal website Sports Grab is so simple, even obvious: "Australians love all things sport, right?" That bit of common knowledge was just inspirational enough to prompt two Melbourne entrepreneurs to start the discount sporting goods site in August 2011.

The year-old U.S. startup, has focused on providing an intelligent dashboard service for small businesses that don’t have the financial resources for expensive software, or the time to analyse online marketing campaigns. Its advisor, especially for the Australian market, is our own James Tuckerman, Anthill’s publisher.

The Melbourne firm will join 100 other startups from 36 countries and receive $40,000 in equity-free seed capital. Truong tells us Broccol-e-games was picked for the Start-Up Chile program from an application pool of 1,509 startups, and is the only Australian one selected.

When researching to start up Bubbler Deals I saw a clear need for a customer service focused deal site. Pretty much everyone I spoke to told me of a bad experience they had purchasing from a deal site. The industry was fast losing the trust and respect of their members – their reason for being.

Retailers now have a much lower cost way to engage with and acquire the customers they want. At the same time, customers love receiving sponsored and group gift cards from their friends to spend on items they actually want. Put the two together and you get some thing interesting.

The retail sector's sales expectations index is 12 points above the national average. This result comes off the back of a June quarter that was stronger than expected. Basically, if the rest of the country is smiling, the retailers are smiling 12 inches wider!

Stackla is at the forefront of an emerging trend, where brands and organisations are providing curated social media content to their fans, providing a more relevant & tailored social experience.