• Home
  • Anthill Magazine
    • Funding & Finance
    • Tech & Innovation
    • Marketing & Media
    • Growth & Export
    • Management Matters
    • Startup & Entrepreneurship
    • B2B Sales & Marketing
    • Anthill TV
    • Podcasts
  • WEBINARS
  • TOOLS WE LOVE
    • B2B School
    • B2B Dash
    • Anthill Team Buying Club
  • About Us
    • What is Anthill?
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • JOIN THE ARMY (FREE)
    • JOIN the Anthill Team Buying Club
  • SUBSCRIBE
Search
Monday, January 30, 2023
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact
ANTHILL MAGAZINE
ANTHILL MAGAZINE ANTHILL MAGAZINE
  • Home
  • Anthill Magazine
    • Funding & Finance
    • Tech & Innovation
    • Marketing & Media
    • Growth & Export
    • Management Matters
    • Startup & Entrepreneurship
    • B2B Sales & Marketing
    • Anthill TV
    • Podcasts
  • WEBINARS
  • TOOLS WE LOVE
    • B2B School
    • B2B Dash
    • Anthill Team Buying Club
  • About Us
    • What is Anthill?
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • JOIN THE ARMY (FREE)
    • JOIN the Anthill Team Buying Club
  • SUBSCRIBE
Home Articles 11 innovators scooped up $300k funding in under three minutes at this...
  • EMAIL SEGMENTATION
  • CAPITAL RAISED
  • Anthill Magazine
  • Funding & Finance
  • Startup & Entrepreneurship

11 innovators scooped up $300k funding in under three minutes at this pitch event

By
Anthill Magazine
-
Jul 26, 2016
1
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
WhatsApp

    Eleven emerging digital and social influencers stepped into the spotlight recently at the Optus Future Makers event to pitch their innovative ideas to a panel of experts.

    The innovators had just 180 seconds each to secure their share of the $300,000 funding pot and seven walked away with enough financial backing to bring their bold ideas to life. Prominent names across tech, innovation and social change including global social entrepreneur, Geoff Gourley, and Group Founder of Thankyou, Daniel Flynn joined forces to form the experienced judging panel.

    What’s the goal of such a program?

    The inaugural Optus Future Makers program, launched earlier this year, is designed to foster digital innovation that has the ability to change the social landscape. The program aims to bring to life bold ideas that have the ability to change the social landscape.

    It supports entrepreneurs, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations with innovative technological ideas that help address the challenges faced by vulnerable young Australians across employability, education, cyber education & safety and wellbeing.

    Paul O’Sullivan, Future Makers Judge and Optus Chairman, said, “This program is about helping Australia’s innovators to make a positive social impact through tech.

    “We know how important technology is in people’s daily lives, and with Future Makers we are specifically targeting projects that will benefit marginalised and vulnerable youth.”

    How did the competition pan out?

    After a tense pitching process in front of an audience at the Optus Campus in Sydney, just seven of the 11 finalists were crowned this year’s Future Makers, and awarded $50,000 grants.

    Optus Future Makers L-R From left to right - Geoff Gourley​­, Jan Owen​, Marina Paronetto, Marita Cheng, Rhianon Vichta, Brian Collyeri, Penny Harnett, Colin Jowell, Dr Rowan Tulloch, Daniel Flynn
    Optus Future Makers L-R From left to right – Geoff Gourley​­, Jan Owen​, Marina Paronetto, Marita Cheng, Rhianon Vichta, Brian Collyeri, Penny Harnett, Colin Jowell, Dr Rowan Tulloch, Daniel Flynn

    The winners included;

    Colin Jowell, Parramatta, Sydney: ‘Guide Dots’ enables young people with vision impairment to independently discover the world around them and to engage with their social environment just like their sighted friends and peers.

    Penny Harnett, Newcastle, NSW: ‘iWareness’ app will provide information to young people of both genders to help them recognise, respond to and change attitudes towards domestic violence.

    Marita Cheng, Richmond, Melbourne: ‘Teleport’ an affordable and beautiful telepresence robot which allows young people with a spinal cord injury or debilitating disease to attend school or participate in the workforce by working remotely.

    Marina Paronetto, Middle Park, Melbourne: ‘Biz’ is a peer-to-peer mobile app designed to give teenage girls of all backgrounds an equal opportunity to learn about business and
    enhance their confidence, skill set and employability.

    Dr Rowan Tulloch, Rozelle, Sydney: ‘The Game Change’ software helps university and school teachers gamify their classrooms to better engage and motivate students. It also assists students who are marginalised by traditional teaching practices.

    Following a unanimous decision by the judging panel, two finalists who pitched separately were offered $50,000 funding to share if they agreed to collaborate and bring their ideas to life as a single innovation:

    Brian Collyer, Milton, Brisbane: `The Wellbeing Coach’ app/web portal gives young people’s access to information and resources and uses technology to enhance communication in the counsellor/client relationship.

    Rhianon Vichta, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane: ‘New Futures for Young People’ is an accessible and integrated online platform that promotes and measures beneficial wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable young people.

    • TAGS
    • Biz
    • Brian Collyer
    • brisbane
    • Colin Jowell
    • cyber education & safety
    • Daniel Flynn
    • digital influencers
    • digital innovation
    • Dr Rowan Tulloch
    • education
    • employability
    • entrepreneurs
    • Fortitude Valley
    • Geoff Gourley
    • Global Social Entrepreneur
    • Guide Dots
    • innovative ideas
    • innovative technological ideas
    • iWareness
    • Marina Paronetto
    • marita cheng
    • Melbourne
    • Middle Park
    • Milton
    • New Futures for Young People
    • newcastle
    • not-for-profit organisations
    • NSW
    • Optus Campus
    • Optus Future Makers
    • Parramatta
    • Paul O’Sullivan
    • Penny Harnett
    • Rhianon Vichta
    • richmond
    • Rozelle
    • social enterprises
    • social influencers
    • sydney
    • Teleport
    • Thankyou
    • The Game Change
    • The Wellbeing Coach
    • wellbeing
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Google+
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
      Previous articleThese five social start-ups were funded at Chivas Regal’s ‘The Venture’ final in New York
      Next articleAustralia’s first home loan marketplace has hit the $1 billion mark in under a year
      Anthill Magazine

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Queensland doubles down on Net-Zero with Low Carbon Accelerator

      TikTok for business : creating a profile and important tips for entrepreneurs

      Join the Anthill Team Buying Club

      Subscribe to the Newsletter Over 30K subscribers

      FREE BUSINESS TOOLS

      Five essential ingredients for a humming homepage with James Tuckerman [FREE...

      Anthill Magazine - Jul 6, 2015
      0
      Most homepages dedicate too much of their valuable space to predictable and generally unhelpful information, such as the purpose of the business, their products and services, their achievements and needy invitations to ‘buy, buy, buy’ or ‘contact us for a free consultation on no obligation quote’. Effective homepages focus on the needs and wants of the customer.

      The Gaddie Pitch in three simple sentences with Antony Gaddie and...

      Jul 6, 2015

      Need more leads? Here are five strategies [FREE DOWNLOAD]

      Apr 30, 2016

      Five ways to manage your time by managing yourself, with Helen...

      Nov 6, 2015

      How to expand into New Markets with Elsita Meyer-Brandt [CHEAT SHEET]

      Jul 6, 2015

      How Master the Art of Sales Even if it Makes You...

      Jul 6, 2015

      POPULAR VIDEO

      Get your ad banned if you want it to pop (like a polar bear’s noggin)

      James Tuckerman - Jun 2, 2010
      0

      An inappropriate Christmas ad: 2012 Galaxy ad will make you cringe! [VIDEO]

      Jen Storey - Dec 19, 2013
      0

      Primary school advertising prodigy wins Labor's endorsement [VIDEO]

      Caimes - Aug 20, 2010
      0

      This is how mobile will change the future of retail, in 3 min, 4 sec [VIDEO]

      Natalie Chandler - Jan 26, 2011
      3

      The toughest assignment ever: teaching a dog to drive a car [VIDEO]

      Jen Storey - Feb 14, 2013
      3

      FREE BUSINESS TOOL

      How to give good headlines, and create emails that get opened...

      James Tuckerman - Jul 27, 2013
      0
      If you have a beautifully crafted email with a thoughtless headline, no one will open it. It’s as simple as that. There are three main...

      Seven essential steps to a successful podcast with Loren Bartley [Cheat...

      Sep 8, 2016

      5 Ways to get more out of your coffee shop meetings...

      Jul 6, 2015

      How to confidently raise venture capital… with Jack Delosa [CHEAT SHEET]

      Apr 19, 2016

      How Master the Art of Sales Even if it Makes You...

      Jul 6, 2015

      INFOGRAPHICS

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

      Anthill Magazine - Jul 31, 2014
      0
      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...

      Ever wonder if your ‘content marketing’ is really just crap? You...

      Aug 11, 2014

      7 Business Lessons From Game of Thrones [INFOGRAPHIC]

      Oct 7, 2014

      How to build your own Media Empire… In seven steps with...

      Oct 16, 2014

      5 Business Lessons From Tinder [INFOGRAPHIC]

      Oct 31, 2014

      OPINIONS & ADVICE

      Queensland doubles down on Net-Zero with Low Carbon Accelerator

      Anthill Magazine - Aug 23, 2022

      TikTok for business : creating a profile and important tips for entrepreneurs

      Gerald Ainomugisha - Aug 17, 2022

      Join the Anthill Team Buying Club

      Mark McCormack - Apr 20, 2022

      Banking is set to grow up as the coming changes will upend the industry

      Alex Trott - Mar 22, 2022

      The key benefits of building social cohesion within teams after extended periods apart

      HUSS MUSTAFA OAM - Mar 22, 2022
      ANTHILL MAGAZINE

      EVEN MORE NEWS

      Queensland doubles down on Net-Zero with Low Carbon Accelerator

      Aug 23, 2022

      TikTok for business : creating a profile and important tips for...

      Aug 17, 2022

      Join the Anthill Team Buying Club

      Apr 20, 2022

      POPULAR CATEGORY

      • Articles5190
      • Startup & Entrepreneurship3888
      • Tech & Innovation2975
      • Marketing & Media2201
      • Management Matters1794
      • ANTHILL TV1584
      • Funding & Finance1364
      • Subscribe
      • Advertise
      • Contact
      © Ant Hill Enterprises Pty Ltd