We’re on the lookout for today’s leading tech innovators.

Are you breaking new ground in tech? Ready to introduce your innovation to the world? If so, becoming the Tech Innovator in Australia is the first step.

The third annual KPMG Tech Innovator competition recognises Australia’s leading tech innovators and future tech titans.

We understand the impact that technology trailblazers like you are having on the world. Whether yours is a pure technology company or you’re tech-enabled, tech-led or tech-driven, we want to hear from you.

Compete with some of Australia’s most exciting tech entrepreneurs to see who will be crowned the Tech Innovator in Australia 2023. Our finalists will go on to pitch their innovations and present their growth ambitions to a panel of industry professionals, including VCs, startup advisers, and last year’s Tech Innovator of Australia.

The winner will have the opportunity to present their startup alongside 26 innovators from around the globe at the Web Summit in Lisbon, where one will be crowned the winner.

What are you waiting for? To get started, tell us about you, your business and your ambitions.

From tech innovator to future tech titan – what’s in it for you?

The winners will receive:


Go global

Progress to the Global Tech Innovator final, hosted in Lisbon, Portugal in November. The winner will be crowned the 2023 Global Tech Innovator.


Exposure at Web Summit

Put your startup in front of 70,000 investors, founders, policymakers and more with speaking opportunities, networking events, and booth presence at Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.


Local and global media

Profile your business throughout the competition, leveraging KPMG’s channels, local, and global media.

Plus winners and finalists receive:


National exposure

The opportunity to pitch your growth ambitions in front of Australia’s tech and business leaders, including investors, startup mentors, and Olympia Yarger, founder of Goterra and the winner of 2022 Tech Innovator of Australia.


Networking opportunities

Connect with like-minded peers, key industry experts, and influencers both locally and globally.

The recognition of the KPMG Tech Innovator Award Australia was most meaningful to us as a team. Creating a world-first technology that has never been done before is difficult –- there’s no blueprint or manual to follow, we’re innovating and engineering to find the best solution as we go. In a few short years, our team has built a robot that unlocks distribution and will have a real impact on reducing emissions globally. Being celebrated for that and meeting many people outside of Goterra who want us to succeed was pretty special.

Olympia Yarga
Founder of GOTERRA Goterra and the 2022 Tech Innovator

Explore the competition and hear from past winners

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What makes a Global Tech Innovator?

What makes a winner?

Applicants are typically technology entrepreneurs who are successfully making the transition from the startup phase to the next stage in the growth of their businesses. They have developed innovative, proven technologies, established robust business models, demonstrated traction and have the potential to scale up globally.

To be eligible for the competition, you must:

  • be a registered company in Australia
  • have been actively operating for 5 years or less (in the current form)
  • generate revenue between US $1 million and US $15 million; or have raised at least US $500,000 in equity
  • be either a pure technology or a tech-enabled, tech-driven or tech-led business
  • not be majority owned by a large corporate
  • conduct all pitches in English
  • available to pitch at a final event in July 2023
  • if selected as a finalist, be available to pitch at the global final at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2023.

Each pitching competition will be judged by a panel of industry experts. All applications will be scored based on six, equally-weighted criteria:

  1. Disruption and innovation
  2. Market potential
  3. Customer adoption
  4. Market traction and marketing
  5. Long-term potential
  6. Pitch quality

The decisions of the panel will be final.

Everything you need to know

Applications

To enter the competition, you must fill out the online application form for your company before the application deadline of Wednesday 21 June 2023.

Any technology entrepreneur that has operated for less than 5 years and is registered and based in Australia can apply. Applicants must have innovative, proven technologies, robust business models, the ability to demonstrate traction in their activities and the potential to scale up. All entrants entering the competition on behalf of the company must be residents in Australia and aged 18 years or over. KPMG employees and contractors are prohibited from entering the competition.

The competition is not open to any company which is a KPMG audit client or an affiliate or a connected party to the audit client.

Applications are open from 18 April 2023 and close on 21 June 2023. All applications must be received by 11:59 pm 21 June 2023.

During the application period, there is no limit to the number of companies that can apply, however, we request that no more than one application per company is submitted.

If you’d like to apply, here’s what we’ll need:

  • company details (name, address, company registration number, contact details)
  • CEO, founder and management team details
  • a brief description of the company, business model, any media coverage and proprietary technology (maximum of 200 words)
  • details on funding raised to date, 2022 revenue figures and projections for 2023
  • a high-resolution image of your company logo.

Further information

There is no charge for entering into the competition, although all costs related to attendance at the country finals must be covered by the participants themselves, where they are being held in person. KPMG will cover the cost of flights/travel and accommodation for the one representative from each of the finalist companies who are invited to present in November.

KPMG Private Enterprise will be promoting finalists and the overall winner of the competition. By entering the competition, you agree that any personal information provided by you with your entry may be held and used by KPMG to administer the competition.

If you are a winner of the competition, you agree that KPMG may use your name, image and company branding to announce the winner of the competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional and marketing purposes.

We will handle Personal personal Information information as set out in our privacy policy.

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified. Due to the volume of entries received, we are unable to provide detailed feedback to each unsuccessful applicant.

We value the time and effort put into each submission and thank you for your participation.

For any further information please email:

Selection criteria

We aim to be as inclusive as possible; whether you’re a pure technology company or tech-enabled, tech-led, or tech-driven, we want to hear about your growth ambitions.

We are looking for companies that have been operating for 5 years or less, and must have a viable product or service.

Pitching

Each company will be given a total of approximately 10 minutes to both pitch and answer questions from a judging panel. All presentations must be in Microsoft PowerPoint or PDF file format. A detailed pack outlining requirements will be shared with shortlisted businesses when appropriate.

Each pitching competition will be judged by a panel of industry and KPMG specialists. All applications will be scored based on six, equally-weighted criteria. The criteria are disruption and innovation, market potential, customer adoption, market traction and marketing, long-term potential and pitch quality. The decisions of the panel will be final.

Winners

Australian winners will receive exposure and recognition through local media coverage and KPMG corporate channels. The Australian winners will also be put forward as finalists in the Global Tech Innovator competition, which will take place in November 2023.

The finalists will be provided with flights to, and hotel accommodation at, the Global final.

The prizes cannot be substituted for cash or any other alternatives. Refer to the terms and conditions for detailed information.

Australian winners will be notified on the day of the final. Winners will also be profiled in the KPMG “Winners Report”. The Global Tech Innovator winner will be announced on stage (in person and virtually) in November 2023.

About KPMG High Growth Ventures

KPMG High Growth Ventures works with founders to build sustainable, scalable startups. We connect founders and their teams to the services they need to grow efficiently and effectively, saving them both time and money.
 
We offer a range of specialised services for startups at price points tailored to different stages of growth, including Outsourced CFO, which brings sophisticated financial planning capabilities to startups at a fraction of the usual cost. We also assist startups with their ESG and ESOPs as well as offering other services like bookkeeping, tax structuring, cyber, and government incentive support.
 
Over the past five years, we have helped over 200 startups, from Canva and Nexba to emerging leading startups like Great Wrap, Sundrive Solar, and Fat Zebra. We are an active member of the startup scene, partnering with organisations such as Innovation Bay, Upside and Climate Salad to provide ongoing support for founders. In tandem, our team works with VCs and ecosystem partners to run founder education programs, networking events and Q&A sessions.

Contact us