West Tech Fest was initiated by Curtin University, and co-founded by Bill Tai, Larry Lopez, Rohan McDougall and Paula Taylor. The week-long festival attracts founders, tech leaders and investors from the US, UK, Asia and from around Australia, to come together to showcase innovation, investment and entrepreneurship.
Some notable speakers for 2020 include Janine Pelosi, Chief Marketing Officer at Zoom, Jeremy Chetty, Co-Founder of Student Edge, Tom Goerke the Chair of StartupWA, Tracie Clark, Vice Chair Perth Angels and many more.
The week began with a Regional Innovation Showcase, featuring the latest technologies emerging from regional WA, with startups based in the regions able to showcase their innovations and pitch for investment opportunities. With local innovators coming together for a range of other events during the week, including a Circular Economy Panel Discussion, CORE Innovation Hub Technology Exchange, and an Inside Look into WA’s Innovation Support Ecosystem, there was ample opportunity for all to get involved.
As part of the week's festivities, Freo Startup Fest acknowledged five winners for the third annual Startup News Awards, and Plus Eight hosted a very special Golden Ticket Pitch Event with two winners, Tender Relief and Charli, heading straight into our Plus Eight Bootcamp in 2021.
Notable awards were given to Quipmo founder and CEO as Startup of the Year, Danelle Cross from Curtin University & Curtin Ignition as Startup Supporter of the Year and Claire Orange, DiGii Social for the most listened to episode of Startup West podcast (photo above by Startup News).
And of course, to wrap up the week we jumped on a ferry and headed across to Rottnest’s brand new Samphire Hotel, for a day of beachside conversations. With a focus on igniting social impact technology and investment for global goals, Rotto Tech Fest covered great discussions on the future of our planet, and how we can work together for a better world.
Interested in partnering with Perth's biggest and longest-running startup accelerator program? Find out more about our Plus Eight program, and explore the ways you can get involved with our next cohort in 2021.
If you’d like to stay up to date with the best startup events of the year in 2021, become a Spacecubed Community member and be the first to know what’s happening in the ecosystem. Members get exclusive discounts on events, are able to build connections with those in the industry and be surrounded by change makers and innovators every day. Sign up here.