Brisbane startup Spur wins law firm Bolter’s top prize

A law firm says it has uncovered Australia’s top five startups including a software system for aviation safety and a recycling system that uses flies, with a Brisbane business taking out the top award.

Brisbane law firm Bolter boasts it has uncovered Australia’s top five startups and they are a diverse bunch. They include an app to improve employee mental health, a software system for aviation safety and a recycling system that uses flies to turn waste into animal feed.

Bolter, which specialises in advising startups, announced the winners of its inaugural $50,000 Little Giant StartUp Grant last week.

Overall winner was Spur, founded by Queenslanders Lee Crockford and William Smith-Stubbs, which has developed an app to improve the mental health of employees.

Spur was started in 2011 as a mental health non-profit organisation before launching a commercial arm four years ago. They describe the app, called Toucan, as a “real time digital wellbeing coach” that can measure a person’s mental wellbeing.

“Poor mental health costs Australian businesses $10.9bn annually and there is little way to know if they are investing funds in the right places for wellbeing,” says Crockford. “With Toucan, employers can measure and demonstratively improve employee wellbeing.”

Crockford’s business partner William Smith-Stubbs says that for every $1 invested by a company in their employee’s mental wellbeing it received a $15 boost to productivity.

Smith-Stubbs, who first became interested in mental health after suffering from depression as a child, says companies are now taking greater responsibility for the mental health of their workers not only to improve productivity but to avoid possible litigation issues.

He says data entered onto the Toucan app by a worker remained private to that person and could recommend anything from meditation to counselling.

Bolter head Ben Gouldson says the competition, which attracted 300 expressions of interest, will become an annual event to encourage startup talent across the country.

The Spur team (from left) Urusaro Patricia Rwagaju, William Smith-Stubbs, Olivia Roney and Lee Crockford.

Entrants were judged on the originality of their idea, whether it solved a real problem and its commercial viability. The grant awarded to the winner is split equally between $25,000 cash and $25,000 in legal fees.

Gouldson, who also is a director of Toowoomba-based law firm Clifford Gouldson Lawyers, says startups are usually ill-equipped to deal with complex legal issues such as patents.

“A lot of people initially have it as a side-hustle,” Gouldson says. “Considerations include whether the business should be a company, joint venture or partnership. Intellectual property is another area where startups can get into trouble.

“If people are working as an employee for another company they might even not (legally) own the idea they come up with.”

He says as startups expanded they also needed advice on raising funds and access to various sources of capital.

THE OTHER FINALISTS

Onni: Onni is an app that allows users to send real-time tokenised gifts, which can be redeemed at any vendor in the world that accepts cashless payments. The app will be initially launched in Australia and North America followed by a roll out in other markets.

AgKonect: The Brisbane-based company has developed a software system for managing small aviation fleets, replacing handwritten logs, emails, spreadsheets and charts that can compromise safety. The software mitigated risks by capturing data immediately through advanced GIS maps and databases.

Waste Not Food Recycling: The Broome-based social enterprise has pioneered a system of organic waste management targeted at restaurants and supermarkets.

Food and other waste is “upcycled” using the black soldier fly whose larvae can be converted into a range of feed and fertilisers.

Cleard Life: Canberra-based Edward Barker founded Cleard Life Vetting Agency to deliver suitability clearances for job candidates designed to eliminate insider threats, data breaches and internal fraud. The firm combines traditional government vetting practices, screening interviews and artificial intelligence to analyse a candidate’s risk profile.