One of many rising stars of Australia’s synthetic intelligence startups, Relevance AI, was named Startup of the 12 months on the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards 2025.
The win for the Sydney startup, which is pioneering the way forward for work by means of agentic AI, with a platform that lets anybody construct a group of AI brokers, got here after taking house the AI Gamechanger award earlier within the night.
The gala dinner with greater than 200 friends at Sydney’s ivy Ballroom was a celebration of the nationwide startup ecosystem, with founders and winners from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
As soon as once more, a number of awards went to girls main the way in which, together with LaunchVic-backed Press Play Ventures, which took out The GSD Award for its position in serving to Victorian girls develop into entrepreneurs, with 120 girls who’ve taken half in this system occurring to launch 104 startups.
Paz Pisarski, founding father of The Neighborhood Collective, which trains individuals to be group builders, was named the Future Chief of the 12 months, whereas Greatest New Founder went to Rebecca Keeley, founding father of speech pathology app Yarn Speech.
Startup Each day editor Simon Thomsen stored the celebrations going because the occasion host, whereas keynote speaker Dr Ian Oppermann, a worldwide thought chief on the digital financial system and serial founder, spoke of his expertise as an information scientist and his position in creating 3G and 4G – the muse expertise for cell communications.
Thomsen stated the third annual awards set a brand new file with greater than 270 nominations, whittled all the way down to 56 finalists and winners throughout 14 classes.
“Choice standards was primarily based on key achievements, degree of influence and tech innovation, and the way they’re contributing to creating the world a greater place,” he stated.
“Variety, fairness and inclusion are central to Startup Each day’s ethos. That’s why entry to the awards is free, and we provide our finalists a complimentary ticket to be a part of the enjoyable. We wish to embrace founders simply beginning out.”
Thomsen added he was happy to see girls and various founders well-represented among the many finalists and winners.
“One of many friends stated they had been pleasantly stunned by the variety of girls within the room for tech awards. I replied that ‘It’s not by chance, however by design. You probably have the desire, it may be finished’,” he shared.
Crowd favorite among the many 14 winners was Clayton Franklin, a Western Australian Indigenous founder masking mining vans to electrification. Carrying his trademark cattleman’s hat with a pink herd tag on the again, his local weather tech startup, Electrical Energy Conversions Australia, gained Most Progressive Startup, and he shared information that they’d simply signed a significant take care of Qatar to transform their truck fleets.
The Startup Each day Greatest in Tech Awards 2025 had been supported by main associate AWS Startups, with supporting associate Vanta. Award companions embrace Carta, techvisa, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Tank Stream Labs, The Nudge Group and The Pillars, with Sensible Firm, Fishburners and Startup&Angels as group companions.
Right here is the complete record of winners from the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards 2025:
Asseti – Scaleup of the 12 months
Supported by AWS Startups
Asseti makes use of AI to analyse visible knowledge at scale, remodeling asset and facility administration. The corporate is already on tempo to exceed $10 million ARR by the top of 2025, reaching that landmark after elevating simply $2.5m in capital.
Asseti gained an 8-figure multi-year take care of Walmart, beating well-funded opponents, with out a US group on the bottom. and likewise signed Meta for situation knowledge throughout its international knowledge centre community.
The firm is now money circulation impartial and now seeking to elevate a Sequence A.
Relevance AI – Startup of the 12 months
Supported by Vanta
Relevance AI offers groups the facility to rent digital teammates – AI brokers that may act autonomously, deal with complexity, and scale operational excellence.
Not like conventional automation instruments that depend on inflexible logic and developer-led builds, the Relevance platform empowers subject-matter specialists to create, handle, and collaborate with AI brokers with out writing code.
Electrical Energy Conversions Australia (EPCA) – Most Progressive Startup
Supported by Tank Stream Labs
EPCA is the primary Australian firm to retrofit a 100-tonne mining haul truck from diesel to full battery-electric. Proudly Aboriginal-owned and operated by Clayton Franklin, EPCA is main the decarbonisation of the Western Australian mining fleets, eradicating emissions from operations and manufacturing, the place most carbon is already embedded. Retrofitting gives a sooner, lower-cost, and extra sustainable path to electrification, holding priceless property in service whereas aligning with ESG targets.
Cauldron Ferm – Greatest Regional Startup
Supported by Carta
It’s back-to-back wins for Cauldron Ferm, which additionally winner the 2024 Greatest Regional Startup award. Cauldron is pioneering the following frontier in biomanufacturing to remodel how all the things from meals to fibres, animal feed, fuels, and extra are created.
Over the previous 12 months beneath founder Michelle Stansfield, the regional NSW biotech obtained federal and Queensland authorities funding to construct a biomanufacturing facility within the tropical north.
Relevance AI – AI Gamechanger
Supported by AWS Startups
That is the second award for Sydney startup is pioneering the way forward for work by means of agentic AI, not chatbots or copilots. The platform lets anybody construct a group of AI brokers and in Might this 12 months, introduced a $37 million Sequence B elevate led by Bessemer Enterprise Companions.
Mick Liubinskas – Business Champion
Supported by Sensible Firm
Local weather Salad, a group of 700 local weather tech corporations and 10,000 supporters, is the newest journey for one of many pioneers of Australia’s startup sector, Mick Liubinskas.
Mick based 4 startups, plus incubators and accelerators with Pollenizer, Startmate and muru-D. He’s a believer that Australia will play an enormous position in constructing local weather options and likewise been a robust advocate for variety, fairness and inclusion. He’s written two books – most significantly, She’s Constructing A Robotic, a novel to encourage teenage women into the world of STEM.
Watch and hearken to Mick on the newest episode of our podcast, Startup 360, right here.
Xefco – Greatest Sustainability Startup
The textile business is without doubt one of the world’s most polluting sectors, liable for 20% of worldwide industrial water air pollution and three% of worldwide carbon emissions.
Xefco is fixing this drawback at its supply. Their breakthrough expertise eliminates the necessity for water, steam, and unsafe chemical substances in dyeing and ending: resulting in zero wastewater, lowering GHG emissions by 94%, and slicing chemical use by 97%.
It additionally improves office security and permits just-in-time manufacturing, to scale back overproduction and textile waste.
Cell Bauhaus – Greatest New Thought
Supported by Fishburners
The mission at Cell Bauhaus is to carry computer-aided design to biology, permitting engineers to check and refine organic methods computationally earlier than constructing them, dramatically lowering each time-to-market and growth prices.
The implications are far reaching – predictive organic design may speed up growth of safer greener bio-chemistries, drought-resistant crops, and personalised therapeutics from many years to years.
Rebecca Keeley, Yarn Speech – Greatest New Founder
Supported by Nudge Group
Darwin-raised Rebecca is a speech pathologist who devoted her profession to creating healthcare extra accessible, significantly for households in rural and distant areas.
She launched Yarn Speech in 2024, a first-of-its-kind digital resolution and app, reshaping how Australian households entry very important speech pathology companies, redesigning how allied well being companies are delivered throughout Australia within the course of.
What units Bec aside is her distinctive mixture of scientific experience and entrepreneurial imaginative and prescient. Yarn Speech is co-designed with clinicians, for clinicians and households so households have the instruments to be lively members of their baby’s growth.
Sumith Jitta, Lawpath – Greatest Technical Chief
Sumith Jitta is the top of engineering at Lawpath and the visionary architect behind considered one of Australia’s most transformative legaltech platforms.
With 20 years of expertise spanning AI, knowledge structure, and enterprise platforms, Sumith has led Lawpath’s evolution from a promising startup right into a scalable, AI-driven authorized infrastructure engine powering greater than 500,000 Australian companies.
What units Sumith aside is his capability to bridge engineering with empathy. He leads a group of over 30 engineers, product designers, and knowledge scientists with a peaceful readability, unblocking complexity whereas fostering a tradition of innovation and integrity.
Paz Pisarski – Future Chief
Supported by techvisa
Paz has turned an thought throughout Melbourne’s lockdowns right into a motion that’s reshaping Australia’s startup ecosystem and the world. What began as a 17-person meetup has developed into The Neighborhood Collective, now has a worldwide viewers of greater than 16,000 and 700+ communities throughout 18 nations.
Paz created Australia’s first reside cohort coaching program for group builders, legitimising what was as soon as seen as “fluffy” work into recognised strategic experience.
_Southstart – Startup Occasion of The 12 months
_Southstart is considered one of Australia’s longest-running and most beloved innovation festivals, born in 2013 to bridge the emotional, relational, and structural gaps within the startup journey. The three-day Adelaide gathering that delves into coronary heart and thoughts, in addition to loads of South Australia’s most interesting wines.
As Josh Garratt, CEO of Southern Angels stated: “_Southstart has constructed a cathedral to human connection. This isn’t a convention, it’s a pilgrimage for startups and traders who’re captivated with altering the world collectively.”
Euphemia– Startup Investor of the 12 months
Supported by The Pillars
Euphemia is on a mission to Go Massive and Develop Dwelling, and its secret mission is to create extra “Euphemias” by backing individuals they imagine will reinvest their capital again into the ecosystem down the monitor. Dom Pym and his group beneath CEO Judy Anderson-Firth spend money on fintech, local weather tech, women-led ventures, and startup infrastructure, unlocking capital by means of a 245+ sturdy Euphemia Syndicate on Aussie Angels, and new fintech fund, Triple Bubble.
Within the 18 months main as much as nomination, Euphemia invested almost $2 million in 14 corporations throughout 21 transactions, together with: main 2 x Euphemia Syndicate offers and backing 7 new startups.
As Heatseeker cofounder Kate O’Keefe stated: “Euphemia wasn’t simply our first cheque, they had been our first believer.”
Press Play Ventures – The GSD Award
Supported by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Press Play Ventures, launched in 2024 with assist from LaunchVic, has helped 120 girls to launch 104 startups, driving a 12% uplift within the variety of girls founders in Victoria in comparison with 2023. Press Play’s 12-week pre-accelerator helps girls transition from employment into entrepreneurship by means of fully-funded and partial scholarships, zero fairness, and hands-on, high-touch assist.
It’s alumni are 65% mid-career girls over 35, 62% multicultural, and 73% new to startups.
Thanks to our Startup Each day Greatest in Tech Awards 2025 companions:
