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21. Chris Thompson (35) and Dan Adams (38)
Amber
Melbourne
Having first challenged the electricity retail industry with its real-time prices that help households optimise for cheaper usage of available renewable energy on the grid, Amber is now bringing positive disruption to electric vehicle users and new overseas markets.
Following a $29 million capital raise in February last year that took its total capital raised to $75 million, the company received a $3.2 million top-up in June to partner with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on a battery electric vehicle (BEV) smart charging trial.
The trial, now in its second stage, will involve at least 1,000 customers participating in the smart charging trial as well as the optimisation of vehicle-to-grid-capable EVs.
“This will see electric cars optimised to not only charge at optimal times, but also power their owners’ homes and sell power into the energy grid when it’s needed most - sometimes referred to as ‘bi-directional charging’,” co-founder and co-CEO Dan Adams explains.
In a similar vein, in November the group announced its new product Amber for EVs, applying a similar model of price optimisation for cheaper or free charging, but in some cases even paying customers if wholesale prices fall below zero.
This year Amber bolstered its EV capabilities further still by acquiring EV smart charging app Charge HQ.
“Charge HQ’s technology is a fantastic addition to Amber’s offering, giving EV owners the ability to charge their vehicles in a way that maximises renewable energy use while also cutting costs,” says Amber co-founder and co-CEO Chris Thompson.
“By combining Charge HQ’s capabilities with Amber’s real-time wholesale pricing technology, we’re giving our customers another powerful tool to help them support Australia’s transition to renewable energy.”
In addition to a broadening of its offering, Amber also made its first step into the international market in September 2024 through a partnership with E.ON Next in the UK.
Related story: Power retailer Amber expands EV charging capabilities with Charge HQ acquisition
22. Dylan Coyne (29) and Clifton Hodgkinson (30)
Updoc
Sydney
With ambitions to become the “front door for primary care”, Updoc has seen its telehealth technology platform used by more than 300,000 people to date in Australia with patients across 95 per cent of the country’s postcodes.
The platform allows users to book a range of services including general medical consultations, online prescriptions, pathology referrals, specialist referrals and medical letters.
Founded in 2021 by Canva and Uber alumni Dylan Coyne and Clifton Hodgkinson who also founded Jot Bikes, Updoc was bootstrapped until Bailador Technology Investments (ASX: BTI) pumped $20 million into the fast-growing company in May last year.
For a sense of its growth rate since, at the time Updoc had been used by 200,000 people to date. Now that number is 50 per cent greater, and in December Bailador upped its estimated valuation of the investment by $10 million as well.
“We are projecting to have reached 1,000,000 Australians within the next year,” says Dylan Coyne.
Hodgkinson notes that a Productivity Commission report in May 2024 on digital health found that almost 30 per cent of all Australians had used telehealth services at least once in the previous 12 months, with many accessing them multiple times.
“With a massive, growing presence in Australia and a small, increasing footprint in the UK, the outlook for us continues to be promising with more on-demand services, enhanced product development, and further international growth,” he says.
“People need better access to healthcare more than ever, and we’re still only scraping the surface of the enormous benefit that people can gain from accessible healthcare.”
23. Steve Hind (37)
Lorikeet
Sydney
Amidst high levels of customer dissatisfaction in dealing with either outsourced, scattered customer service teams or ineffective chatbots, Steve Hind and Jamie Hall have developed an AI agent that can handle multi-conditional queries in sensitive or regulated topics.
Rather than simply summarising FAQs or implementing architectures passed on by OpenAI, Lorikeet is based on proprietary "intelligent graph" technology, purpose built from the ground up to handle complex workflows.
Lorikeet’s design mitigates the tendency modern AI systems have towards hallucinations, which is often caused by a large language model (LLM) being trained to be helpful even if it doesn’t know the correct answer to a question.
“Lorikeet’s AI agent does not aim to draft responses for or to send responses to all tickets. Instead it’s designed to be trained to deal with specific issues, and to leave everything beyond its training alone,” says Hind.
“This allows our customers to train and test the AI incrementally, building confidence over time but driving step change improvements in efficiency as the agent takes on more and more volume autonomously.
“By focusing on how we help customers launch autonomous agents, we’ve been drawn to make the agent better, and to build an industry-leading suite of testing, evaluation and rollout tools.”
Hind and Hall claim to have been able to avoid this problem by giving the Lorikeet LLM specific and domain-focused tasks.
The technology is already used by large players across several industries including Eucalyptus in telehealth, Step in banking and MagicEden in cryptocurrency, and has attracted US$14 million ($22 million) in venture capital investment since its launch in October 2024.
Related story: Lorikeet raises extra $14m for complex AI customer agent that handles ‘high-stakes’ interactions
24. Paul Maric (37)
Carexpert.com.au
Brisbane
After Paul Maric and Alborz Fallah completed their sale of CarAdvice.com.au to Nine Entertainment for $62 million in late 2018, they decided they no longer wanted to work for a big corporate and went back to their entrepreneurial ways.
In 2020, alongside Anthony Crawford, they turned on the ignition and drove back into the industry with car news and reviews website Carexpert.com.au, which has attracted investment from Seven West Media, billionaire Laurence Escalante and former Audi Australia exec Nikki Warburton.
They claim it is now the country’s largest new car site.
“CarExpert is a content-led marketplace that uses super engaging content to drive data and leads for both car companies and dealers,” says Maric.
“As the second-largest car website in Australia, the business has full API (application programming interface) integration with dealers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to drive a full funnel solution from the research phase of car purchase all the way to the sale and resale of the vehicle.
“With more than 70 full-time staff across our Brisbane HQ, and Sydney and Melbourne offices, CarExpert is quicky becoming a dominant force in helping connect new car buyers with the right car.”
25. Michael Ramsey (36)
STRONG Pilates
Melbourne
Co-founded in 2019 by Michael Ramsey and Mark Armstrong, STRONG Pilates has become a household name in Australia for its blend of low-impact Pilates and high-intensity cardio.
Now with 59 studios in Australia and 23 in international markets, STRONG Pilates has a pipeline of hundreds of studio openings in such markets as the USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Dubai and Bahrain.
In October last year the franchise announced bold ambitions to open 100 studios in the US alone with 77 planned locations already confirmed following the opening of its global HQ in California.
Building on its reputation for innovative Rowformer and Bikeformer machines, the group has also diversified its offering closer to home with recovery centres opening in Sunnybank, Queensland, and Frankston, Victoria, featuring saunas and cold plunges for “optimum wellness post workout”.
Ramsey discovered Pilates as rehabilitation after breaking his ankle, around the time that he was selling out of six F45 franchises.
“I instantly fell in love with Pilates, but felt it lacked the sweat factor and the intensity that circuit training offered,” he says.
“I saw this as a huge growth market opportunity and after conducting surveys within the Reformer space, almost all consumers said they felt like they needed to go for a run after their workout or do a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) class.
“By establishing franchise locations in various locations across Australia, STRONG Pilates has contributed to the local fitness landscape, providing individuals with a unique and low-impact exercise option.”
The group also recently secured English cricket legend Stuart Broad in a new push to bowl over the UK market, where it plans to open 50 new studios over the next three years.
Related story: STRONG Pilates enlists English cricket legend Stuart Broad to bowl over the UK market
26. Peter Dodeja (36)
SAI Security Group, SAI Investments
Brisbane
Peter Dodeja was still a teenager when he founded his security business, having only moved to Australia two years earlier from India at the age of 17 with just $1,200 to his name.
Working in odd jobs and as a security guard, Dodeja learned the ropes and realised he could build and expand a business in the field, working with “unwavering determination” to do so.
With a background in software and IT, through SAI Security Group he applied an innovative business model of “virtual patrols” supported by on-site cameras and alerts, allowing for a more cost-effective option for business or property owners.
“We have experienced substantial growth and success. Through strategic acquisitions, we expanded our security patrol fleet, making us one of the largest privately-owned security providers in Queensland,” he says.
“Our efforts have been recognised, and we successfully secured and implemented a significant contract with the USA Embassy. This contract positions us to become one of the top five security companies in Australia.”
The embassy contract is part of a broader push in the US where the company has undertaken acquisitions and rebranding efforts in Arizona and Nevada, with plans to replicate SAI’s success in Australia in a much larger market where SAI is already in advanced negotiations with companies in New Jersey and New York.
In FY24 the group also expanded into the UAE via the acquisition of Resource Security Services in Dubai, and since then has more than tripled its number of security guards in the country from 15 to 55, and will soon double that number again to 100 thanks to a new contract.
In parallel, Dodeja has also been growing his portfolio of shopping plazas via SAI Investments.
27. Fergus Creese (34)
My Careers
Melbourne
Ed-tech founder Fergus Creese’s vision to help school students better understand themselves and their career goals has won over more hearts and minds over the past year, with his Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform now used by more than 1,100 libraries in the USA and Canada.
It is a far cry from early forays into entrepreneurship for Creese running blue light discos at high school in Launceston, or his City Streat venture while studying at Swinburne University to help disadvantaged people gain sustainable employment.
But for this venture, like his others, the driving motivation has been "beneficence", or giving back to the world and people.
Creese set up My Careers in 2018 as a means to reimagine and reinvent the way students interact with a diverse range of educational resources, helping them to better define what they want in life.
"Secondary education is unique in its power to catalyse social mobility, serving to bridge social, economic, racial and geographic divides like no other force,” he says.
“Education's greatest platform opportunity is one which connects the student more holistically to their future, capturing rich-data insights throughout students' diverse and unique learning journeys.
“Our platform is purposely designed for schools and parents to deliver engaging, comprehensive and inclusive support towards rewarding futures.”
28. Daniel Wessels (36)
Jacaranda Finance
Brisbane
After playing a vital role in Cash Converters' expansion into the UK market, Daniel saw how digitally savvy consumers had become in the UK and wanted to be ahead of the curve here in Australia. Seeing a gap in the market, he took a leap of faith to create Jacaranda Finance in 2013.
The digital lender’s primary customers are everyday Australians overlooked by the traditional banks when in need of a personal or car loan.
“We’re providing our customers with the finance they need, but we’re also supporting their financial future by reporting their repayment behaviour to the credit bureaus. Reporting customers' financial behaviour, like successfully repaying their loan with us, helps them build their credit score,” Wessels explains.
“A better credit score sets them on the path to returning to mainstream lending and opens up their financial opportunities for the future.”
Jacaranda’s decision-making on loans is underpinned by technology built in-house, relying on alternative data such as bank transactions to build behavioural scoring models that it claims outperform traditional bureau scores.
The company has also released an education module for consumers via its Jacaranda Better Credit app, complete with a short-format video series and the ability to directly track their credit score.
“The foundational layers we’ve established across product mix, technology, risk management, governance, and our team, positions us for strong and sustainable growth during the next decade, and we’re excited about where we are going," Wessels says.
“We've made borrowing more equitable and accessible. Now, it's time to let everyone know.”
29. James Rolph (34) and Daniel Mikus (37)
MR Roads
Brisbane
MR Roads is the brainchild of two tradie mates, James Rolph and Daniel Mikus, who seized on an opportunity in the road construction industry despite its dominance from large incumbents.
“Deciding to go into business and take on some of the biggest players in the construction industry was daunting, but exciting at the same time,” says Rolph.
In the space of just three years since it was established the company has seen astronomical growth with gross profit doubling year-on-year.
“MR Roads was started after a conversation over coffee about how there was an opportunity to disrupt the current asphalt industry and create a client-centric business, where customers and jobs weren’t just numbers,” Mikus explains.
“Australia has over 800,000km of roads, most of which are made from asphalt, and with highway upgrades and public transport expansions happening across the country, we saw an opportunity to offer a more nimble and innovative service where we went the extra mile for our customers.”
The group is currently working on some of the largest infrastructure projects in the country including the Cross River Rail in Brisbane, but the founders take pride in the wide range of services they have on offer, from “small driveways to those large commercial projects, and everything in between”.
“When we’re not building or widening roads, we also work on road maintenance services to ensure roads are safe and well-maintained. This can include regular inspections, road resurfacing and fixing up those pesky potholes on your street,” adds Rolph.
“We have big plans for the future and will be focused on launching our new asphalt plant in Maryborough, as well as entering new regional markets, launching new auxiliary businesses, and forging partnerships across Queensland and Australia.”
30. Liam Millward (21) and William Gao (23)
Instant
Sydney
Founded in 2021 by then teenagers Liam Millward and William Gao, Instant exists to keep online shoppers from abandoning their digital trolleys.
The company has developed a reputation for achieving significantly higher conversion rates at the checkout for e-commerce platforms than the “generic checkout experience”, strengthened by its automated tools for retention marketing.
“Ninety-eight per cent of ecommerce visitors leave without making a purchase - most brands have no idea who they are,” says Millward.
“Instant changes that. By unlocking lost shoppers and converting them into loyal customers, Instant drives repeat revenue at scale.
“We're solving the biggest problem faced by online retailers today: low return on investment (ROI) on ever-increasing marketing spend. Our product turns browsers into buyers, delivering six-figure monthly revenue increases to your favourite retailers.”
As annualised recurring revenue ramps up and the e-commerce tech company onboards leading retail brands from Leslie Selfie to STAX and Toys R Us, Instant plans to scale internationally with the support of a recent capital injection.
Instant recently announced an $18 million Series A capital raise led by UK-based Hummingbird Ventures, with North American expansion in its sights.
Related story: E-commerce sales-boosting startup Instant hits $100m valuation after $18m Series A round
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