Robotic arms and cleaners take out top honours at Tech23

After an intense day of pitching and panels, the winners of the Tech23 start-up conference were announced last night.

The 23 finalists who pitched were selected through a competitive process prior to the event.

Marita Cheng’s robotic arm start-up 2Mar Robotics took out the Innovation Excellence Award and ATP Innovation’s Explorer award. Cheng receives a supported trip to Silicon Valley.

Sabre Autonomous Solutions, a grit-blasting robot, also took out two prizes: the Tech23 Greatest Potential Award and a trip to London by winning the London & Partners Discover Tech City Award.

Conference founder and coordinator Rachel Slattery told the crowd she was excited about the greater national representation at the Sydney event this year.

“There was also more of a national feel than in past years with half of the Tech23 coming from outside NSW and many attendees visiting from interstate,” Slattery said.

“It’s great to see so many exciting technologies that can bring real impact to productivity but also new technologies that can really benefit the lives of people.”

The event was sponsored by a range of groups, including government body NSW Trade & Investment, which awarded two MVP Grants worth $15,000 each to Sabre Autonomous Solutions and experiential education start-up Intersective.

TV direct purchasing tech start-up BuyReply won the People’s Choice award, and $5,000 from PayPal.

Food Orbit won a $5,000 cash prize from the REA Group, and a $1,000 Visa gift card from BrainTree.

SimplyShow.me, a secure video sharing platform, won $2,500 cash from AMP Amplify Festival.

There were over 20 other prizes from mentoring and education opportunities awarded on the night.