Chris and Steve talk with Esther Oh, founder and CEO of health tech and AI-vision startup Agili8. Born in Singapore, and a top student at school, Esther was the only female software engineer at her consulting company. She moved to Perth in 2009 on a skilled migrant visa, as she wanted to raise her kids in WA. Agili8 was then set up after her son lost his eyesight. “The same thing with X-Ray vision. I actually see that this is the future of work. It is something we will definitely be living with, just like how we can’t live without our mobile phone.” ~ Esther Oh. For more: https://agili8.com ..read more

Steve and Chris talk with Tim Jones, Managing Director of cyber security startup Hyprfire. Starting out as a lawyer, he moved into technology law, worked in Sydney, and then moved back to WA to work on various startups in the ASX and private space. He did some advisory work, helped fund tech startups and worked for a time at HealthEngine. Spun out of Curtin University, Hyprfire has raised some significant capital as well as an Accelerating Commercialisation grant, offering network threat prevention as a service. “Enjoy the ride. Not many people get to do this. Just recognise that, and enjoy it ..read more

We’re back for 2023 and our 4th season, with a fantastic start – Danelle and Brodie interview the Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy, Hon Stephen Dawson MLC. Growing up in Ireland, the eldest of four children, he moved to Australia in his teens with his family, and became involved in student politics. His father had been an active union official. Starting out as a drama teacher, Stephen Dawson became a Labor member of the upper house of Western Australian government in 2013 becoming a cabinet minister in 2017, and Innovation Minister in 2021. Minister Dawson explains what his wish ..read more

For the final episode of the 4th season of Startup West and 2022: a founders' panel recorded in front of a live audience in Fremantle as part of this year's Freo Startup Fest. Charlie Gunningham chats with Dan Nembhard (Wolfit Box founder), Holly Bridgwater, (Humyn.ai founder) and Kevin Mitchem (Co-Architecture co-founder). The session was titled ‘Pets, Property and AI’ for reasons that become clear in the discussion. Hear from 3 founders who have each launched (or re-launched) their startups in the past 18 months, some quirky facts, how 2022 went for them and their plans for 2023 and beyond ..read more

Danelle and Chris talk with Stephen Cornish, founder and managing director of Pentanet, a Perth-based internet provider providing super-fast speeds for homes and businesses. A keen gamer, Stephen set up his first tower for himself so he could enjoy faster internet to play League of Legends. Years later, the company now owns the largest private fixed network in Perth, has listed on the ASX (‘5GG’), and even owns a professional League of Legends team. “If you have an idea, you really have nothing to lose by doing it. You’ll have some challenges, things will get tough, and you’ll make sacrifices ..read more

Chris Tan makes his debut on Startup West as co-host, with Danelle, and they talk with John Barrington AM, co-founder and managing director of Artrya, an ASX-listed (‘AYA’) AI-driven healthcare tech company that is looking to tackle the global problem of heart disease. Every 13 minutes, an Australian dies of a heart attack. 9 million die every year around the world. The company was set up in 2018, has since raised $60 million in various rounds, including an ASX listing in November 2021 where $40M was raised on a $105M valuation. "Go for it. Pin your ears back and go for it. If there is one wor ..read more

Brodie and Steve talk with Erin Clark, co-founder of Dark Stry (which is short for ‘Dark Story’), an app that features various immersive walking tours of Perth, including one recognising early female entrepreneurs. Originally from country Victoria, the former journalist moved to Western Australia 10 years ago with her husband, on what was supposed to be a two-year sojourn, and has fallen in love with WA. One night, after a couple of bottles of Prossecco, she had the idea. Four weeks later, she had an app in the app store and she was launched. Then the fun started... “Someone was saying to me ..read more

Brodie and Steve talk with Kylie Dillon, co-founder and CEO of Realtime Conveyancer, a three-year-old proptech startup that is streamlining the real estate legal purchase process “from contract to keys”. With 19 years’ experience in conveyancing, she felt that the whole industry needed saving with technology, and sought out to develop it herself. As is often the case, the original quotation for development ended up being about a third of the eventual cost. “I am really privileged that I come across a lot of great people and meet a lot of startups. But I think it’s anybody that is prepared to b ..read more

Danelle and Steve talk with Eliza Carbines, Founding Director of Tender Relief, who has built a tech platform to help businesses apply for tenders. Eliza has tackled a problem she saw across her client base, the tricky world of project tendering. Hear how she built Tender Relief from Karratha (in far north Western Australia), the challenges overcome and the progress to date. “If you're in that startup world, or if you’re thinking of getting into it, I would suggest you hook onto something there that matters, that matters beyond you as a person and your immediate circumstance, that matters to t ..read more

Danelle and Steve talk with Zach Nielsen, co-founder and CEO of Ascend Health Group, which includes Ascend Health services, software company Bruno Health, and hardware operation Obdo. Established in 2017, the group provides care services in the national disability and health sectors. A physiotherapist by training, Zach and his team operate in Western Australia and Queensland, and have plans to launch into other states over the next few years. “I was already building Ascend in my last year of university. I had already seen the value of having smart, dedicated young people with fire in their bel ..read more