Competition is heating up in the river city as the Queensland capital's top young founders prepare to gather for the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards tonight.
It has been a wet year for these 2022 finalists, but they won't be letting it rain on their parade as they converge on the W Brisbane to celebrate their successes, mingle with like minds, and revel in the spirit of an initiative that is now in its 14th year of fostering a thriving community of entrepreneurs.
The overall winner of the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award will become part of a legacy that includes serial tech entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, NOJA Power founder Quynh Anh Le, One Key Resources founder Grant Wechsel and InStyle Solar founder Karl Brown, among others.
The recipients of this award last year - Andrew Barnes, Vu Tran, Chris Eigeland and Chris Hood of Global edtech unicorn Go1 - went on to win the 2021 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards. This year they have opted to step aside to make way for new rising stars, but their company is a valued sponsor of the event.
Collectively, the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur finalists boast a combined annual turnover of $570 million - around double what it was four years ago - and have created jobs for nearly 3,000 people.
What is particularly remarkable is that almost one in every five nominees founded their business in 2021 or later, illustrating a healthy appetite for setting up new businesses in Brisbane. This represents a six percentage point increase on the share of companies last year that were established within the preceding 18 months.
Following a comprehensive judging process and countless hours of interviews with Business News Australia journalists, the winners will be announced across 16 categories at the gala dinner.
Young Entrepreneur Awards founder Camilla Jansen says it is exciting to be kicking off this year's awards season in Brisbane to celebrate the accomplishments of the city's best and brightest young business minds.
“Tonight is going to be an incredible opportunity to meet in person and celebrate the achievements of such a talented cohort. These founders are paving the way for others, instilling a belief that anything is possible with the right vision, entrepreneurial spirit, and company culture.
“Congratulations to all the finalists and a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate.
"I'd also like to thank our sponsors Go1, Venture Crowd, Brisbane City Council, MGI Accountants and Business Advisors, University of Queensland, Soda, SAI Security Group, and OSW."
Aside from the two major awards of Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Trailblazer, the gala will span a range of sectors with 16 different award categories including:
- Digital Disruptor
- Fashion & Design
- Finance
- Fitness
- Health & Medicine
- Hospitality & Tourism
- Manufacturing, Wholesale and Distribution
- Marketing
- PR, Media & Events
- Professional Services
- Property & Construction
- Retail & Services
- Specialist Services
- Startup
- Sustainability & Social Responsibility
- Technology
The finalists in the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards 2022 are as follows (in alphabetical order by company):
Patrick McCallum – 23 Shout
Nof Hamze & Alex Hamze – Alamour The Label
Brodie Robinson & Rob Joseph – Anti Ordinary
Alex Afflick & Dr James Fielding – Audeara
Camille Socquet-Clerc & Bertrand Caron – Bloom Impact Investing
Maddison Lawrence – BushWrapz, Slick Azz Protective Films
Sarina Eggers-Stable – Business Kitz, Legal Kitz
Nicholas Chapman – Chapcon DC, Newstart Homes Australia
Corey Stone – CHS Building
Carl Hartmann – Compono
Christian Sutton – Conquer Health Alliance
Katie Martel – Croft PR
Stephen Bornstein – Cyborg Dynamics Engineering, Athena Artificial Intelligence
Sam Hussey – Deployable
Dilan Ildes & Thomas D’arcy – Dirty Sultan, The Rose Room, Bey Lane, Mr. Vain
Shannah Bradshaw – Disrupt Digital, SponsoredLinx, Get More Traffic, Search Marketing Experts, Disrupt Music Group, Deep Future
Alice Orozco – DrapeCo
Siobhan Coster – Eclipse
Mariana Fataccioli – Elysian Cartel
Tim Whybourne & Ryan Loehr – Emanuel Whybourne
Alex Ewart & Conor Hagan – Explorate
Georgio Batsinlas – FitazFK
Peter Hull – Fitstop
Sam McNamara – Getahead
Chris Baptista – Homes by CMA
Daniel Wessels – Jacaranda Finance
Jason Le – JRNY Digital
Joe Zhou – Joe Zhou Pty Ltd, Kedron 7 Day Chemist, Aceso Group, Picture Lock Studio
Rebecca Dredge – Kiddo
James Bennet & Kirri Jacobson – La Casa De Pooch, James Bennett, Grooming Academy
Lachlan Feeney – Labrys
Andrew Taylor – Live Co – Don’t Just Exist
Courtney Lockett – Lockett McCullough Lawyers
Jesse Stowers – Lula Rum
Braden Voight – Lynkz, Lynkz People, PolyVision
Kyle Macmillan – Macmillan Lawyers and Advisors
Nic Blair – Midnight Health
Wyatt Westmoreland & Ed Hodge – MiHIGH
Vishma Mistry – Mistry of Words
Rebecca Martin & Jae Martin – Mondaze, Mondaze Media
Carly Cottam – MOTIV Group
Thomas Fu & Tom Mcpherson – Motor Culture Australia
James Mutton – Motorcycle Trading
Kara Smyth – Nurch
Nicholas Marchesi & Lucas Patchett – Orange Sky
Josh Fritz – Patch Agency, eSpace Brisbane
Jesse Dymond, Tom Newby, Alastair Blenkin & Nathan Dench – ProcurePro
Bek Strachan – RBB Fitness Studio
Cameron Schroeder – Rhea Technologies
Katie Burton & Jessica McWatt Forbes – Red Stockholm
Caitlin Shannon & Jez Hedger – Rivercity House & Home Co, Bedzy
Peter Dodeja – SAI Security Group, SAI Investments Group
Angus Goldman & Alex Harper – Swyftx
Victoria Harrison – The Exposure Co
Nicholas Mitrossilis – The Yiros Shop
Andy Epifani & Shafali Gupta – Uuvipak
Hailey Brown – Vacayit
Laurie Malone & Sam James – VALD
Dominic Spooner – Vaulta
Giorgina Venzin – Venzin Group (Pawpaw Café, Darvella Patisserie, Melrose Restaurant, Monocle Coffee, Citron Bayside)
Myrrah Balasabas & Joshua Spurway – Vision Made Co
Tony Chan – Wagepay
Brodie Haupt & Drew Haupt – WLTH, Inception Finance, Inception Wealth Group, Bayside Home Loans, Moneymgmt, Properlytics
Lana Hill, Nick Hill & Andrew Walker – Walker Hill
Vish Uttam - Xperience Realty, Xperience Property Management, Time2Outsource, Rum Revolution, Rum Runners, Australian Rum Awards, Tiki Mugs Australia
Bailey Page – Zip Zap
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