Thanks to its policies on encouraging entrepreneurship and innovative office solutions, like the serviced offices provided by Regus, Australia has emerged over the past few years as one of the best places in the world to open a startup. Today, we’re listing 7 great startups from Down Under which made waves last year. Some of them are already en route to success, with plenty of capital, angel investors, or marketing hype behind their wings.
Others managed to score points at CeBIT and other startup events in 2018, be they for tech companies or just emerging enterprises in general. By and large, they all paint the same picture: Australia in 2015 will be brimming with innovation and ready to provide solutions for any and all issues imaginable.
1. Flirtey
Australia is one of several countries at global level, which have lifted regulations that prohibit individuals and enterprises from flying drones, also known as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Flirtey is one business taking advantage of this new legal framework.
By partnering up with textbook publisher Zookal, the company plans to deliver packages via drone. It took the Australian market by storm last year and plans to expand to the United States in 2015. It was started by tech university students and has great potential for commercial deliveries, which are especially sensitive in a country that has remote expanses of land such as the Outback.
2. Workible
Fiona Andon and Alli Baker decided to make finding jobs in the services industry easier to come by. The two entrepreneurs were working part-time jobs when it dawned upon them: if matchmaking sites can apply this principle to getting people to form relationships, why wouldn’t it work for recruitment, too? They came up with an app that makes real-time recruitment more accessible and launched it in October 2013. By 2014, they were already boasting 60 employers and over 12,000 users.
3. Yatango
This is one of those great startups from Australia that doesn’t base its appeal on a swanky, trendy new app for hipsters and yuppies. Instead, Andy Taylor’s enterprise, Yatango Mobile, has a lofty goal. It plans to reestablish balance on the state-run telecommunications sector Down Under. Andy Taylor decided it was time someone did something positive for the consumer, by allowing them to benefit from truly customized pricing plans. Helping educate the consumer on their telco possibilities is also part of Taylor’s plan.
4. Delivery Hero
Ever dreamed of having your favorite food right at your fingertips – even when the weather outside is horrible and the food hole of your choice doesn’t offer delivery services? Well, if you live in Australia, you can now enjoy any meal you’ve ever pined for, thanks to Delivery Hero.
The basic concept, which has been making waves in New York for quite some time now, has now been implemented in Australia. the concept is simple: if one of the other users has the time to run the errand for you, they will bring the food, drink, or other item you crave for right to your door, as soon as they can. Such bliss!
5. 99Designs
The stats behind 99Designs are impressive. They have organized some 260,000 design contests to date and paid out over $64 million in prizes to their users. They opened in Melbourne, in 2008, born out of the founders’ passion for graphic design.
Since, they’ve expanded to offices in Berlin, San Francisco, and Paris, thanks to the platform’s appeal for rendering the graphic design market accessible to users from all over the world. Its enormous potential for connecting providers and buyers has completely revolutionized the process of design and there’s reason to believe that 99Designs, which now employs 75 people, will continue to do so this year.
6. Kinderloop
Dan Day and Dan Walker have a couple of things in common: they’re parents of preschoolers and they have busy professional lives. Tired of feeling like they were missing out on all the best moments in their kids’ childhood, they decided to invent an app for that. Kinderloop keeps track of a kid’s development, helps parents engage with the kids’ schools and preschools and also connects busy parents with service providers that aim to make their lives easier.
7. Lime&Tonic
Want to know where it’s at, in terms of bars, pubs, parties, and other fun activities in your city? Lime&Tonic is here to help you out. According to its team, there’s no reason to waste your time doing something boring or mediocre.
Instead, the app delivers handpicked, user-curated search results for venues and events, in the world’s coolest cities. Forget worrying about a venue for your upcoming snazzy events – Lime&Tonic promises to take care of the ‘dirty work’ for you.
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