Four Tech23 start-up winners share in $100,000

Ninja Blocks and ScriptRock are among this year’s winners of technology innovation event Tech23, which saw four start-ups share in $100,000.

This year, Tech23 attracted more than 150 applications.

The 23 start-ups chosen to participate have developed new technologies that do everything from fighting fraud to transforming photographs into maps.

At the event, which was held in Sydney earlier this week, the start-ups showcased their business models to an audience of more than 400 potential investors, partners and clients.

This year’s winners include the following:

Zeptonics – Innovation Excellence Award ($40,000)

Zeptonics creates the world’s fastest and most innovative devices for latency-sensitive networks such as high frequency stock trading.

ZeptoLink – a 50-port layer, one circuit switch that can electronically create a circuit between any of its ports – forwards data in approximately five nanoseconds.

Ninja Blocks – Outstanding Collaboration for Innovation Award ($20,000)

Ninja Blocks allows users to connect physical things to apps, the environment and web services. Whether it’s a doorbell or an electricity meter, it enables users to connect and control them.

Smart Sparrow – High Growth Catalyst Award ($20,000)

Smart Sparrow is revolutionising education with its adaptive eLearning platform, empowering teachers to create powerful learning experiences, which intelligently adapt to students.

Following five years of research, Smart Sparrow has spun out of the lab and is now used by tens of thousands of students in major international universities every year.

ScriptRock – Greatest Potential Award ($20,000)

ScriptRock offers companies a secure platform for storing system configuration information. It allows customers to convert this information into executable tests against their running systems.

Armed with these tests, customers avoid failures due to change, greatly reduce troubleshooting times, ensure system compliance and prevent configuration drift.

Other awards included the ATP Innovations Explorer Award, which offers return flights to Silicon Valley, and meetings with investors, potential customers and serial entrepreneurs.

Another major award was the ilab Germinate Program Award, which offers up to six months of free office space at ilab’s Queensland incubator, and participation in ilab’s Germinate Program.

It’s worth noting 16 of the start-ups are NSW-based, which, according to NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, reflects the state’s leadership “in this dynamic and creative business sector”.

“Sydney and NSW are primed for growth in this sector,” Stoner said in a statement.

“The NSW Government is working closely with industry on a range of initiatives to build strength in the state’s reputation as the home of Australia’s new technology start-up community.”