Peter Freedman AM is the Founder and Chairman of RØDE and The Freedman Group.

An entrepreneur, philanthropist and passionate ambassador for Australian manufacturing excellence, he has won dozens of product and export awards, including Ernst & Young’s Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, as well as Australia’s highest national honour, the Order of Australia (denoted by AM) in 2016.

Established in 1991 as a brand under Freedman Electronics – the sound installation company started by his parents in 1967 – Peter has grown RØDE into the world’s leading creator technology brand. RØDE’s microphones and audio products are the number one in a range of categories, including content creation, podcasting, studio recording and broadcast.

Today, RØDE is a global company with offices across the world, including the US, UK, Germany, China and Japan. Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia, where it designs and manufactures its products, exporting to 118 countries globally.

Peter established The Freedman Group as a parent company to RØDE, which has since acquired several legendary audio companies, including APHEX, SoundField, EVENT and, most recently, iconic American pro audio brand Mackie. 

Ariarne Elizabeth Titmus OAM is an Australian swimmer. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 400-metre freestyle, having won the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics and the world record holder in the long course 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre freestyle events.

Melinda Petrunoff is the Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand at Pinterest. Based in Sydney, Melinda’s responsibilities include building and managing the team to increase advertising growth in Australia and New Zealand, supporting relationships with brands, and ensuring Pinterest is the best possible localized experience for people using the platform across these countries. 

Melinda has more than 20 years of leadership, sales, marketing and operations experience building successful digital businesses across Asia and the Pacific. Prior to Pinterest, Melinda spent more than eight years helping to grow Facebook’s APAC business in a variety of leadership roles, including Director of Scaled for Australia and New Zealand, supporting the growth of small to medium businesses. 

Before joining Facebook in 2013, Melinda worked for Fairfax Digital (now Nine) in several executive roles where she was responsible for building audiences and commercialising their digital businesses including Domain. 

Melinda is passionate about building successful teams and developing talent. Since 2015, she has volunteered as a board member of OzHarvest where she is currently responsible for leading the strategy committee.

Jenny joined Oroton as Chief Executive Officer in October 2021. She brings extensive global
experience working with high profile consumer retail brands, following 15 years at McKinsey
& Co.

In her role as partner at McKinsey & Co, Jenny led the firm’s consumer and retail work across
Australia and New Zealand, working with CEOs and industry leaders to grow their business
through customer-centricity, agile working and reshaping culture.

She is passionate about driving retail transformations, understanding emerging trends in
consumer behaviour in today’s disruptive world, and the use of data and technology to
accelerate business growth.

Jenny holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University, Illinois and a Master of Business
Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, North Carolina.

Livia Wang, often called the wellness industry’s treasure hunter, is a plant-based visionary and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience building wellness and beauty brands. As the founder of Access Corporate Group and Wellness Adventures, Livia has successfully launched Australian and New Zealand brands into global markets, reaching over 10 million consumers. Her focus is on incubating pioneering brands that blend cutting-edge science with wellness, setting new standards and promoting healthier lifestyle choices.

Livia’s mission is to accelerate wellness outcomes globally by bridging the gap between science and society. With more than 50 brand success stories, she is dedicated to improving the well-being of people everywhere, empowering them to take control of their health and transform their lives through sustainable wellness practices.

A disruptive force in the wellness industry, Livia is reimagining health and beauty, not just by introducing new products but by reshaping outdated norms. She is passionate about delivering innovative, accessible wellness solutions for all.

Mervyn Tan is an

Australian born, Cody Simpson, is a true multi hyphenate; guitarist, singer, songwriter,
performing artist, published poet, children’s
book author theatrical star, environmental
activist and athlete.

As a pre
-teen, Cody Simpson began to record
songs in his bedroom and post them on
YouTube, these clips quickly garnered millions
of views and led him to a deal with Atlantic
Records which he signed in New York City on
his 13th Birthday.

Cody was one of four key talent in in the
Amazon Prime Original, Head Above Water.
The docuseries chronicles Cody’s return to
the pool along with the incredible pressure
both in and out of the pool. The series
highlights Cody’s determination to succeed
in the sport through personal sacrifice,
gruelling training sessions and battle the
preconceived notions of Cody’s music
career.

Craig Blair is the Co-founder and Partner at Airtree, a leading venture capital firm backing Aussie and Kiwi founders building the iconic technology companies of tomorrow. With $1.3bn funds under management, Craig has led investments in Canva, Pet Circle, Go1 and Employment Hero, which have delivered 100x returns to investors. Before Airtree, Craig was a Partner at Netus, a venture fund that delivered top-decile returns to investors.

Prior to his VC career, he was a founder of several startups including Travelselect, Beamly Australia and founding chairman of Pet Circle. Craig holds a Bachelor of Engineering from University of Sydney, and an MBA from INSEAD, France. 

Outside of Airtree, Craig is an active philanthropist through the Blair Caffrey Foundation which supports indigenous, women’s and humanitarian causes and the arts.  

Phoebe heads up Blackbird’s New Zealand team and fund, which has invested >$150M in Kiwi-founded startups. She invests across industries and business models, in companies such as Tracksuit (brand tracking software), Vessev (hydrofoiling passenger boats) and Carepatron (an operating system for modern healthcare practitioners). Phoebe got her start as an investor at Al Gore’s sustainability-focused growth equity firm, Generation, and prior to that was a management consultant with Bain & Company in Melbourne and London.

Bede Moore is the Chief Commercial Officer at Antler, the most active early-stage investor globally, and founding partner of Antler in Australia. Present in 27 cities across most leading technology ecosystems across six continents, Antler has made over 1,300 investments into early-stage startups.

Bede was the Co-founder and Managing Director of Indonesia’s largest eCommerce site, Lazada, which was acquired by Alibaba in 2017 for USD3.5 billion. He has also been the General Manager of Australasia for Student.com, the world’s largest online marketplace for student accommodation and one of WIRED Magazine’s Top 100 European start-ups in 2016. He also co-founded Paraplou Group from 2012 to 2015, an online fashion group in Indonesia. Bede was also the CEO of Sydney’s peak technology industry body, TechSydney, leading a combination of government advocacy and programs designed to support the local ecosystem.

Bede holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard and a Masters of Philosophy in History (Hons) at Leiden University in the Netherlands as a VOC Foundation Scholar.

Born in Taiwan, raised in New Zealand, studied in Japan and built her career in Australia, Sarah is a
true global citizen with deep market knowledge, business networks and commercial understanding of
the APAC market.

Sarah had been awarded one of the Most Influential Asian-Australian in 2019, nominated as 100 most
influential women in Australia and shortlisted as the Top Exporter in Australia by NSW Premier &
Cabinet in 2020. She represented Australia in the G20 Young Entrepreneur Alliance for 3 consecutive
years to share expertise on the future of work and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) best practice on
a global scale.

Her thought leadership in the DEI space, in particular women in technology, has led her to present at
global platforms such as UN Women and Women in Tech Global Summit. She is also appointed as part
of the Special Taskforce for Global Australia by the federal government to attract diverse talent into
Australia.

Computer science whiz Dylan Coyne sparked up an idea for a telehealth platform in 2021 when he realised working a 9-5 didn’t leave you with much time to see a doctor. Three years later, Updoc, the company he co-founded with Clifton Hodgkinson, has served more than 200,000 customers to date and banked $20 million in funding.

Before founding Order Editing, Hamish was the head of customer experience for an eCommerce group that ran full-suite merchandising campaigns for the world’s biggest YouTubers. With clients like MrBeast, Valkyrae, and TommyInnit, the company did $40 GMV on Shopify Plus in just it’s second year of operation.

Chris Andrews is Chief Executive Officer of La Trobe Financial and has over 20 years’ experience in Corporate Australia. 

He holds a bachelor’s degrees in law (with honours) and Commerce. He spent the first part of his career in law and joined La Trobe Financial from one of Australia’s leading commercial law firms as senior legal counsel in 2006. 

In 2009, Chris moved into the position first of Head of Funds Management and later Chief Investment Officer.  From 2009 until his appointment as CEO in 2022, Chris was at the helm of the Asset Management business for La Trobe Financial, the fastest and largest growing fund of its type in Australian corporate history. 

As CEO, Chris brings sharp focus to customer service, business performance, capital management, technology uplift, risk management and people and culture. 

Chris is one of the youngest CEOs in the Banking & Financial Services Industry in Australia. 

24-year-old mechatronics engineer Grace Brown has been building robots since she was just 15. But her hobby became a business in 2022 when she launched Andromeda Robotics with a view to deploying the first empathetic robotic throughout nursing homes in Australia: Abi. 

Two years later, Andromeda secured more than $3 million in funding after its seed round in June 2024, led by Purpose Ventures. 

A success story today, companion robot Abi was initially a passion project Brown herself worked on to withstand the emotional impact of the COVID pandemic. 

Brown began building a prototype for Abi, with a personality inspired by the Disney characters she knew and loved. The activity kept her busy throughout the pandemic, but Brown soon realised Abi could solve a different pandemic: loneliness. Over the next year, Brown reached out to 40 nursing homes around Melbourne to validate her theory and, after receiving positive feedback, applied for Startmate’s 2022 intake. 

As part of that, Andromeda Robotics banked $120,000 in funding and then a further $500,000 from Galileo Ventures. Brown then applied for an accelerator program in the United States hosted by Amazon and Mass Robotics – and in came another $500,000 from an angel investor. 

All the while, Brown’s parents assumed she was finishing her master’s degree in mechatronics engineering at Melbourne University. 

They’re in the know now and support Brown’s career – especially since Andromeda has a warehouse, an office, a team of 15 and just ticked over $100,000 in revenue. And crucially, a pipeline of customers for Abi, the friendly, purple-and-orange, 5-foot-tall robot. 

Jim Freeman is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand. He has been instrumental in designing Kyndryl’s technology practices and establishing capabilities, partnerships, consulting models and market presence, and is currently a technology evangelist for customer facing engagements. Jim is a passionate Diversity Champion for the LGBTQ+ Kyndryl Inclusion Network. 

Prior to Kyndryl’s establishment, Jim held the role of CTO for IBM Global Technology Services in Asia-Pacific, where he worked closely with customers to design their journey to cloud. Throughout his career he has held a number of technology and leadership positions at IBM in the United States and subsequently Australia, where he has managed the IT infrastructure of some of the world’s biggest organisations. 

Vidit Agarwal is an Entrepreneur and Venture Capital investor focused on technology and climate solutions. 

He is Founder & CEO of Curiosity Center, a professional services firm and on-demand intelligence hub that’s elevanted 200,000+ investors, founders, corporate executives, and emerging leaders, since inception in 2020. One of their flagship products is the global top ten ranked – The High Flyers Podcast – with 180+ episodes to date that Vidit hosts. Thei commercial partners include globally renowned companies such as KPMG, Camva, and Herbert Smith Freehills amongst others. 

Vidit is a Founding member and Investor at FB10x, One of Four Entrepreneurs-in-Residence for a Global Growth Program, Judge for Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Award, Advisor to SXSW, and Board Member at StreetSmart. 

He has previously scaled a startup from $4M to $40M in revenue and managed portfolios up to $300M in leading companies including Coles, Procter & Gamble and Nestle in Commercial, Growth, Marketing, Supply Chain and Operations. He has also been made  redundant twice that provided learnings and opened unexpected doors. 

Tennis has always been Vidit’s first love, and he is a proud finisher of the Melbourne Full Marathan (42 kms) which he ran with his best friends. 

Mervyn Tan is an award-winning digital practice leader and experience design consultant with over twenty years of experience. He has worked with some of the world’s largest consumer brands, consultancies, and creative agencies, leading groundbreaking projects that have set new standards in the industry.​

Tadhg Kennelly is an Irish-Australian sportsperson known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and AFL. He is the only holder of both an AFL Premiership medallion and a Senior All-Ireland Championship medal, the highest-possible team-based achievement in both sports 

Born in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland Tadhg is the son of Kerry football legend Tim and grew up playing GAA both for local and county teams.  

In 1999, he made the momentous decision to move to Australia to play Aussie Rules football. He debuted for the Sydney Swans in 2001 and went on to become one of their star players, playing 198 AFL games.  

In 2005 he won an AFL Premiership medal with the Swans, the first Irishman to do so. He was plagued by injury throughout his final seasons in Australia, but through both his columns on the Sydney Swans website and the attention lavished on him by Australian broadcasters, Tadhg retained a high profile. In 2009 he returned to Ireland and joined the Kerry County panel. He returned to Sydney to play two more years before chronic knee and shoulders issues ended his very successful career.  

Tadhg also played 12 International games for Ireland where he was voted player of the series on 3 occasions.  

Following retirement he went into recruiting and everything to do with International recruiting. Recruiting a new wave of international AFL players Mason Cox, Connor Mckenna and Mark O’Connor among others.  

He was then appointed head coach of the Sydney Swans reserves and in his first year they reached the Grand Final. He was then promoted to the Swans defence and team defence coach. Following this he was shifted to midfield coach and stoppage coach.  

Kennelly holds a Bachelors degree in Arts, majoring in Psychology and History. He also just completed his Masters degree in education. 

Tadhg is the co- founder of a mens health group called WNOW (When no ones watching) www.wnow.com.au Helping men be better which in evietable will make them better fathers, husbands, brothers, friends.The group is well know for its motto which Tadhg talks alot about “dropping your body armour” WNOW is located in 31 locations around the country and internationally.  

Tadhg’s work in the mental health space is phenomenal and has touched and is helping 1,000’s of men, he is the ideal person to present on the challenges that men face today from anxiety, stress, to trying to keep up appearances, the challenges of been a man today, social media influnces. 

Appointed the new Group CEO at Team Global Express, Christine is also the Co-Chair for the (Federal) Ministerial Advisory for Trade & is the Director of Collingwood Football Club.   

Dr. Prince is the Executive Chairman and Founder of the Prince Group, a portfolio of businesses spanning a diverse range of sectors, including, health (Non- for-profit – One Disease), technology (Next Practice, Zapid Hire), hospitality (Zambrero, Sam Prince Hospitality Group) and FMCG (Shine). 

Luke founded workplace safety software company SafetyCulture from his garage. Today, it’s used by more than 65,000 organisations worldwide.

3 times best-selling author, Jess built JSHealth to provide high quality supplements to her community.

Erin grew Triangl into a USD$200m company through a hunger for success and savvy social media use. One year alone saw a $50m revenue jump.

 From an idea to capital raising and global brand – Airtasker is a success story that empowers people and impacts the future of work on a global scale.

Former investment banker and rock musician, Kim founded and runs Skip Capital. Skip invests in high-growth tech companies (incl. Canva, CultureAmp and SafetyCulture) as well as future-aware infrastructure projects.

Go1 is the largest online professional education provider in the world and recognised as one of the fastest growing companies in Australia. 

A VC firm focused on the best global tech startups in Australia and NZ. Rick has led the firm’s investments into companies such as Canva, Baraja SafetyCulture, and Gilmour Space.

With a social following of 15.4 million+ on Instagram and over 2m subscribers on YouTube & TikTok, Tammy’s success is driven by her honest and open approach to all her social channels.

Sue has spent the last 30 years creating disruptive businesses in the digital economy across Asia, Europe and North America. Now, she’s taking on the tech giants with a new, sustainable social media platform, WeAre8.

Bondi Sands was founded in 2012. With co-founder Shaun Wilson at the helm of the company’s global brand strategy, today it’s the number one self-tanning brand in the world.

Key-note speaker and host of Hustlechat podcast, Naby Mariyam founded Coverhero in 2017 to focus on insurance services for Millenials and GenZ.

AirTree Ventures is one of the largest VC funds in Australia and has been an early investor in many breakout tech companies like Canva. McDonald is Partner at the firm, and has supported ambitious founders in the early stages of their journey.

Schebesta is an entrepreneur, adviser and the founder of global fintech, Finder (now worth over half a billion dollars). He’s also known as The Crypto King of Australia and has recently launched a blockchain investment fund.