Meet the up-and-coming entrepreneurs making waves in the start-up scene at the moment.
‘Quick Takes’ featured in Issue 14 of Forbes Australia. Tap here to secure your copy.
Sortd
Childhood friends Alexis Aaron and Jodine Wolman knew they had found a gap in the online shopping market when they saw firsthand how inefficient their shopping habits had become. “Jo was at my house one day and was blown away to see my laptop filled with tabs”, says Aaron.
“When I asked how she managed her shopping, she showed me her camera roll filled with screenshots – it became obvious that both methods were just as inefficient as the other”. In 2020, the duo decided to take matters into their own hands and co-founded Sortd, a shopping assistant that centralises the entire shopping journey. The app allows users to keep track of items from any online store, compare their options, and discover what others are buying through its user-generated content feed.
“We started this as a bit of a side hustle – something we did after hours and on weekends”, says Wolman. “But after seeing some early traction, we decided to quit our jobs and give 100% to Sortd. The rest is history”. The app has secured $2.8 million in funding and has grown its active user base to over 60,000 people. “We chose to invest in Sortd because the founders’ vision was backed by a clear understanding of a crucial gap in the e-commerce landscape”, says Arnold Hersch of Herschco Investments and Natalie Polivnick of Pollyco Investments.
“The strong sense of community that has already formed within the platform is just the beginning. Sortd’s growth potential is undeniable, and we remain confident in its future success”.
WhyHive
T Guthrie and Matt Cohen co-founded WhyHive to make data analysis accessible to everyone – positioning it as the ‘Canva for data’. The start-up launched in 2018 as a social enterprise consultancy and dedicated thousands of hours of data science work to the not-for-profit sector. “During this time, we learnt that people wanted to analyse their own data, but the tools were too hard to use”, says T. “One client spent 3 days trying to learn Tableau just to make a basic chart showing how much of each product they had sold”. Recognising the need for a simpler solution, the founders partnered with data scientist Mitchell O’Hara-Wild to develop Sumeria, WhyHive’s analytics engine.
“This new engine flipped the traditional data analysis process on its head, meaning our disgruntled Tableau-using client from earlier could now use our app to chart their data and get the insights they needed in about 30 seconds”, Matt explains. “This formed the foundation of our vision to create the ‘Canva for data’, which we fully embraced in 2022 – and we haven’t looked back since”.
In August, WhyHive raised $600,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed round led by Skalata Ventures.
“We invested because of the founders’ deep understanding of the problem – both on a technical level and with respect to how to take the complex and broad discipline of data analysis and make it intuitive for the average person”, says Linktree co-founder and CEO Alex Zaccaria. “It’s been awesome to see the public response to the app going live and how fast the team is shipping based on feedback.
It’s clear people are hungry for a solution like this, so I’ll be excited to see the next set of new features”.
WearOptimo
Professor Mark Kendall was on sabbatical when the Apple Watch launched. Drawing on his extensive experience as a biomedical engineer and a career at the forefront of innovation, he quickly recognised its limitations and the enormous potential for next-generation wearables. The realisation set him on a path to try and develop a superior solution, and with the backing of foundational investor Australian National University (ANU), he founded WearOptimo in 2018.
The Brisbane-based health-tech start-up aims to redefine wearable technology by leveraging AI and advanced sensor technology to enable early identification and intervention of critical health conditions. “We’re opening up the next generation of wearables way beyond what existing wearables are able to do”, says Kendall. “This opens up massive areas of unmet need – from elite sports to the mining sector and the military”.
WearOptimo recently secured a patent in the US for its flagship product – a hydration micro-wearable sensor – with human clinical trials already in advanced stages. It has secured over $30 million in funding and developed a strong network of influential backers.
“There are no boundaries to where WearOptimo’s hydration micro-wearable sensor can be used”, says F1 champion Mark Webber, who serves as a strategic partner and personal investor in the business.
“You can take it all around the world”.
