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Sydney is roaring back to its usual self tonight with finalists in the city’s 2021 Young Entrepreneur Awards ready to celebrate their outstanding achievements, overcoming the odds to make a positive impact on the nation's business scene.
Following sold-out gala dinners in Brisbane and the Gold Coast last month, guests will gather at the ivy Ballroom for a ceremony like no other, possible only because of the nation-leading efforts by Sydneysiders in rolling up their sleeves and coming out of lockdown restrictions to emerge stronger than ever.
As seen in the list below, the finalists form an extremely diverse group which generated more than $1.2 billion in FY21, and created job opportunities for around 3,500 people, demonstrating their contribution to not only NSW’s economy but Australia’s too.
Tonight, following a comprehensive judging process and many hours of interviews with Business News Australia journalists, winners will be announced across 19 categories at the gala dinner.
All finalists are also up for the coveted Trailblazer Award which recognises a founder and their business on the precipice of massive growth, but only one will take out the top gong: the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Last year, Izhar Basha claimed that title, but was unable to celebrate the win in-person due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time that made it impossible to run an event in its true spirit. But Basha is back again this year, aiming to go two-for-two with his fitness and supplements empire EHPlabs.
Young Entrepreneur Awards founder Camilla Jansen said she was thrilled to be able to put on tonight’s ceremony, now that eased restrictions in Sydney mean the show can ahead.
“It has been a while since we last got to gather in-person with our Sydney Young Entrepreneurs, but I am so pleased we’ll be able to celebrate everyone’s mammoth achievements and hopefully bid farewell to the stresses of the last two years,” she said.
“While there will be winners announced tonight, it is a huge honour to simply be named a finalist. We’ve loved hearing your stories about the highs and lows of 2021, and the talent in the room tonight will be phenomenal.
“I’d also like to thank our sponsors Instyle Solar, The Entourage, UNSW Founders, Venture Crowd, FuPay, Yellow Panda and Ivvy.”
Aside from the two major awards of Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Trailblazer, the gala will span a range of sectors with 19 different award categories including:
- Arts & Culture
- Digital Disruptor
- Fashion Design
- Finance
- Fitness
- Food & Beverage
- Health & Medicine
- Hospitality & Tourism
- Legal Services
- Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution
- Marketing
- PR, Media & Events
- Professional Services
- Property & Construction
- Retail & Services
- Sustainability & Social Responsibility
- Specialist Services
- Startup
- Technology
The finalists in the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards are as follows (in alphabetical order by company):
Jaya Yoannidis - A Man & His Cave
Jill Berry and Shane Doolan - Adatree
Kevin Laws - Advanced Alloy Holdings
Tarla Lambert and Angela Priestley - Agenda Media
Ammar Issa - AMR Hair & Beauty, Fanola AU, Hey Stacey, Beauty Systems Group, Fanola UK, AMR UK, Inebrya AU, Roaman Smile, Heir Watches
Ben Coorey and Rob Coorey - Archistar
Samuel Wood - Azura Fashion Group, Azura Runway, Azura Exchange, Azura Collection, Azura Fit, Azura Consulting, Azura Chic
Jason Hood - BourkeHood, BourkeHood Ventures, Kapvista, Kapvista Ventures, BourkeHood Capital and RobustClaims
Kurtis Bosley - CBK Hospitality Group, Banco Manly, Corretto Dee Why, CBK Hospitality and TwentyFour Bar & Restaurant
Allen Fu and Xixi Liu - CheekyGlo
John Tabari and Iain Wang - ClassBento
Emily Bobis, Angus McDonald and Ben Hinchley - Compass IoT
Kirsten Kore - Designerex
Alexander Keach - ECS Botanics
Izhar Basha - EHPlabs
Jade Spooner and Amal Wakim - Equalution
Andrew El-Bayeh and Rebecca Gibbs - Example and Example House
Will Morgan and Andy Skora - FELLR Drinks
Justin Ashley and Serra Burmin - Fitness Playground and Fitness Playground Academy
Dale Brett and Rani Adam - FL0
Ben Lipschitz and Tim Chandler Gary Munitz - FoodByUs
George Papura - Georgiemane
Neil McVeigh and Tom Ferrier - Greener
Ayda Shabanzadeh and Darrin Leung - Grow Group
Lisa Lin - Hey Mama
Matthew Holloway - Holloway Group, GEOHEX, Biax, AusDrain, 3D Pulse, Group Tooling and A Plus Plastics
Nicole Merrillees - IMBER
Alan Sacharowitz and Dani Carr - Infinite Cycle International
Arjun Paliwal - InvestorKit
Jack Petersen - InVista Group Australia and InVista Audio Visual
Nicole Liu - Kin Fertility
Anna Podolsky - Lyka Pet Food
Alexis Soulopoulos – Mad Paws, Mad Paws Care, Mad Paws Food, Mad Paws Joy and Mad Paws Health
Abdul Razak and Samira Razak - Maple Community Services
Travis Fernandez - Martial Arts Spirit Health & Fitness Academy and Hidden Leaf Productions
Cassandra Hili - Millennium Communications
Daniel Messina - NXTGEN Industries
Anson Zhang and Jeff Yu - One Stop Warehouse, Discover Energy
Joanna Auburn and Cat Long - Our trace Pty, est2026
Salpi Markarian and Jacob Markarian - OWEST
Anthony Nappa and Guy Nappa - Oz Hair & Beauty
Alison Green - Pantera Press
Jonathan Moody - Physio Inq
Paul Eastwood - Pollen Consulting Group
Chadi Irani - Powerhouse Law Australia
Danny Cohen - ProofTec
Zakaria Bouguettaya and Moe Satti - QPay
Nathan Rust - Safetyline Jalousie
Lisa Qi and Louise Chen - Share with Oscar
Rob Hango-Zada and William On - Shippit
Daniele Tanner and Jonathon Tanner - Social Media College
Vish Batth - Solar Power Nation
Katya Vakulenko - Soup Agency
Alison Egan – Sparkling White Smiles, Aylba and Institute of Aesthetic Teeth Whitening
Alex Solo and Tomoyuki Hachigo - Sprintlaw
Phil Stormer and Joel Stormer - Stormer Music, Brightside Music
Rachael Tyers - tbh Skincare
Aaron Bassin - TechLend
Ryan Channing - The Blaq Group
Lelde Smits and Julia Maguire - The Capital Network
Patrick Akkawi - The Marketing Group, The Local Hub Platform
Hannah Moreno - Third Hemisphere
Hiral Shah and Jigar Shah - Trikon, Anaxus Infotech
Heidi Peuten and Vasia Vogias, Ulu Hye Mylk Bases
Adrian Johnston - UNA Brands
Vanessa Vu - UNA International
Cameron Grant and Christopher Grant - Unyoked
Aden Levin and James Farrell - Viral Ventures, Hidden
Tim Veron - Vively, Natural Therapy Pages, Honee
James O'Neill and Alberto Capponi - WildJar
Raj Singh - Windsor & Lux
Carlos Ferri - Zapala Company, Shipeezi, Maple Bear Australia, Studio7
Zoe Seymour - ZO Personalised
Mina Nada and Michael Johnson - Zoomo
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