Welcome to our new starters in the Activate pre-accelerator program!
This is our largest and most diverse cohort to date, with female founders investing in themselves and their business, UOW researchers looking to create impact beyond academia, and social enterprises working for the benefit of people and planet.
We have maths teachers, medtech professionals, storytellers, and physios looking to create a side hustle that changes lives.
So far, our Activate participants have engaged with modules on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Lean Methodology, focusing on how they can develop their startup’s unique offering by being curious about their customers’ needs.
We're so proud to support these inspiring humans from all walks of life across the Illawarra. Over the Activate program's 10 weeks they'll test their startup idea, hone their target customer, and learn the ins-and-outs of the entrepreneurial mindset.
See below to learn more about the founder(s) and their big idea. We can't wait to bring you along on their journey!
Afzaal Ahmed
Next Life of EV Battery
Australia’s electric vehicle (EV) revolution accelerates. With 130,000 EV’s on the road today, and projections surging towards 180,000by year’s end, a hidden environmental threat emerges: spent batteries. Traditionally discarded, these lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride (NIMH) power packs pose a waste and resource depletion crisis. I aim to reduce waste and conserve resources by reliving batteries for vehicle reuse.
Amelia Harrison
Resistive Cycling
My PhD is focussed on exploring the role of resistive cycling in exercise prescription, to improve health and fitness outcomes for older adults. Health and fitness of an individual relies heavily on muscle strength and tone, and resistive cycling helps to maintain this muscle health. With the completion of both my PhD and accreditation as an exercise physiologist, I would like to integrate the resistive bike prototype into the rehabilitation space, whilst integrating business skills, to allow business delivery of a novel exercise prescription not yet available within the exercise physiology market.
Arafat Safdar
Xstream Sports
Xstream Sports introduces a groundbreaking plug-and-play AI device designed to revolutionise sports streaming. Our technology automates the recording and live streaming of sports matches, eliminating the need for complex camera setups and extensive post-production work. With a focus on enhancing the viewing experience, our device intelligently follows the ball, generates auto-replays and more.
Asmaa Seyam
For food retailers who are seeking a sustainable market balance, our developed demand forecasting framework ensures achieving an accurate future demand of your products that would be aligned with supply. Unlike other models implemented in the food market, our model inspired by the advances of artificial intelligence, aims to build a sustainable proactive system while reducing food waste and increasing customer satisfaction.
Cayley Robertson
Open When Gifts
For people looking to conveniently purchase a unique and thoughtful gift for any occasion, Open When Gifts allows you to select and send a collection of individually wrapped gifts ahead of time, so that at the exact moment they’re needed, you’re ready to surprise someone you love. Whether it be a gift for a loved one separated by distance, a friend needing a pick me up, or a new mum finding their feet, Open When Gifts creates lasting emotive and powerful connections by delivering gifts designed to last.
Emma Williamson
YesYum
At YesYum, our mission is to help consumers live healthier and more sustainable lives by providing them with nutritious, preservative-free, and sustainable Korean condiments. We strive to combine taste, health, and environmental consciousness to redefine the condiment landscape and be the secret weapon in your pantry.
Jacqueline Thim
Bamboo For You
For homeowners, businesses, and industry with a consciousness for sustainability who are planning to build or renovate a building, BamBoo4You offers affordable, eco-friendly, and durable insulation products that are made from renewable resources. Unlike foam-based insulation materials such as PIR, XPS and PUR, our product is nontoxic, made from waste material, and compostable, contributing to a less strained environment, while at the same time providing healthy and comfortable indoor environment.
Khadija Alnofeli
Safar Savvy
For budget-conscious explorers eager to uncover local events, Safar Savvy emerges as the ultimate mobile companion, focusing on nearby activities tailored to individual budgets. Setting itself apart from the competition, Safar Savvy goes beyond mere exploration, inviting users to immerse themselves in community-focused events for a unique experience.
Lindsay Dimovski
Litt Inc
For SME’s who need to fuel business growth. Unlike a traditional marketing agency, our product as need, leverages underutilised internal resources and integrates with the overall business operations, not just paid media or margin-based services to be a holistic extension for our clients.
Kai Qin
Leismore
A social media network based on audio and geolocation for creating meaningful connections between strangers.
Van Le
VAST Study Tour
For high school students and students in Vietnam who want to participate in a study tour at UOW College Australia to improve their English, learn about Australian culture, and explore future study opportunities in Australia. Vast Study Tour will act as an agent for UOW College Australia and work with business partners to organise and promote UOW College Australia’s study tour in Vietnam.
Ly Bui
For farmers seeking to enhance crop productivity and minimise herbicide expenses, WeedDet offers an innovative weed detection system that leverages drone imagery and AI technology. Designed for efficiency and ease of use, our system not only excels in identifying and targeting weeds and saving farmers operational costs, but also surpasses traditional methods by using precision targeting to reduce environmental footprint.
Molly Kirkpatrick
MiniXRF
For lunar explorers who want to create valuable products out of regolith, the MiniXRF is a sensor that can measure elemental composition before, during and after processing. Instead of processing lots of regolith and hoping for a good product, the MiniXRF will ensure efficient extraction of valuable materials.
Nuwangi Cooray
UOW Sunscreen
For people who gift the best experiences to their loved ones, the “UOW sunscreen” provides essential UV protection to enable the consumer to relish the summer sun. Unlike currently available sunscreens, UOW sunscreen is optimised with excellent manufacturing techniques and evaluation protocols for extreme UV conditions, specifically for Australia, because UOW strives to relieve Australia of the burden of skin cancer.
Nicholas Geraghty
NeuroMarine Therapies
For people living with MND there is no current cure. Our new drug candidate is non-toxic and offers reduced symptoms due to directly targeting TDP-43 aggregation. Unlike current therapies our drug candidate directly targets the underlying cause of MND.
Kristina Pirello
OOBS
For professional business owners who perform spray tan services, OOBS offers the most innovative accessories that elevate the bar for the beauty industry and give you a sense of security especially for breast feeding mums and targeting everyone who gets a tan in salon and at home. The need of opportunity is the gap in the market of making women feel safe that they can breast feed their child after getting a tan and making all tanning clients feel safe on what they are putting on their bodies. Unlike other spray tan accessories, we have found the recipe for new and improved formulas.
Kenechukwu Okoye
KP
The school setting is a great place to drive children and adolescent physical activity participation considering the portion of their days spent there. For educators and policymakers who are looking for a way to increase physical activity and improve cognitive performance in students, KP is a gamified wearable and mobile app solution that transforms recess from unstructured free time into a dynamic space that unlocks academic rewards. Unlike traditional recess, which can be unstructured and lead to boredom or inactivity, KP uses gamification to motivate students to participate in high-intensity movement.
Laura Smith
Cardiometabolic disease are widespread chronic conditions that effect at least 1 in 5 people in Australia. Investigating different approaches from lifestyle to different treatments is essential in improving management plans for these chronic diseases. A person focused approach is essential in finding a treatment path that is suitable and effective for managing these conditions as different approaches will work differently for people.
Molly You
For people who want to know a little bit about two-dimensional ferromagnets. 2D ferromagnets have unique properties, particularly atomic thickness stability with ferromagnetism, which have opened up new possibilities for the development of ultracompact spintronic devices, especially when the 2D materials show ferromagnetism at room temperature.
Jamie Mctighe
UGF
Starting with a mushroom farm, selling medicinal and gourmet mushrooms only grown on agricultural waste. Once fruited mushrooms blocks are spent, mechanically separating the mycelial networks and treating for the given purpose post fruiting or at a minimum reshaping and treating to form other organic products.
Steve Tivive
Vessel Surveillance
Developing AI-powered satellite imaging technology tailored for Defence and Security organisations, designed to automate and enhance maritime surveillance capabilities with precision and reliability.
Remy Grangien
Emile AI
For schools teachers and students who need advice on how to get the most out of AI (while avoiding the pitfalls), Emile AI is an education service that provides easy instruction on how to utilise state-of-the-art AI for learning. Unlike other education/tech startups that are orientating themselves around how to negate the detrimental use of AI tools with even more tools, we are physically there for schools to help them get the greatest positive learning experience out of the existing technology.
Kazeem Omoloja & Sai Subash Mallireddy
Active Care
A software that harmonises various aspects of NDIS providers activities. This software core functions would be to provide avenue for providers to create, assign and manage shifts for their support workers and provide avenue for workers to keep shift notes and other collectable data about their shift and clients. Additionally, this software would provide timesheet where workers can log their completed shifts and the providers can create pay-slip.
Vinod Sylaja
Emission Reduction Technology
For consumers in need of an efficient, swift, and sustainable deep foundation solution for diverse infrastructure construction projects, EcoHelix Foundations offers customised helical foundation system designs. EcoHelix prioritises research and development on helices manufactured from recycled steel, focusing on enhancing their load-bearing capacity. They are committed to implementing the best construction practices that minimise the impact on the environment.
Gregory Peoples, Michael Macartney & Ryan Anthony
OmegaFit
For athletes seeking a competitive edge through nutrition, OmegaFit offers a pioneering approach to fatty acid performance nutrition. Leveraging the latest scientific research and extensive expertise in omega-3 fatty acids, we provide tailored strategies to enhance athletic performance and recovery. Recognised by sporting institutes and backed by peer-reviewed publications, our evidence-based and biomarker-informed services are uniquely designed to optimise cardiovascular, muscular, neural, and inflammatory functions in athletes, ensuring peak performance and long-term health benefits.
Torie Davis & Sarah Neville
Square Play
For the futurists and AI enthusiasts seeking to shape the future today, Square Play introduces next-gen AI applications tailored to pivotal areas such as climate and technology, while distinguishing itself by establishing and harnessing the power of synthetic data.
Stephanie Anderson & Brett Anderson
Maths Marker
For maths teachers who need to assess student understanding better without sacrificing more precious time, Maths Marker is an online education platform that gives teachers the data they need to inform better teaching specific to their students without requiring significant investment of their time.
Unlike MathSpace, MathsOnline and Cambridge Online, our product supports handwritten and full working of solutions. This has been built from the ground up to leverage the power of technology and give students and teachers the insights they need to revolutionise maths education.
Xe Yuin Chong & Ali Husnain
Blinkbrain
For students seeking clearer comprehension and seamless integration of course material, "Blink Brain" offers an innovative study aid platform. Unlike traditional study tools, our product provides meticulously crafted courses that align with subject outlines, ensuring direct correlation with classroom lectures. With translated course options available, "Blink Brain" caters to diverse learning needs, empowering students to grasp complex concepts effortlessly. This unique approach sets us apart from competitors, as we prioritise synchronisation with academic curricula to facilitate enhanced learning experiences.
Jordan Cater, Conall McGuiness & Lisanne Spenkelink
Quench Nostics
Our lab has developed a new kind of biological sensor which can quantify levels of biomarkers in fluids, including blood plasma.
The benefits of our sensor make it amendable for point-of-care tests in lower income countries or settings where traditional diagnostics fail, such as instances requiring expensive machinery or highly trained personnel.