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Another standout performance from Australian Property Scout (APS) founder Sam Gordon has seen him win the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the second year running last night, while the coveted Trailblazer accolade went to the founder of one of Queensland's fastest growing home builders.
The size of Gordon's team has increased by more than 60 per cent over the past year as the buyers agency keeps up with demand, strengthens its research division, expands its education-focused sister company School of Property, hosts sold-out events, and puts greater focus on its newer commercial property agency.
"This is more of a blue ocean in terms of competition and also solves a needed service within our offering that we do not currently have," says Gordon of the foray into commercial property.
"I believe I could scale this arm to a similar size to APS residential," adds Gordon, who also drives leads for the group through his highly-ranked Scouting Australia Podcast which he claims has "proven to be a masterstroke as our no-BS approach to property investing is extremely well received".
The awards' judges offered glowing appraisals of Gordon and his business model, his clever approach of having an education-driven buyers agency, and his "founder-led brand repeat/referral engine".
While Gordon has been busy helping others in their journeys of property success, "specifically the lower income earners" like he had been before trying his hand at building passive income, this year's Trailblazer award winner was won by an entrepreneur on the supply side of the property market with phenomenal year-on-year growth.
Avia Homes founder Tom Egan won the prestigious Trailblazer recognition in what was an extremely tight call for the event's esteemed judges, after delivering more than 400 homes in FY24.
Looking ahead, the trailblazer is now aiming to increase build capacity, expand a new consumer-facing brand called DARE Homes, and bolster land development projects and master-planned communities through the Urban Ventures Group.
Egan edged ahead of long-time participant and multiple award-winner Mike Kellett of plant-based protein group Macro Mike, as well as Reuben Bergola and Michelle Williams of Green Life Clinics.
The latter was only founded in 2023 and provides telehealth and in-store consultations for medicinal cannabis, aimed at enhancing access to alternative therapies focused on chronic pain, mental health and sleep disorders.
Bergola also had the honour of winning two awards at the gala event held at QT, taking out the Health & Medicine category as a co-founder of Green Life Clinics, as well as the Finance & Fintech category as a co-founder of New Wave Group.
Reflecting the Gold Coast's buoyant status as a thriving hub for entrepreneurship, the city's finalists notched the highest combined profit of any city nationally in this year's initiative, and included serial founders who took part with multiple ventures across different sectors, from events to property, labour hire to finance, and more.
The 2025 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards were supported by its corporate partners - the City of Gold Coast, the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Program, Homecorp led by former Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner Ron Bakir, MGI Accountants & Business Advisors, Van Berkel & Wood and iVvy.
The judging panel comprised Vita Group founder Maxine Horne, Greencross founder Dr Glen Richards, Acusensus co-founder Alexander Jannink, Go1 co-founder Andrew Barnes, Dental Boutique founders Reuben Sim and May Chan, CitrusAd co-founder and Rocket Advisory partner Brad Moran, Zee Zhang from MGI Accountants & Business Advisors, Loanezi founder Renee Tocco, and Business News Australia founder Camilla Westerlund.
See below for all winners from the night, and we thank all participants for sharing their stories with Business News Australia.
- Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Samuel Gordon - Australian Property Scout
- Trailblazer: Tom Egan - Avia Homes
- Finance & Fintech: Reuben Bergola, Wayne Kampen & Jameson Smith – New Wave Group
- Food & Beverage: Mike Kellett – Macro Mike, Macro King
- Health & Medicine: Reuben Bergola & Michelle Williams – Green Life Clinics
- Hospitality & Tourism: James Carney, Alec Carney & Paul Carney – Gemelli Italian
- Marketing: Broden Johnson - Yakk
- PR, Media & Events: Katie Fielding – Country Girl Management
- Professional Services: Sasha Karabut – eCom Capital
- Property & Construction: Samuel Gordon – Australian Property Scout
- Retail & Services: Karen Mitault & Sylvain Mitault – Tweetycam
- Specialist Services: Sterling Sheddan & Abdul Muqtadir – Fastway Enterprises
- Startup: Shokria Siddiqui – Capability Support Services
- Technology:Jeremy Lynch & Marc Everest – Dealer Studio
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