What does it take to be one of the best service supplier in your discipline? 4 leaders in defence tech, healthtech, government recruitment and water infrastructure give us a glimpse.
Forward of the 2026 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ program’s twenty fifth annual awards in October, Startup Every day is profiling the trailblazing entrepreneurs named as nationwide finalists.
To date, we’ve met the finalists within the Social Impact, Emerging and Industry classes.
We’ll quickly meet the Expertise finalists, however immediately it’s all concerning the Providers class; 4 founders breaking new floor in how they ship service throughout their respective fields.
Kuba Kabacinski, Consunet
In 2002, Adelaide entrepreneur Kuba Kabacinski (pictured) purchased a small internet improvement enterprise for $200 whereas learning IT at Flinders College.
As we speak, that enterprise is Consunet, a defence tech software program firm with greater than 130 workers engaged on high-tech options for digital warfare and spectrum administration (powering communications gadgets and sensors).
Kabacinski says their largest problem was backing themselves and investing $6 million to compete in opposition to six multinational corporations for the Australian Defence Pressure’s electromagnetic battle administration mission. They gained, and efficiently delivered the $61 million mission.
“The long-term affect that I hope to attain with Consunet is to disrupt the worldwide spectrum administration market to make sure that communication applied sciences are broadly out there to everybody at an appropriate value,” he says.
“And we need to have a billion-dollar valuation.”
Stella Petrou Concha, Reo Group
Because the CEO of nationwide recruitment, government search {and professional} companies company Reo Group, and cofounder of government improvement agency HiveQ, Stella Petrou Concha (pictured) is keen about serving to individuals realise their full potential.
Famend for her give attention to self-mastery and its function in shaping careers, the acclaimed writer and tutorial practises what she preaches, mastering her personal pivot from medication to expertise technique when she based Reo in 2009.
“After two years working for a global company, I mentioned to my husband Marcello, would you again me in going into enterprise? I’d like to start out my very own company. There’s a chance available in the market right here the place might do it just a bit bit otherwise,” Conch says.
“As a substitute of specializing in the shopper aspect, I’d prefer to give attention to the candidate the aspect. The candidate’s the one which has the actually deep want, and so they want help in figuring out what the trajectory of their life must be and the way that’s going to align to a profession.”
As we speak, the enterprise has three workplaces in Sydney, Parramatta and Adelaide, with specialised consultants serving to to develop candidates to get the roles they need.
The present jobs market and cost-of-living disaster has been difficult, Concha admits. However retaining hyper-vigilant and specializing in the enterprise’ two progress engines – its individuals and its prospects – is what retains driving enterprise ahead.
Dr Chris Behrenbruch, Telix Prescribed drugs
Dr Chris Behrenbruch (pictured) is the managing director and group CEO of Melbourne-based Telix Prescribed drugs, an oncology firm that develops radioactive medicine to assist deal with most cancers and uncommon illnesses.
“Our class of medicine is basically uncommon. We take a molecule that targets a most cancers signature and we connect radiation to it and we inject it into you, and it whizzes throughout your physique till it finds a tumour after which it kills it,” Behrenbruch explains.
Behrenbruch based Telix in 2015, combining his expertise in radiopharmaceuticals and biotech with a German doctor’s experience in nuclear medication.
Now ASX-listed, with business operations in Australia, the US, Europe and Japan, Telix (ASX:TLX) has made a world affect with its revolutionary strategy to medication.
“Final 12 months we modified the lives of about 150,000 individuals. That implies that a toddler bought one other 12 months with their father or bought to spend extra time with their grandfather. In order that’s an enormous deal,” he says.
Matt Rear, PPS Water Group
Matt Rear’s profession is all about transferring water from location to a different – a sophisticated process for the distant mining initiatives PPS Water Group works throughout in WA.
A former C-suite government within the lithium business, Rear (pictured) has grown his water infrastructure firm considerably in recent times, delivering sustainable water administration options for the likes of Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue.
“A serious milestone at PPS is that we’ve simply accomplished the Western Vary [iron ore mine] mission. It was the most important water infrastructure mission to my data in a single contract,” he shares.
“It was [around] $100 million. It began as $40 million, and due to our good work, we stayed there for over two years,” he says.
Rear places PPS’s success all the way down to constructing belief with purchasers with out compromising the output.
“We turned the popular contractor by delivering safely and by delivering on time and simply being there for the shopper,” he says.
Extra about EY Entrepreneur Of The Yr
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Yr Program recognises Australian entrepreneurs who’re disrupting conventional methods of doing issues and constructing a greater working world.
Run by international skilled companies organisation EY, the EOY program spans 60 nations and jurisdictions and gives unique networking and studying alternatives to members. EY Australia will host a gala occasion on October 15, the place winners throughout 5 classes shall be awarded (Rising, Trade, Providers, Social Influence and Expertise).
One winner shall be chosen to symbolize Australia on the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Yr™ international competitors in 2026.
For more information, go to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year website.
Startup Every day is a media companion for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Yr program.
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