As Co-Founder and Group CEO of Catcha Group, Patrick Grove is one of the leading entrepreneurs in the APAC region. He founded and took 5 companies from startup to IPO, recently selling iProperty Group for US$534m, making it one of the largest internet exits in ASEAN history.

He is Co-Founder and Chairman of iflix, the leading SVoD service for emerging markets; Co-Founder and Director of iCar Asia, ASEAN’s No. 1 network of digital automotive portals; and Co-Founder of Frontier Digital Ventures, a leading operator of online classifieds in frontier markets.

Patrick has received numerous international awards, including: Global Leader of Tomorrow and New Asian Leader by the World Economic Forum; Asia’s Best Young Entrepreneur by Bloomberg Business. 

Established in 2004 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Catcha Group is Southeast Asia’s leading internet group which builds and invests in disruptive internet companies across emerging markets globally. The Group’s historical focus has been in online classifieds, new media and OTT, where it has successfully taken 5 companies from startup to IPO and created over US$2.0bn+ worth of value. Today, the Group holds over 60 investments, either directly or indirectly, as sole, majority or minority shareholders.

Since 1994, CEO Founder, Richard White, has grown technology giant, WiseTech Global, from an idea in the basement of his house in Newton to a global provider of software solutions for logistics corporations across more than 125 countries worldwide.   Earlier this year, former musician, White, bucked the trend and listed his global technology company on home soil, ringing the ASX bell in April and helping to expand the Australian technology sector.   He has over 30 years in software development, embedded systems and business management and over 20 years of freight / logistics industry experience.   He also holds a Masters in Information Technology from UTS and has spearheaded new business thinking.  

WiseTech Global is an innovative, multi-award winning global developer of cloud-based software solutions for the international and domestic logistics industries. Since 1994 we have helped logistics companies efficiently manage the movement of goods and information.

Our leading platform, CargoWise One, forms an integral link in the global supply chain and executes over 34 billion data transactions annually for the worlds’ largest logistics service providers. With over 6,000 logistics customers across more than 125 countries, our breakthrough software solutions are renowned for their powerful productivity, extensive functionality, comprehensive integration, deep compliance capabilities, and their truly global reach.  From our innovation centre in Sydney and operations in China, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, WiseTech’s global platform is rapidly becoming the operating system for supply chain execution and is changing the world of logistics one innovation at a time.

Jost Stollmann is one of Australia’s key fintech pioneers. A passionate entrepreneur, Jost has played a pivotal role in disrupting the payments industry, introducing nextgen banking in Australia by delivering integrated, mobile, cloud-based EFTPOS banking solutions to SMEs under the fintech, Tyro Payments.

After graduating from the Harvard Business School and joining BCG, Jost quickly became a driving force of innovation in Germany. He founded CompuNet in 1984, the largest German network integrator, and turned it into a US$1B company. He then led the expansion of GE Capital IT Solutions across Europe. In each of his roles, Jost was an innovator and a disruptor. Gerhard Schröder appointed him as Federal Shadow Minister of Economy and Technology, where he ran a successful campaign, with Schröder being elected Chancellor of Germany in a landslide victory.

Under his leadership since 2004, Tyro was granted of a full banking licence and raised about $100 million in equity capital. Currently serving more than 17,000 SMEs, Tyro processed $8.6 billion in transactions and generated more than $95 million in revenue in FY16.

After more than 10 years at the helm of Tyro, Jost decided to hand over the reins to Gerd Schenkel, founder of NAB’s U-Bank, in October 2016. As full time Executive Director, Board Member and the largest shareholder, he continues to define the company’s strategic direction while building Tyro’s profile both locally and abroad.

Tyro Payments is Australia’s only independent, and fastest growing, EFTPOS banking institution. Tyro uses its tech DNA and deep banking knowledge to deliver cloud-based, totally integrated and mobile EFTPOS banking solutions to Australia’s SMEs.

Tyro is a key disruptor in the payments space and is quickly introducing ‘nextgen’ banking in Australia, by using new technologies that provide SMEs with frictionless banking that allows them to seamlessly manage their cash-flow and business operations.

Tyro is the first Australian technology company to be granted a full banking licence. It provides credit, debit, EFTPOS card acquiring, Medicare and private health fund claiming and rebating, as well as a mobile fee-free transaction and deposit business account integrated with Xero cloud accounting. It also offers unsecured cash-flow-based lending to Australian EFTPOS merchants.

Currently serving more than 17,000 SMEs, Tyro processed $8.6 billion in transactions and generated more than $95 million in revenue in FY16. In December 2015, Tyro raised about $100 million in equity capital. 

Greg Symons is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of SocietyOne and founder of Clearmatch^TM. A driven lifetime entrepreneur, Greg has been highly focused in business start-ups in the financial technology space. Greg’s specialty is in developing web-based, industrial grade financial banking and origination systems. With Clearmatch^TM, he continues to pioneer disruptive and globally relevant P2P investment and lending platform models for both consumers and institutions. Prior to co-founding SocietyOne in 2011, Australia’s pioneering and largest consumer finance marketplace (peer-to-peer) lender, Greg was based in New Zealand where he and his technology team developed the first online retail lending system in the country in 2000. Greg continued to evolve the platform into a comprehensive banking solution when it was licensed to a number of banks and finance companies in South Africa, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia. Clearmatch^TM is now a unique SAAS-based direct investment/borrow market ecosystem solution that powers SocietyOne and other finance market companies. Greg is married to Clare and has three children.

SocietyOne is Australia’s pioneering and leading marketplace lender where we match borrowers who need a personal loan directly with our funding investors who provide the money that finance those loans. Founded in 2012 by entrepreneurs Greg Symons and Matt Symons (no relation), we are an Australian “fintech” which has grown from a small start-up to a company that now employs more than 80 people with operations in Sydney and Auckland in New Zealand.   Proudly known as a “digital disruptor”, we have shaken up the consumer credit market by offering Australians a new way of financing their dreams, whether that is by helping to clear their credit card debt, pay for house renovations, a car, a holiday, or finance a wedding. Backed by our world-class technology and an easy-to-use online application process, we are able to offer one brilliant funding moment to each and every one of our customers who apply successfully for a loan. And at the same time, our funding investors can benefit from solid and stable returns. Since making our first loan in August 2012, we have now topped $200 million in total originated loans, of which $130 million was provided in 2016 alone. We have helped more than 8,000 customers supported by 280 investor funders who include institutions, mutual banks, credit unions, SMSFs and high net worth individuals.

Jess Wilson is the founder and CEO of online shopping app Stashd. 

Jess is a repeat entrepreneur starting her first business at 16, she later dropped out of university after a careers advisor told her she 'didn't have it in her' to have a career in the fashion industry. Jess then went on to work throughout New York and Paris fashion weeks which provided the insight to be able to start Stashd. 

Stashd launched in 2014 and now has users in 136 countries and has featured as a 'Best New App' in 11 countries.

Most recently placing as a finalist in 'The Next Unicorn' China's version of Shark Tank cross The Apprentice - Since Jess's success on the TV show Stashd has welcomed TenCent and TenCent Leilai as a shareholder in the business in China. 

Jess has been pinned by Forbes as one of 1,000 entrepreneurs under 30 to change the world in the next 50 years. 

Stashd is an online shopping app - changing the way millennials engage with online shopping. Stashd aims to become the largest online digital mall on mobile holding zero stock - currently with access to over 4,000 brands equating to 1 million+ products. 

Stashd has adopted the user experience of how a consumer browses in an bricks and mortar store and translates onto mobile with a 'Tinder-esque' (swipe right, swipe left) user experience resulting in high levels of user engagement and data capture of a consumers opinion. 

Hamish Stone joined iCar Asia as Group Chief Executive Officer in June 2016. Reporting directly to the Board of Directors, Hamish provides the business vision, strategy and leadership to over 400 employees across Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Hamish is an expert in digital marketplaces having worked at eBay for 10 years across 3 key markets and brands. He led the automotive verticals for the eBay classified businesses of Gumtree.com in the U.K., and Marktplaats.nl in The Netherlands. Prior to that, Hamish was Head of Marketing for eBay Australia and New Zealand.

Hamish holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) majoring in Economics and Marketing from The University of Sydney

Listed on Australian Security Exchange, iCar Asia (ASX: ICQ) owns and operates ASEAN No. 1 network of automotive portals with clear leadership positions established in each of ASEAN’s three largest automotive markets – Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

iCar Asia has significant market opportunity with the potential to connect over 600 million car buyers and sellers throughout ASEAN. Our online properties currently reach over 4.8million car buyers and enthusiasts in the region every month.

We have consolidated position in ASEAN markets with established brands, consistent consumer audiences, and listings leadership due to deep car dealership penetration and engagement via our market-leading Response Management System (RMS) which is integrated into dealers’ businesses.

iCar Asia is now working to accelerate vibrancy and revenue growth with the potential to expand its proposition into new markets and geographies.

At iCar Asia, we are passionately committed to building a business that has a definitive impact on the automotive industry in the ASEAN region.

We will change the way consumer connect with people and business to fulfill their automotive needs as they buy, own and sell vehicles.

Our strategic priorities for the business are to develop a world class customer experience, enabling us to win in all of our core markets. Then we will build on this position of strength to expand into other countries within the region and into adjacent categories and services.

Recognised as a global leader in the online classifieds arena, Founder and CEO of Frontier Digital Ventures, Shaun Di Gregorio, is the former CEO of ASX listed company, iProperty Group (ASX: IPP), operator of Asia’s #1 network of property portals. During his four and a half year tenure (2014-2009), Shaun spearheaded the transformation of iProperty Group from small online business into the largest listed Internet company in ASEAN, with a market capitalisation of US$600 million.

Prior to this, Shaun spent eight years at Australia-based REA Group, a global leader and publisher of as many as 20 real estate websites in 12 countries. As General Manager of the core Australian business, he grew the business into a company with more than 300 staff and revenues exceeding AU$150 million. Shaun was also appointed General Manager, International Operations, overseeing REA Group’s international expansion and strategic investments. Shaun is a non-Executive Director of iCar Asia (ASX:ICQ), Asia’s leading operator of online automotive portals, and an advisor to online classifieds businesses around the world. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Frontier Digital Ventures is focused on becoming a leading investor in online classifieds businesses in frontier and emerging markets. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the investment firm offers entrepreneurs both capital and expertise in developing, growing and operating online classifieds businesses. Frontier Digital Ventures invests in highly driven entrepreneurs who want to be market leaders in the online classifieds industry in frontier and emerging markets. The firm provides funding, advice and assistance on setting strategy and the execution of that strategy. Its vast pool of knowledge of the online classifieds space and well established global business network, positions it perfectly to enable and advance highly-driven entrepreneurs in frontier and emerging markets across the globe.

Adam Jacobs is the co-founder and Managing Director of online retailer THE ICONIC, and has the privilege of leading a world class team in defining the future of Australian fashion retail.

Since founding THE ICONIC Adam has focused on creating a leading customer experience by breaking the paradigms that existed in online shopping, producing Australia’s most visited fashion site and app, and the market leading ecommerce delivery and returns proposition.

Adam’s previous career was in consulting at The Boston Consulting Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers both in Sydney and Copenhagen, before taking the highly anticipated leap into entrepreneurship. In 2014, Adam was awarded the Young Executive of the Year, and runner up for Managing Director for the Year, by the CEO Magazine’s annual awards.

Tim is CEO and co-founder of Airtasker - a trusted community marketplace for people and businesses to outsource tasks, find local services or hire flexible staff in minutes - online or via mobile.

Tim is also a founder and director of Tank Stream Labs – a co-working space and entrepreneurial community located in the heart of Sydney CBD.

Prior to starting Airtasker, Tim was a founding team member and investor in mobile startup amaysim, playing a key role in strategy and capital raising.  He is a founder and director of several web startups, including online custom shirt design business Joe Button, and motorsport event management group Circuit Club.

Tim has worked as a consulting talent agent at Chic Management and before this, spent five years as an investment banking executive at Macquarie Bank.  Tim has a B.Commerce (marketing) from UNSW and was a recipient of the 2016 UNSW Young Alumni award.

Airtasker is a trusted community marketplace for people and businesses to outsource tasks, find local services or hire flexible staff in minutes - online or via mobile.

Nati Harpaz is the CEO of Catch Group, Australia’s largest pure eCommerce organisation with a retail product business as well as a daily deals business. Nati’s focus is on building cultures in organisations to enable rapid growth which stems from the understanding that management cannot compromise on the quality of its human resource as well as the requirement of a very clear and concise business strategy to allow the entire organisation to focus on achieving it.

On top of his position as CEO of Catch Group he is also the chairman of APAC’s largest retail media organisation – Inside Retail as well as an advisory board member of several publicly listed companies. 

We're one of Australia's leading eCommerce organisations, with a track record of growth that has seen our two core brands become household names over the past 10 years.

Competitive and driven, we provide our customers with an innovative shopping experience everyday. This commitment has made our two main brands - Catch of the Day and Scoopon - highly profitable in every year of operation.

By building fulfilling relationships with suppliers, developing a world class IT platform and investing in our supply chain, we consistently deliver results in a competitive marketplace.

Our ability to identify opportunities and turn great ideas into reality saw takeaway ordering site Eat Now grow from concept to stunning $855m sale as part of the Menulog group in May 2015.

With an illustrious career spanning three decades thus far, Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood is one of the premier names in the Malaysia IT industry, who is known for her outstanding leadership qualities and vision.

She started her career as an analyst programmer with a local bank after graduating with a double-major in Computer Science and Mathematics. She subsequently worked her way up to become General Manager of Hewlett Packard Malaysia’s Commercial Channels Organisation. She then took on the dual-role of General Manager and Regional Corporate Director of Dell Malaysia.

Yasmin moved on to become Microsoft Malaysia’s Managing Director in 2006 and became known for her “Malaysianising Microsoft” mantra and for aligning the strengths of what was then the world’s most powerful software company with Malaysia’s national and development agenda.

In September 2014, she took on the much-coveted post of CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Sdn Bhd; to make a difference and to utilise her expertise and experience for the betterment of the nation.

MDEC, an agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia, has been entrusted to develop, coordinate, and promote the nation’s digital economy, information and communications technology (ICT) industry, and to spearhead Malaysia’s transition towards a developed digital economy by 2020 under the “Digital Malaysia” national agenda

As an active advocate of women empowerment in the workplace, Yasmin is a Founding Patron of Gorgeous Geeks, an NGO advocating Women Empowerment with ICT. Yasmin was also recently appointed as an Adjunct Professor to the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and CEO @ Faculty Programme Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

Yasmin was a key participant and speaker at the World Economic Forum held in June 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was also a panellist at the Forbes “Finding the Next Billion” session held in Silicon Valley, United States in 2015.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), previously known as Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), was incorporated in 1996 to strategically advise the Malaysian government on legislation, policies and standards for ICT and multimedia operations as well as to oversee the development of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor (now MSC Malaysia), the platform to nurture the growth of Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the IT industry whilst attracting participation from global ICT companies to invest in and develop cutting edge digital and creative solutions in Malaysia. 

In 2011, MDEC’s mandate was broadened by the Prime Minister to include driving Malaysia’s transition towards a developed digital economy by 2020 through Digital Malaysia. In 2012, Digital Malaysia was officially unveiled as the nation’s transformational programme to achieve this aim. Digital Malaysia is the national agenda towards a sustainable digital economy built upon a vibrant domestic ICT industry, transformative use of digital solutions by government, businesses and citizens, as well as a robust enabling ecosystem.

Today, both MSC Malaysia and Digital Malaysia run concurrently to spur Malaysia’s ICT industry development and digital transformation, under the purview of MDEC.

For more information, please visit www.mdec.my

Niki is a co-founder of Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm with the mission to be a partner to the greatest business stories born from Australia. Prior to Blackbird Ventures, he founded Startmate, an accelerator that helps nerds with ideas become great CEOs and build global startups. Before that he founded Homethinking and worked at Jupiter Research in New York.

Blackbird Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in Australians wanting to be the best in the world not the best in Australia. We provide equity capital for all stages from Seed, Series A and later stage.

Beau is the Joint CEO & Co-Founder of Prospa, Australia’s leading online lender to small business. Before Prospa, Beau spent over 12 years as a small business owner and held several senior positions in B2C and B2B financial services including at ASX listed Flexigroup (ASX:FXL). 

Beau’s role enables him to use strategic thought leadership to deliver Prospa’s mission to change the way people experience finance.  He has responsibility for strategic planning plus oversight of sales, marketing, distribution channels and business operations. Beau also looks after investor and funder management and finance. He is passionate about ensuring the company keeps its startup culture of collaboration and delivery, alongside exponential and profitable growth. 

Prospa is Australia’s leading online lender to small businesses. Unlike traditional lenders, Prospa understands small business owners need faster finance solutions - so you can make decisions quickly and seize opportunities with total confidence.

Using a smart proprietary technology platform and a fast, easy online application, Prospa focuses on the health of a business to determine creditworthiness, not the personal score of the owner. Small businesses can apply online for loans up to $250k using the online application, get a fast decision and in most cases receive the funding in under 24 hours.

Prospa is the fastest growing technology company in Australia and the third fastest in Asia. We are a 2016 and 2015 Telstra Business Award finalist and ranked 31st in the world as an innovator in the finance sector - and first in Australia - by KPMG's FinTech100. Prospa has a variety of industry leading strategic partners who share our vision of providing easy access to capital for small businesses wanting to grow - including Westpac, Reckon, Xero and OFX. Small business is at the heart of everything we do. 97% of businesses in Australia are classified as small, and together these small businesses account for about half the value of the economy and 70% of the workforce. Since 2011, Prospa has helped thousands of them to grow. 

Jason Pellegrino is Google’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this, Jason was responsible for Google’s business strategy and commercial capabilities across the Asia Pacific region.

Jason has been with Google for 7 years in a variety of roles, including Sales Director, Australia and Head of Strategy & Sales Operations for Google’s Australia & New Zealand business.

Prior to Google, Jason spent over 15 years in Corporate Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions and Sales & Marketing in retail, technology and consumer product industries with LEK Consulting, PepsiCo International & KPMG.

Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Wollongong and an MBA (Distinction) from The London Business School, where he served as President of the Student Association and as a member of the school's Board of Governors.

Jason is a member of the Innovation Taskforce of the Business Council of Australia, a member of ASIC's External Advisory Panel and a Board member of Plan International

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998. Since then, the company has grown to more than 65,000 employees worldwide, with a wide range of popular products and platforms like Search, Maps, Ads, Gmail, Android, Chrome, and YouTube. 

David is a strategic and visionary leader with a passion for innovation in the digital space.

As CEO and co-founder of hipages Group, he has overseen the growth of the business into one of Australia’s largest on-demand home service marketplaces.

David’s background in electrical engineering led him to IBM in 1993 and he quickly began leading large development teams providing support to the business globally.

While with IBM he worked on the high-profile Telstra account, where he was involved in rapid development cycles to release a steady stream of significant features that supported the growth of the Telstra mobile business.

In 2003 he spent a year overseas with software start-up, Report Control. As Technical Director, he lead the development of a CRM system to compete with Salesforce.com.

On returning to Australia, David recognised the value in building a simple system for connecting small businesses with consumers. His solution was the Natural Therapy Pages, a directory that was a resource for consumers and a promotional tool for natural health practitioners. In 2004 the concept was adapted and evolved to focus on tradesmen and home services, and gave birth to hipages.com.au.

Using his technical skills and entrepreneurial flair David has worked hard to reinvent the original directory concept for the internet age and on-demand economy.

Under his leadership the business has been recognised with a number of different awards, including the Smart50 Top Digital Innovator, Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Australasia, BRW Fast 100, BRW Best Places to Work Australia, BRW Most Innovative Companies. These awards have demonstrated cutting edge business strategies, vision, workplace culture and innovation.

David is dedicated to creating a culture that constantly innovates, weaving emerging technology with good old fashioned service to deliver the best possible product to market.

Hi. We’re hipages.

Today, we’re transforming the way people get things done around their place.

Founded in a garage by two great mates with a big idea, we’ve grown by using leading technology to change the way Australians sort out everything – from basic repairs to those big reno projects.

But while we’ve made things simpler and speedier, some things never change – like a good chat, a real relationship and a friendly face. Deep down, we’re a place that connects all kinds of great people, with all kinds of great tradies.

Because at the end of the day, we’re a company of Australians helping other Australians get things done – and done right. (And with 100,000 jobs posted each month, there’s a lot to get done.)

Tony is a co-founder of Square Peg Capital  - an active investor in early stage and growth stage technology businesses.  Tony has extensive experience in principal investing, investment banking and  corporate finance gained in industry-leading global organisations including Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Macquarie Capital. 

Square Peg Capital is a venture capital fund focused on investing in early stage technology companies in Australia, Israel and South East Asia.

At iSelect, we get that most people find insurance, utilities and personal finance boring. But we understand that it’s really important to always get these things right.

As Australia’s life admin store, we’ll help you take care of the boring but important stuff. We’re proud of the service we provide to millions of Australians who seek our expert advice each year on some of life’s most important purchase decisions.

iSelect is much more than just another online comparison website. Comparing online is just the first step in our personalised comparison and expert advisory service. That’s why most of our customers choose to speak over the phone with one of our 500 highly-trained expert advisers at iSelect HQ.

Our dedicated departments cover all of life’s essentials, from choosing the right health or life insurance policy through to refinancing your home loan. We can sort out your energy and broadband connections, and even take care of your car insurance.

We compare and sell some of Australia’s biggest brands and are always adding more. With plenty of partners and thousands of policies, plans and products, we’ll give you the confidence to make the right call on some of the things that matter most. So you can spend time doing, well… anything else.

We’re proud to be a publicly-listed Australian company, and unlike other comparison services, we are not owned by an insurance company and we do not own any of the companies or brands whose products we sell.

As well as our flagship iSelect brand, the iSelect Group also owns personal finance comparison website InfoChoice and energy comparison website Energy Watch.

Adam Schwab, 36, studied Law/Commerce at Monash University before becoming a corporate lawyer specialising in mergers & acquisitions at Freehills (now HerbertSmithFreehills). At 25, Adam co-founded corporate accommodation and services group, Living Corporate Apartments. In 2010, Adam co-founded what would soon become the Lux Group. In 2011, Adam co-founded of MyTable, which eventually formed part of Menulog (which was sold to JustEat in 2015). Adam is currently an investor and non-executive director of online art marketplace, BlueThumb.com.au.

In 2015, Adam was named the Australian Young Executive of the Year by CEO Magazine, and Adam has been a director of the Myeloma Foundation of Australia since 2010.

Lux Group is one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest ecommerce businesses and the owner of LuxuryEscapes.com as well as a suite of other much loved sites including TheHome.com.au, Brands Exclusive, Living Social, Cudo and TreatMe.

Lux turned over AUD$299 million in FY2016 and has more than 400 team members across four continents.

Lux Group is passionate about creating an exceptional experience for its members and clients, with market leading net promoter scores and significant client loyalty.

Hamish McLennan has over 30 years’ experience in the media industry. He is currently Chairman of REA Group Limited, a global online real estate advertising company and is also a Non-Executive Director of Magellan Financial Group. He was previously Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, News Corporation, and Global Chairman & CEO of Young & Rubicam (Y&R) in New York, part of WPP, the world’s largest communications services group. Hamish joined Young & Rubicam in 2002 as Chairman and CEO of Y&R Brands Australia/New Zealand, one of the largest marketing services groups in Australasia, and led the firm’s global business operations from 2006 to 2011. He was also previously Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (March 2014 to July 2015) and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (February 2013 to March 2014) of Australian media company Ten Network Holdings Limited. He has previously served on the Boards of Directors for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the US Ad Council.

REA Group is a multinational digital media business specialising in property. Our team of more than 1,400 people is passionate about working together to build great experiences that deliver value to consumers and customers.

With our headquarters based in Australia, we operate the country’s leading residential and commercial property websites, realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, and have world leading digital sites and investments spanning the globe.

Each of our property portals is centered on providing value for two equally important groups: consumers and customers. We provide our consumers with digital tools, information and data for buying, selling, renting, letting or pricing property.

We assist real estate agents, property developers and other property-related businesses to promote their services through our websites, mobile apps and some print. As our international operations and network of leading property portals continue to grow, we’re exploring ways to get the most out of our expertise and diversify revenue.

Mike is the CEO of Stan Entertainment; a world-class SVOD service for Australian consumers that he established in 2013. Stan Entertainment is a joint venture between Nine Entertainment Co. and Fairfax Media. Mike was formerly the CEO of the Microsoft/Nine Entertainment ecommerce joint venture, Cudo, up until its sale in 2013. Prior to that, Mike set up the Invision IPTV service in Dubai as Vice President of IPTV for the Saudi Telecom/Astro Malaysia joint venture Intigral. Before joining Intigral, he headed Corporate Strategy and Business Development at ninemsn (Nine Digital) where he established and developed a portfolio of the company's high growth digital media businesses including the start-up of MSN New Zealand and management of the EPG and listings business HWW. Prior to ninemsn, Mike led the roll out of Optus’ national ADSL network - “Bigfoot.” Mike holds an Honours Degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

Stan is Australia’s leading local subscription video-on-demand provider. Stan offers unlimited access to thousands of hours of entertainment, with an outstanding lineup of exclusive premieres such as Better Call Saul, Sherlock, Girlfriend Experience, Transparent and UnREAL. New SHOWTIME series also premiere exclusively on Stan, including Billions and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks in 2017.

Stan Originals include the AACTA Award-winning and Logie Award-nominated series No Activity, which returned for a new season in October, and the critically acclaimed AACTA Award-winning drama series Wolf Creek. Several other local projects are currently in development.

Stan’s award-winning TV shows, classic catalogue, blockbuster movies and popular kids content can be watched in full HD on your TV or favourite device, including tablets and smartphones. Stan is a joint venture between Nine Entertainment Co. and Fairfax Media. For more information visit www.stan.com.au.

Over the past 17 years, Craig has been a principal/partner in two of Australia’s leading venture funds: netus and AirTree where he has led deals, supported founders and helped achieve exits. Craig has also founded a number of software companies spanning Travelselect (1998) – a venture-backed online travel company based in the UK that successfully exited to lastminute.com in 2002, Beamly Australia (2012) – a TV second screen business backed by Comcast/NBC, Sky and Network Ten and was founding Chairman of PetCircle (2012) – Australia’s leading subscription ecommerce player for pet owners.

Craig has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from the University of Sydney and an MBA from INSEAD.

AirTree is an early and growth stage venture firm backing world-class Australian and Kiwi entrepreneurs. AirTree helps entrepreneurs to realise their vision of building one of the iconic companies of tomorrow.

AirTree delivers for its founders: it is the only Australian venture firm with a globally top decile track record. 

In the past, AirTree has success investing in marketplaces, global SaaS businesses, next generation finance, digital commerce and media and marketing platforms. Ultimately, AirTree invests in disruptive businesses in any sector looking to reshape traditional industries – and it supports entrepreneurs to achieve their vision.

AirTree loves to write the first cheque for a promising young company.

Formerly known as the Exchange Group, Marketplacer was established in 2007 by Melbourne entrepreneurs and childhood friends Jason Wyatt and Sam Salter, who built the company’s first marketplace, BikeExchange.com.au, into a global success. In 2012, BikeExchange was awarded the Telstra Business of the Year, and in 2013 Jason and Sam were named EY Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Five marketplaces currently sit within Marketplacer’s portfolio:

· BikeExchange is the world’s biggest marketplace for everything bike. BikeExchange has marketplaces in Australia, USA, Germany and New Zealand

· TiniTrader.com.au is Australia's leading baby and kids marketplace for every mum featuring almost 40,000 products

· House of Home is Australia’s leading marketplace for the Australian home - there's no place like it!

· Outdoria is the gateway to a world of outdoors. This outdoor marketplace lets you escape to a place you want to be.

· Tixstar is the Australian online marketplace for sport ticketing, events and hospitality experiential packages.

Stuart Stoyan is founder and CEO of Australian marketplace lender MoneyPlace (www.moneyplace.com.au).

Stuart is a leading member of Australia’s fintech community and has helped shape National fintech and innovation policies.  Stuart is a Board member of Fintech Australia (the national industry association) and a member of the Federal Government’s Fintech Advisory Group.

Prior to founding MoneyPlace, Stuart was the Head of Strategy for NAB Business.  Prior to that he was a management consultant, helping large corporate clients solve complex problems across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United States.  Key areas of focus included market entry, growth and performance improvement with an emphasis on retail and business banking. 

MoneyPlace is an online marketplace that connects creditworthy borrowers with investors. MoneyPlace enables borrowers to save money with lower rates, and investors to earn more through higher fixed income returns.  MoneyPlace launched in late 2015, after becoming Australia’s second fully licensed marketplace lending platform.

David is based in Singapore and is the Managing Partner at Jungle Ventures.  Prior to Jungle, David spent 3.5 years at TPG Capital where he led internet investments outside of the US within the TPG Growth fund.  He continues to be a Senior Advisor at TPG Capital in Asia and represents them as a non-executive director on the board of Propertyguru, the largest online real estate platform in SE Asia.  Prior to TPG, David spent 12 years at Yahoo! Inc where he was the Head of International M&A.  In this role, he was responsible for driving all transaction activity and the investment strategy for Yahoo! outside of North America, including the Yahoo!7 and Yahoo!Xtra joint ventures.

Jungle Ventures is a Singapore based venture capital firm, which is focused on Series A / B investments.  Jungle invests in consumer internet or technology businesses that are based in or are focused on the India, SE Asia, Australia and NZ markets. 

Jungle has also launched an early or seed-stage fund, called SeedPlus, which is a platform focused on providing capital to teams building globally disruptive internet businesses in areas such as IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain, security, software, and others.

Semin left a senior role at NBN Co. to join Stackla when it was little more than a three-man start up with a prototype and a vision.

He brought extensive, cross-industry experience as a technology lead, solutions architect and senior developer with him.

Leading complex projects in delivery of large-scale web sites has allowed Semin to design a scaleable, robust platform with bleeding edge technologies that serves 450 of the world's best known brands.

The social sharing phenomenon has given marketers unprecedented access to a giant footprint of organic, visual customer stories. Stackla is the UGC platform that puts these stories at the heart of brand marketing. Through predictive intelligence and automation, Stackla identifies the most compelling content to strengthen consumer trust and deliver personalised experiences at scale.

Over 450 leading brands use Stackla to identify their most powerful customer stories and align them with their key audiences. We serve a variety of verticals including travel, retail, not-for-profit, media and entertainment and leverage technology partnerships with enterprise marketing platforms like Sitecore, AdRoll and Twitter. Customers include global brands such as McDonald’s, Visa, Lenovo, Ford, Universal Music Group and many more.

Calvin Cheng is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Retech Group, China’s leading corporate online training company, which creates online training platforms for companies such as Sephora, Bank of China, Ping An Insurance amongst others.

Calvin was a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) of Singapore in the Eleventh Parliament. He has also served on various Ministerial advisory boards including the Media Literacy Council, the Singapore Media Festival, Screen Singapore and the Government feedback body, REACH’s supervisory council.

Calvin is the Executive Director of Lumina-Looque International, an integrated media company with offices in Singapore, Malaysia and China, which owns event companies, model agencies and a publishing company. Previously, Calvin was the Asia-Pacific Head of Elite Model Management, the world’s largest modeling agency.

Calvin is also the Managing Director and Founder of Jue Rui Bao Si, a training company in China

that trains some of the leading companies in China in soft skills. Jue Rui Bao Si has also partnered with some of China’s leading movie studios, including Bona Film Group, Enlight Media and Stellar Media Group, to train their artistes in deportment, image and communication. It was also the official training partner for China’s inaugural season of X-Factor.

In December 2014, Calvin, together with Singapore’s Tembusu Partners and China’s Nasdaq listed Bona Film Group, launched one of the world’s first media funds focused on China.

Calvin graduated from the University of Oxford with a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and a Master of Science in Management. Calvin is also a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Retech Technology Co., Ltd (“Retech”) is an established provider of services to corporations and government in China assisting them with technology based solutions to carry out the customization and digitization of offline training programs for delivery through multiple online channels including the internet, mobile and social media platforms.

Retech’s core business is the development and installation of E-Learning Platforms and E-Courses that facilitate electronic delivery of proprietary or third party provided training courses.

Retech owns technology infrastructure that enables the delivery and accessibility to Clients of online training.

The business of GRP Group, prior to the Restructure and the creation of the Retech Group, commenced in 2007. Since 2013, Retech (prior to the Restructure) has achieved year on year growth in revenues to become one of the largest online training solutions providers in China delivering E-Learning Solutions.

Retech’s unique value proposition is that it provides an integrated learning management solution and accompanying support tools.

Retech is in a strong competitive position as a result of the following factors: national footprint and reputation, customised content, multi-platform delivery capability, specialist digitisation capability, focus on upgrading its existing E-Learning Platforms and innovation, diverse Client base, robust quality assurance systems, and a well-regarded management team.

Dr Tim Parsons is one of the founding team members of iflix, helping to lay the early foundations of technology, content and culture which have since grown into the fast-growing global company you see today. An experienced tech sector exec, entrepreneur, and 20-year veteran of commercial product innovation within digital, online and IPTV around the world, Tim also helps advise startups in fields as diverse as health, energy, agriculture, data and space – helping them to grow so they can seize exponential opportunities within emerging and developing economies.

Tim also works at iconic Australian incubator/accelerator Pollenizer, advising companies, government and startups in fields as diverse as health, energy, agriculture, data and space – helping them to seize exponential opportunities within emerging and developing economies.

iflix is a partnership between highly successful, disruptive local entrepreneurs and Hollywood heavyweights. Catcha Group and Evolution Media Capital have joined together to create an Internet TV service for Southeast Asia that provides access to thousands of hours of top TV shows and movies from all over the world. From Hollywood and Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai, Thailand and Tokyo, iflix gives you the entertainment content you want, whenever and wherever you want it. For one low monthly fee, subscribers to iflix can watch an unlimited amount of television shows and movies on their phone, laptop, tablet, tv… anywhere, anytime. 

Let’s play.

Marta is the co-Founder and co-CEO of OpenAgent.com.au with the goal of making it easy for Australian consumers to sell their property. She launched OpenAgent with Zoe Pointon in 2013 and has grown 20,000 customers (representing over $10billion of transaction value) and 95 staff. OpenAgent has venture raised over $20m to continue fuelling this growth. We are most proud of our achievements for our customers: 90% would use OpenAgent again, 84% were happy with the sale price of their property, we save customers an average 11 hours through the process and got NPS scores of over 70% along the way.

Marta has held leadership positions at Qantas, Pacific Brands, and McKinsey&Co, along with other corporates and start-ups in Europe, US and Australia. She earned a Stanford MBA, Physics MSc (National Prize, top 3 students in Spain), a degree in Music and speaks four languages.

Spanish born, British and American educated and Australian resident for the last ten years, she truly is a citizen of the world. She is compelled to keep moving and exploring and has an infectious passion for new experiences. She’s a learning junkie!

OpenAgent is a service that aims to make it easy for Australians to sell their property.

From humble beginnings in 2013, the company has quickly grown to nearly 100 staff, has raised $20m in venture funding, and has achieved steep revenue growth year on year. As a result, OpenAgent has been consistently recognised and awarded as one of Australia’s fastest growing and most promising start-ups.

As a marketplace facilitating real estate transactions, OpenAgent must work with both homeowners and also real estate agents, and help both stakeholders get better outcomes through the real estate transaction process.

To do this, OpenAgent tracks the performance of more than 20,000 real estate agents, and has the strongest real estate network in Australia. We connect qualified property sellers to real estate agents based on their sales track record and customer reviews. We work with all of the Top 10 agents as rated by REB Online, as well as 75 out of the Top 100.

We have helped tens of thousands of OpenAgent customers (representing more than $10bn of transaction value) through the selling process and helped them achieve exceptional outcomes on the sale of their property. In doing so, we have saved our customers on average 11 hours through the home selling process and 90% say they would use OpenAgent again if they were selling another property.

Zoe is the co-Founder and co-CEO of OpenAgent.com.au, a company started to make it easy for people to sell their property. She launched the business with co-Founder Marta Higuera in 2013 and has grown it to 20,000 customers (representing over $10bn transaction value) and nearly 100 staff. Zoe and Marta have raised over $20m to continue fuelling this growth and have consistently been recognised as one of Australia's fastest growing and most promising start-ups.

Before OpenAgent, Zoe was a consultant for global management consulting firm McKinsey&Co. She has a double degree from the University of Queensland in Business and Commerce. Zoe has been a winner of a Telstra Business Women’s Award, included in Business Insiders list of 100 Coolest of Australian Tech, and been named in the Top 50 Entrepreneurs under 40.

When Zoe isn't obsessing over the customer problem in real estate, you'll find her swimming, biking or running reliving her Ironman glory days, or hanging out around Bondi Beach.

OpenAgent is a service that aims to make it easy for Australians to sell their property.

From humble beginnings in 2013, the company has quickly grown to nearly 100 staff, has raised $20m in venture funding, and has achieved steep revenue growth year on year. As a result, OpenAgent has been consistently recognised and awarded as one of Australia’s fastest growing and most promising start-ups.

As a marketplace facilitating real estate transactions, OpenAgent must work with both homeowners and also real estate agents, and help both stakeholders get better outcomes through the real estate transaction process.

To do this, OpenAgent tracks the performance of more than 20,000 real estate agents, and has the strongest real estate network in Australia. We connect qualified property sellers to real estate agents based on their sales track record and customer reviews. We work with all of the Top 10 agents as rated by REB Online, as well as 75 out of the Top 100.

We have helped tens of thousands of OpenAgent customers (representing more than $10bn of transaction value) through the selling process and helped them achieve exceptional outcomes on the sale of their property. In doing so, we have saved our customers on average 11 hours through the home selling process and 90% say they would use OpenAgent again if they were selling another property.

Larry co-founded zipMoney in 2013 following 12 years’ experience in retail, IT, corporate finance and investment banking at Pacific Brands, Macquarie Capital and Deutsche Bank. He is a former consultant to lenders Prospa Advance, Money in Advance and payment operator Live TaxiEpay. Larry is a Qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Information Technology and Master of Commerce (Finance).

zipMoney is Australia’s leading next generation payments solution, offering point-of-sale credit in-store and online. Proprietary decisioning technology enables zipMoney customers to buy now and pay later for purchases with real-time approval and fair, flexible payment terms. zipMoney has a proven track record of improving retailers' sales performance, on average retailers offering zip as a payment method have seen a 20% increase in sales conversions and up to an 80% lift in average order values. 

Sam Weiss has been Chairman of Altium Limited for nearly ten years.  Over that time the Company has increased its market capitalisation nearly ten fold to more than one billion A$ today and is the market leader in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry led by the success of its flagship software product for the design of printed circuit boards, Altium Designer.  Altium Ltd is listed on the ASX and is in the ASX 200.

In recent years Altium has expanded its product range into both the high and the entry level end of EDA software and through its Octopart subsidiary is a world leader in search for electronic components.

Sam has worked at Board level in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States and is highly regarded as a Chairman and Non Executive Director who can create shareholder value through superior strategy, capital and financial controls, premium brand building, people management and strong corporate governance with specific skills and background in software and technology, online products and services and global markets.

Sam is Chairman of 3PLearning Ltd, the maker of the Mathletics, and SurfStitch Limited, the global E-Commerce company for surf and action sports products.

Sam did his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and received a graduate degree from Columbia University in Business Administration.

Altium’s mission is to empower innovation in the world of connected devices, or “Internet of Things”, by providing software-based design tools and solutions that enable designers and engineers to unleash their creativity to innovate. Our customers are the designers and engineers of printed circuit boards, embedded software, and other elements of sophisticated electronics. 

Altium is a market leader in PCB design software, with a family of products that support the needs individual PCB professionals, full teams of PCB professionals, “makers”, and students.  Our Tasking software supports software development professionals who work on embedded systems to program the integrated circuit chips that are the brains in vehicle systems, industrial robots, home devices, and virtually every other “Smart Device”.  And our solutions for component management, design management, and supply chain management are unique and transformative in ensuring that the designs created by engineers are truly “realizable”.

Altium was founded in 1985 in Hobart, Australia and was listed on the ASX in 1999; the Company employs around 500 people offices in Chatswood, San Diego, Boston, Munich, Shanghai, and Kiev in Ukraine, among others.  Corporate headquarters are in La Jolla, California.

Darren Davidson is The Australian's media editor. Prior to joining The Australian in 2011, he was the editor of AdNews. A British native, Davidson arrived in Australia in 2010. He began his career in London, writing for newspapers and magazines including The Daily Telegraph and Campaign. He began working part-time on a local newspaper aged 14.

Gonzalo del Pozo was appointed CEO of the Mitula Group on the 17 April 2015. Prior to this, Gonzalo was the co-founder and CEO of Mitula Classifieds S.L. and also a member in its advisory Board. Gonzalo is the co-founder and former CEO of Ediciones Globaliza S.L., a leading property portal operating in Spain established in 1998. Gonzalo is a Director and major shareholder in Inception Capital S.L., an investment fund with over 10 investments in internet companies. Gonzalo is a Director and Member of the Investment Committee in Onza Capital (Onza Venture Capital Investments, SCR de régimen común, S.A) a limited liability venture capital firm entered on the official register of venture capital entities at the Spanish National Securities Market Commission. Gonzalo holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Suffolk University.

The Mitula Group is a leading ‘vertical search’ website operator, with a current portfolio of more than 170 websites in 45+ countries and in 18 languages. Following the acquisition of Lokku Limited in May 2015, and Nuroa in March 2016 the Mitula Group operates its websites under three main brands, ‘Mitula’, ‘Nestoria’ and ‘Nuroa‘.

The Mitula Group’s vertical search functionality gives its website users the ability to search across listings from multiple segments, being real estate, automotive, employment, and, in some countries, holiday rentals and fashion, and obtain search results from multiple advertisers with one search query. With access to the search results of multiple advertisers, users are offered a more convenient and efficient search experience than performing a search on a single advertiser’s website. In March 2016, the Mitula Group’s websites received more than 65 million visits and featured more than 250 million aggregated classifieds listings from over 13,000 advertisers.

The Mitula Group generates revenue through two main sources, Direct CPC Revenue generated from the sale of the ‘Click Outs’, and revenue from Google AdSense advertisements. A Click Out occurs when a user clicks on a listing on a Mitula Group website and is redirected to the advertiser’s website, where the listing is hosted. In March 2016, the Mitula Group generated 100 million Click Outs to advertisers’ websites. Revenue is also earned when a user clicks on a Google AdSense advertisement appearing on the Mitula Group’s websites.

Brendan is head of the Telecommunications, Media & Technology (“TMT”) team for Australia and New Zealand within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs.  He has led M&A and capital market transactions for many of Goldman Sachs’ TMT clients in the region such as NBN Co, Vocus Group, MYOB, Catapult, amaysim, Netcomm, Wotif, Fairfax, and Spark.  Brendan joined Goldman Sachs in 2003 and has over 13 years banking experience including 5 years in Goldman Sachs’ New York office. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Brendan also spent two years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.  

Andrew Cramer has over 10 years’ experience across M&A and Capital Markets advisory. Having started his career at Macquarie Capital, Andrew joined Citigroup in 2011 and over the last 6 years has helped to build Citi’s TMT franchise in Australia and NZ. Andrew has advised on a number of landmark transactions such as the NewsCorp demerger, Sky’s merger with Vodafone NZ and REA Group’s acquisition of iProperty.

Citi is the world's preeminent global investment banking firm as well as the foremost global underwriter in combined equity and debt issuance.

Citi's bankers are organized into industry, product and regional groups and work closely with partners in capital markets, sales and trading, research and global relationship banking to offer customized financing strategies to a broad range of clients.

This combined expertise allows Citi to offer the most innovative and comprehensive ideas and solutions in all market conditions by bankers that have in-depth industry knowledge, local market acumen, product creativity and execution expertise.

As both a serial entrepreneur and experienced venture capitalist, Danny Gilligan is at the forefront of driving disruptive innovation in Australia’s financial services sector. Gilligan is a Co-Founder & Director of Data Republic, a trust platform for secure data exchange between companies that is seeking to lead the transition to a data driven economy. Danny also co-founded Reinventure with Simon Cant in 2013 and is a founding director of Stone & Chalk, an independent not-for-profit Fintech hub whose overarching objective is to help foster and accelerate the development of world-leading Fintech start-ups in Australia.

Founded in 2014 by Danny Gilligan and Paul McCarney, Data Republic is a legal framework and technology platform which enables companies, governments and not-for-profits to safely and securely exchange data to enrich customer and audience insights. No customer personal information (P.I) is available on the platform and all exchanges are strictly governed on legal and ethical bases and subject to Data Republic’s Legal Participation Agreement.

Westpac Reinventure, NAB Ventures and Qantas Loyalty have each invested in Data Republic, who’s mission is to enable organisations to mobilise and leverage their data in a way which is ethical and respects consumer privacy. Learn more about Data Republic

Matthew is a Managing Director of Telstra Ventures. Since its inception five years ago, Telstra Ventures has invested $300M+ in 37 companies around the world of which seven have achieved liquidity events. Matthew started in the venture capital industry in 1998 and has worked with 70+ global venture backed companies of which many have achieved successful acquisitions and IPOs. Matthew was previously a Founder and General Partner at Accede Venture Partners; the head of the venture capital team at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners in Australia; and a founding team member of the venture capital team at Macquarie Bank. Prior to this, Matthew was a software/hardware design engineer and project manager at Fujitsu. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Business Administration from the AGSM, completed at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Matthew has also completed the HPLP at the Harvard Business School and he is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology company. We offer a full range of services and compete in all telecommunications markets in Australia, operating the largest mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Globally, we provide end-to-end solutions including managed network services, global connectivity, cloud, voice, colocation, conferencing and satellite solutions. We have licenses in Asia, Europe and the United States and offer access to more than 2,000 points of presence across the globe. 

Matt Barrie is the Chief Executive of Freelancer.com and Escrow.com. He is an award winning entrepreneur, technologist and lecturer, having won numerous awards including a Gold Stevie for Executive of the Year in the 2016 International Business Awards and the inaugural BRW Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011. 

Matt was previously founder and CEO of Sensory Networks Inc., a vendor of high performance network security processors, which Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) announced in 2013 it was acquiring. Matt was Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney where he taught Cryptography for fifteen years and, later, Technology Venture Creation. He is the co-author of over 20 US patent applications.

Ten­-time Webby award ­winning Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. Over 22 million registered users have posted more than 10.6 million projects and contests to date in over 900 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer owns Escrow.com, the leading provider of secure online payments and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet. Freelancer Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN.

Scott OBrien is leading Humense with the commercial assimilation of holographic capture and display of people. For Scott this was a conceptual dream back in 2001 and for the psyche of most in cinema, an indelible memory with Princess Leia’s plea “help me Obe Wan Kanobe” in 1977.

Since 2009 Scott has worked at the bleeding edge of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Wearables and human first user experiences with 100s of apps and multi-million dollar builds. A highlight being a 6 week project to make see through AR eyewear, software stack and creative to assist in a major sporting event bid back in 2010. This set his foundation for successful 5 yearly industry forecasts with the next being over 10% of people wearing “reality” eyewear by 2020.

Throughout Sydney and Melbourne, Scott has also brought together around 2000 of the countries most enthusiastic AR and VR professionals and ethusiasts via co-ordination and promotion of meetup groups.

Prior to entering the tech sector, Scott studied B.Sc (Psych), played professional sport in Scandinavia, set up one of the countries largest street parades and helped give birth to the online retail industry in Australia with an event named Online Retailer.

Humense is immensely human experiences in the realities. An Alibaba/Youku funded company also with Australian investors, Humense provides the world with a platform and toolset that captures and displays human performances in Augmented (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Our core technology takes an array of 2D cameras and sensors and enables a hyper real volume of a moving person in spatially and neuropsychologically true 3D.

Chief scientist of Oculus by Facebook stated one of the greatest problems in VR is representing human performance. From the technology viewpoint the problem is with computational and display limitations. With neuroscientific principles, in the film, animation and robotics industries the problem is defined as the “uncanny valley”, the fine line between instinctual recognition of another human and  an imitation. For AAA games and movies like Benjamin Button, this has been multi-million dollar problem for years.

Lord Mitchell in UK Parliament argued in 2011 against a £40B railway project, citing “holographic telepresence” would be available by 2033 when the railway is finished. Humense, a Sydney based company is solving this problem in 2017 by having high resolution detailed human performance and communications available on multiple devices, bandwidths with accessible and friendly tools for everyone.  

Simon Cant is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Reinventure Group.  Launched in January 2014, Reinventure is a corporate venture fund with $100m under management which brings together the best of independent venture capital and corporate venturing.  Westpac is the primary investor in Reinventure alongside Simon and his co-founder Danny Gilligan and to date the fund has made 14 investments focused on Fintech and adjacent areas.  

Simon is also the founding President of FinTech Australia, the industry’s peak representative body, and a member of the Treasurer’s FinTech Advisory Group.

Simon has built his career in venture and innovation including advising companies such as Westpac, NAB, Suncorp, Fairfax, News APN and Tennis Australia as well as being a founding team member at Social Ventures Australia, Tinshed Angel Group and ninemsn.

Reinventure exists at the third horizon of growth, focused on creating options in future businesses through venture investment and a strategic relationship with our largest limited partner, Westpac Banking Corporation. With $100m to invest in FinTech and adjacent areas, we are uncovering, investing in and nurturing scalable early businesses that will be the future of the industry. While Westpac is the largest investor in Reinventure Fund, alongside founders Danny Gilligan and Simon Cant, the fund is operated independently by Reinventure Group. This allows us to fully focus on helping our portfolio companies succeed and, with $100M in committed funds, we have the resources to continue investing and stay engaged with our portfolio companies as they grow. Once we invest, our job is to add value to our ventures in the best way we can, both through our operational experience and networks, and unlocking maximum synergy values between the ventures and Westpac. Westpac is keen to understand emerging trends, acquire know-how from great entrepreneurs and co-create in areas that can benefit from the complementary skillsets both parties bring.

With seven years of experience in data science and data commercialisation, Natalie is an expert in Design Computing. Natalie led the analytical team for the non-food vertical at Quantium - most innovative vertical in 2015.

Natalie led the commercial team for Servcorp, grew profitability by 3x in regions managed. Natalie started Hyper Anna in February 2016, along with her co-founder Sam Zheng.

Hyper Anna is an AI company in the data space. We help organisations get closer to their data by serving sculpted insights to their employees. We do this by deploying Anna, our AI agent, on top of organisations' databases to enable the business to query anything and everything that is of importance. Anna produces actionable insights under 6 seconds and enables everyone (regardless of their data literacy level) to make insight-driven decisions.

Nicola is one of Australia's leading voices on gender equality and social innovation. 

After more than ten years working in media and public affairs in the community sector, politics and television news, in 2016 Nicola joined startup and innovation group BlueChilli, to lead the development of a new open innovation program turbocharging female leadership in the growing startup economy. The SheStarts program has now invested $1 million in ten female-led startups, kicked off a world-class accelerator program and launched a documentary series to redefine what it means to be a tech entrepreneur. Nicola is also an Advisory Board member for AngelHack's LadyProblems global hackathon series, tackling barriers to female entrepreneurship; and a non-executive director of national campaigning and advocacy organisation, The Parenthood.

Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Minogue joined REA Group in December 2015 and is Executive General Manager, Media & Marketing.  She is responsible for consumer marketing as well as setting the long term strategic direction, product design and delivery and profitability of REA Group’s media business.

Libby is a media advertising specialist with more than 15 years’ experience in the media and entertainment sectors within Australia and the United States, including at Fox Cable Networks. 

She joined REA Group after a long tenure as National Director for Integration and Content Partnerships for The Multi Channel Network (MCN), a joint venture between Foxtel and Fox Sports.

REA Group is a multinational digital media business specialising in property. Our team of more than 1,400 people is passionate about working together to build great experiences that deliver value to consumers and customers.

With our headquarters based in Australia, we operate the country’s leading residential and commercial property websites, realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, and have world leading digital sites and investments spanning the globe.

Each of our property portals is centered on providing value for two equally important groups: consumers and customers. We provide our consumers with digital tools, information and data for buying, selling, renting, letting or pricing property.

We assist real estate agents, property developers and other property-related businesses to promote their services through our websites, mobile apps and some print. As our international operations and network of leading property portals continue to grow, we’re exploring ways to get the most out of our expertise and diversify revenue.

Paul is publisher and editor-in-chief at Business Insider Australia. He has been a journalist for 20 years, with his career spanning news and investigative features for the Ireland edition of The Sunday Times, to a decade at News Corp after moving to Australia.

He was a founding editor of news and political commentary website The Punch and later editor of News Corp’s biggest Australian website, news.com.au. He has led online coverage of four Australian federal elections and major news events ranging from the Beijing Olympics to the Queensland floods and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

He went on to become network digital news director, running News Corp Australia’s online coverage of major national and international news events.

In 2013 Paul launched Business Insider in Australia, which now reaches more than 1 million people monthly, according to Nielsen Online Ratings. Australia was the first overseas edition of Henry Blodget’s New York-based publication. In 2014, it was named Business Website of the Year at the annual Publishers Australia Excellence Awards.

Paul holds a degree in English and Classical History from University College Dublin, a Masters in Journalism, and a postgraduate qualification in management. In his spare time he enjoys rock music, decent food, and watching rugby, especially when the Wallabies play Ireland.

Business Insider Australia is the Australian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business news website.

Targeted at aspirational business leaders, Business Insider Australia features the latest technology, money and markets news, along with ideas to inspire executives and high-end lifestyle features.

The title is edited by Paul Colgan from our Sydney office.

Business Insider is the sixth title for Allure Media, the country’s fastest-growing top 20 publisher. About three million monthly UBs read Allure’s existing technology and women’s lifestyle websites, which include Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, ShopStyle and POPSUGAR.

Michael Bailey is Editor, Entrepreneur for The Australian Financial Review, covering Entrepreneurs, Innovation and Startups. Based in Fairfax Media's Sydney newsroom, Michael was deputy editor, then editor of BRW between 2011 and 2016.

For more than 50 years The Australian Financial Review has been the authority on business, finance and investment news in Australia. It has a reputation for independent, award-winning journalism and is essential reading for Australia’s business and investor community.

Our audience demands a newspaper that adapts to their changing needs. The Australian Financial Review meets these needs every day through innovative features and sections.