CeBIT Australia PitchFest 2018 finalists revealed

THE top 10 tech start-ups at CeBIT 2018 will go head-to-head for the coveted title of PitchFest winner at ICC Sydney on May 17.

CeBIT Australia’s PitchFest is a 'Shark Tank' style competition giving ten of the nation's most promising start-ups the opportunity to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to an esteemed panel of judges, before an audience of fellow start-ups, investors and potential customers.

The ultimate winner of CeBIT PitchFest 2018 will not only get extraordinary exposure but will receive a prize package valued at over $20,000; comprising a fully-paid exhibition stand at CeBIT Australia 2019, three Square Contactless and Chip Readers from Vodafone, a Norton Small Business 10, which protects 10 devices for 12 months, a $10,000 USD Alibaba Cloud credit valid for one year, three months free co-working space at Tank Stream Labs in Sydney, a one-year membership to TIE Sydney, and ongoing support and mentorship. 

The 10 finalists battling it out to win PitchFest are:

• AdvancedCateringSolutions – provide specialist cloud and Blockchain technology software that liberates chefs, giving them unrivalled food traceability, cost-savings and operational efficiencies.
• BenchOn – focused on solving the problem of employee under-utilisation, providing an online B2B platform solution for companies to manage the peaks and troughs of their business cycle by matching staff with current short-term contracts.
• Diffuse Energy – offers a small wind turbine that's twice as efficient while being quieter and safer than other products currently on the market.
• HeadsafeIP – offers the Concussionometer, a portable headset using clinically validated, patented technology to measure the brain’s electrical activity when concussed and send results to a smartphone.
• Inspace XR – builds augmented and VR software for the real estate sector, allowing designers to visualise their VR CAD files within seconds, communicate with stakeholders easily with scale-accurate, on-demand walkthroughs, reviews and sync automatically allowing users to virtually step inside a design.
• KnowHowHere – is an IoT app platform that improves safety and performance for workers who perform complex tasks in the real world of mining, construction, infrastructure, transport, and defence. 
• Littlescribe – is helping combat illiteracy, enabling children to create original books from their hand drawn and written pages – encouraging kids to read and providing positive curriculum outcomes and tools for schools.
• Oppizi – is technology powering offline marketing acquisition initiatives that allow clients to seamlessly track and optimise their campaign performance.
• Sourcr – a recruitment platform allowing businesses to find and compare recruiters and manage their existing relationships more effectively.
• Ping Data – technology that brings paper receipts into the modern age by digitally capturing payment data to create PINGreceipts, which are then matched to the transactions in a user's banking app.

Each finalist will have four minutes to pitch their tech-related start-up idea, followed by a four minute Q&A session with this year's four revered judges; Adam Cook, Investment Associate AirTree Ventures, Bradley Delamare, Chief Executive Officer, Tank Stream Labs, Kara Frederick, General Partner, Reinventure and Noga Edelstein, Co-Founder, UrbanYou.

Previous winners of CeBIT PitchFest have gone on to become multi-million-dollar, multinational companies. The 2017 winner Look Who's Charging, helps Australians easily identify merchant charges to our credit cards. Since showcasing at CeBIT Australia last year, the business has had enormous success and were recently crowned the winner of Money Magazine’s 2018 – Most Innovative Banking Feature Award.

Harvey Stockbridge, Managing Director of Hannover Fairs – organiser of CeBIT Australia – said the annual PitchFest competition is a hugely popular segment on the CeBIT Australia program.

“CeBIT PitchFest has a proud history of unearthing and supporting Australia’s leading technology start-ups and this year is sure to be no exception. It is an absolute privilege to be in a position to help launch the next generation of tech-industry game-changers," said Mr Stockbridge.

According to a report released by KPMG in mid-2017[i], investment in Australian start-ups is growing significantly, with a noticeable maturation of our start-up ecosystem.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business, Hon. John Barilaro said nine out of the ten finalists were NSW based start-ups, including six companies that have been supported by the NSW Government-backed Jobs for NSW.

“Start-ups and small businesses are the big job generators of our economy and events like PitchFest help unearth and launch the best new companies of the future. 

“Congratulations and best of luck to all the finalists, your breakthrough technologies demonstrate the breadth and excellence of the start-up community in this country.

“The NSW Government's support for CeBIT Australia and for our start-up industry will continue to grow our state's global reputation as a technology industry leader,” said Mr Barilaro. 

PitchFest is one of Australia’s premier start-up launch platforms, showcasing innovative talent and pitch presentations held on the FutureTech Stage from 2pm - 4.15pm on Thursday 17 May, wrapping up the three-day CeBIT Australia 2018 event at ICC Sydney.

www.cebit.com.au

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