Australia’s top women in tech have pitched their big ideas in Brisbane today for a share in more than $100,000 in business support services, and the potential for further venture capital investment to grow their global businesses.
Annie Slattery, co-founder and CEO of ConX, has taken out the top prize for the development of a digital platform using technology to change how construction contractors find and win work.
“This prize represents a fantastic opportunity for ConX to expand into global markets, with the United States top of our list in terms of the size of the market and the potential for digitisation in the construction sector,” Ms Slattery said.
CEO Dr Stephanie Fahey said Austrade are committed to driving higher representation of women in international business.
“Elevating women entrepreneurs and innovators is critical to Australia’s ability to compete in international markets, creating new opportunities for industries, and supporting high standards of living,” said Dr Fahey.
“One of the ways Austrade is supporting our women-led startups to go global is through the Australian Landing Pads program.
“Landing Pads help market-ready startups and scaleups reach global markets with access to some of the world’s leading business and innovation hubs in Berlin, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore and Tel Aviv.
“Through the Landing Pads program and Austrade’s global network supports Australian businesses like ConX to reach new markets, making introductions to investors and customers.”
ConX is looking at the Australian Landing Pad in San Francisco to expand its business in the United States.
More than 100 women-led tech startups applied to compete for a pool of prizes including business services from IBM and Alibaba Cloud and mentoring from Main Sequence Ventures, manager of the CSIRO Innovation Fund.
Eleven finalists were involved in the pitch competition hosted by Austrade, AusIndustry and CSIRO in the wake of the largest women technologists’ conference the Grace Hopper Celebration, Hopper Down Under held in Australia for the first time earlier this week.
