Applications for deep tech startups to pitch at Tech23 are now open

Cicada Innovations and deep tech festival Tech23 are on the hunt for 23 game-changing startups to pitch their ideas to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

Cicada took charge of Tech23 earlier this year, seeing the shared vision of championing and celebrating Australia’s young deep tech companies. 

Cicada x Tech23 will connect 23 innovators with a cohort of problem solvers, investors and big thinkers, on July 26 in Sydney. The national platform is looking to provide systematic solutions to broader issues, such as “rebuilding the environment” or “putting an end to waste”.

Tech 23 has highlighted more than 300 deep tech companies over the last 14 years. Each year at the conference, the 23 startups are invited to deliver 5-minute pitches.

Cicada CEO Sally-Ann Williams said complex challenges require complex solutions that come from the intersection of technology and industry.

From discussions about the future to finding the next investment, CxT23 is the place to connect with the deep tech community from across Australia; it is the ecosystem that uplifts the tech startup sector.

Williams said 2023 is the year of deep tech.

“Finally people are waking up to the opportunity it presents for Australia and in our ability to solve global challenges,” she said. 

“It represents a new industrial revolution, where new platform technologies and infrastructures will change the ways we live and work, and our relationship with the planet.”

Williams said Australia has a multi-billion dollar opportunity to succeed in the next generation of deep technology, however, these ventures require significant support, connections, and funding to overcome significant challenges.

“So with Cicada x Tech23 we want to celebrate and spotlight the often overlooked brave, maverick, and bold visionaries of Australian deep tech,” she said. 

“And connect them with the people who have the means and influence to rally behind them.”

Applications for Tech23 close on April 12, with the successful startups notified on May 3. It’s free to apply.

More details here.