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The first event of the Young Entrepreneur Awards calendar kicks off in Sydney tonight with the city’s top founders aged under 40 set to converge on the boutique historic events space NUMBER 10 in Rushcutters Bay.
Replete with tightly contested categories and an abundance of inspiring founder journeys to share and celebrate, the 2025 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards will showcase an outstanding cohort across a wide range of industries, both with and without the suffix ‘tech’.
The Sydney finalists generated almost $500 million in turnover in FY25 and growth has been strong despite challenges in the broader economy. That is not to mention the pre-revenue finalists who have hit meaningful milestones within their unique business models.
Last year Sydney was the launchpad for the initiative’s first-ever Deep Tech award, highlighting founders who embark on the longest paths to commercialisation. This year the segment has blossomed at a national level, including remarkable entries from the Harbour City.
In 2025 we are also excited to include two new categories: Beauty & Wellness and Energy & Cleantech – two fields that have long been part of the awards but now have reached the critical mass and level of excellence to warrant their own standalone accolades.
In this industry-agnostic program, all finalists are considered for the most prestigious titles of Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Trailblazer, with the latter recognising an entrepreneur who has achieved exponential growth in a short space of time with the potential for major success.
This year’s Trailblazer will follow in the footsteps of the 2024 winner Dr Benjamin Coorey of Archistar, who received the honour in his fourth year participating in the awards. His property-tech company has since made strides in its North American operations, playing an important role in California’s rebuilding efforts in the wake of devastating wildfires earlier this year.
The winner of the highest award at the event will also have big shoes to fill, joining a legacy that includes Adrian Manning, Paul Hauner and Mehdi Zerouali from blockchain powerhouse Sigma Prime, Argylica and William Conditsis of dressmakers BABYBOO, and Advanced Navigation’s co-founders Xavier Orr and Chris Shaw.
The Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards also welcomes new judges into the mix who join longstanding contributors on the panel: Vita Group founder Maxine Horne; Greencross founder Dr Glen Richards; Acusensus co-founder Alexander Jannink; Go1 co-founder Andrew Barnes; CitrusAd co-founder Brad Moran; Dental Boutique co-founders Dr Reuben Sim and Dr May Chan; Loanezi founder Renee Tocco; and Business News Australia founder Camilla Westerlund.
The 2025 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards would not have been made possible without the support of corporate partners, the Australian Government's Industry Growth Program, RSM and iVvy.
All award winners will automatically go through as finalists to the 2025 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards, to be held on the Gold Coast on 29 November.
The 2025 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards finalists are (in alphabetical order by company):
- Manpreet Singh - Ace Biz
- Hendri Rachman & Dean Costello - Ace Property Team
- Preet Singh & Flynn Rogley - AEK Media
- Jada Khorram - Aether Diagnostics
- Catherine Slogrove - Amelia Bio & Papaya Agency
- Samuel Fernandes - Australian Football Group
- Samuel Wood - Azura Fashion Group
- Leticia Prado - BKT, Beauty Keeps Transforming
- Tamara Haddow - Black Diamond Agency
- Shoraye Khatter, Nishita Khatter, Karan Gandhi & Mayank Nangia - Blue Moon Marketing, Blue Moon Finances, Blue Moon Offshore Solutions
- Annie Liao - Build Club
- Paul Nguyen - Creative Culture HQ, The Cave HQ, Supp Culture
- Cassandra Hili - Curated Agency
- Sanjay Sundarjee - Damican
- Tahlia Carlyle - Empowered Living Care
- Simon Molnar - Flagship.ai
- George Papura - Georgiemane
- Jennifer Mekhaeil - GO BARE, Mekhaeil Group
- David Taylor - GRASP Group, International School of Music, First Light Co, Oasis Brewing Company
- Jarron Aizen - Hapana
- William Crowe & Hiranya Jayakody - HEO
- Taylor Chapman & Steve Chapman - Hyro
- Alexander Ciarroni - IB Solved
- Anthony Biscotto - Inara Technology
- Daniel Lazarus - Industrias Services Group
- Carlyon Ward - InLaw, Aditum Lawyers
- Tate Zanner - Insil
- Arjun Paliwal - InvestorKit
- Jordan Gogos - Iordanes Spyridon Gogos
- Matt Purcell - KYU Media, The Business Academy, Social Kung Fu
- Dominic Woolrych & Thomas Willis - Lawpath
- Rita Agoulian - LickYourPhone Media
- Alexis Oujani - Lion's Den Collectibles
- Julian Fayad - LoanOptions.ai
- Annie Pang - Lucent Legal, Sencha Skin, Contractly, Formly
- Zane Sabré & Omar Sabré - MAISON de SABRÉ
- Scott Purcell - Man of Many
- Amanda Wickramage & Gayan Herath - Mandy the Physio
- Stephen Macree & Daniele Agostino - Mussage
- Brittany Fox - Nevam
- Steve Vassiloudis - Novalith Technologies
- Alur Saguinsin - One Kidney
- Hayden Smith - Pearler
- Harrison Crowe-Maxwell, Thien 'Long' Tran & Shyeon Delnawaz - Puralink
- Matthew Orlic & Kristina Orlic-Edmonds - Qure Skincare
- Henrique Turra - Radish Events
- Ryan Nelson - Refilled
- Sanjna Pathania - Refyne Loans
- Scott O'Neill - Rethink Group
- Cam Clayton - Sales Hero
- Johan Misquitta - Simplyai
- Tomoyuki Hachigo & Alex Solo - Sprintlaw
- Preet Singh, Reinaldo Lie & Raman Singh - SupplyScope
- Hayder Shkara - The Justice Network
- Aidan Anderson - The Local Project
- Sarah Elkordi - The Rent Fairy
- Lloyd Hall - The Wonderfur Company
- Sam Jamsheedi - Trademark Group of Companies
- Jacob Ritchie - Two Birds Social, Poly Studios
- Sajjad Naveed, Skye Theodorou & Anish Sinha - upcover
- Lauren Kennedy - Verity AI
- Jonathon Mendez - Vivacity Property, MHE Property Co, Land Lease SPV, Earthbuilt
- Nikki Ciancio - WiSE Recycling Co
- Ben Delaney, Vanessa Zhao, HoJun Tang & Adrian Brossard - Yellowbox
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