It all starts with an idea…

An undeniable highlight of the past decade of Tech23 has been watching founders’ early visions transform into something much bigger. From bright ideas to brilliant realities — catch up on what these past Tech23 presenters are up to now.

Flying high

Rory San Miguel (Tech23 2015) Co-founded Propeller Aero in 2014, developing the drone visualisation service for the construction industry. As CEO, Rory has overseen the company’s US expansion, establishing offices in Denver. To date, Propeller has raised $14 million from investors including Blackbird Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Accel Partners and Sequoia China.

Rod Cuthbert (Tech23 2012) has moved on as CEO of Rome2Rio. Rome2Rio scored a $1.2 million grant from Commercialisation Australia in 2014 for its flight and travel search engine platform. Rod is now enjoying his ‘rewirement’ (his take on retirement!), and continues to speak at industry conferences.

Diving deep

Nasir Ahsan (Tech23 2015) is Director of underwater data analytics Abyss Solutions. Nasir founded Abyss in 2014 with scientists and engineers from the University of Sydney. In 2018, Abyss received an Accelerating Commercialisation Grant and entered the UAE market through a partnership with TASNEEF.

Stefan Hrabar (Tech23 2016) has continued to develop Hovermap: a SLAM-based lidar payload for drones which enables 3D mapping, collision avoidance and advanced autonomy. Alongside his research into drones with CSIRO, Stefan is CEO and Co-founder of Emesent, using autonomous vehicles to collect data from underground environments.