Sunshine Coast technology: The 15 next Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs of the Sunshine Coast
The tech sector is booming and several Sunshine Coast entrepreneurs are at the front of the digital wave. Check out what these 15 rising tech gurus are working on.
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Whether they’ve built moving targets for the military or helping mum and dad businesses to be seen, the Sunshine Coast has several tech masterminds in its midst.
The Sunshine Coast Daily has hunted down the top 15 upcoming and booming tech entrepreneur masterminds from the region who could end up the next Elon Musks or Mark Zuckerbergs.
Take a look at the list of fascinating minds and businesses:
Adrian Madjeric
Alexandra Headland tech master Adrian Madjeric, 38, is the founder and chief executive of telecommunications service Legion Telecom, specialising in delivering lightning-fast fibre broadband across the region.
With over 16 years of tech experience Mr Madjeric said the start up has already signed up 11 staff and serviced about 13 suburbs in the region since launching in 2020.
While he wanted to spread his service across the country and overseas, he was happy to focus on his local area.
“There’s plenty to do in Queensland for a little while,” he said.
Tristan Turner
Former Sunshine Coast college student Tristan Turner, 25, is the founder and director of online marketplace start up Inventory Australia.
The young entrepreneur said his business was a one-stop platform for mum and dad manufacturers to advertise, handle bookings and message customers.
Mr Turner, who is set to launch the platform next month, said most small manufacturers were only visible on online searches or yellow pages.
“(But) we’re making it easier for manufacturers to get their services out there,” he said.
Bryton Wishart
Sunshine Coast businessman Bryton Wishart, 30, is a co-founder of cyber security service Vinti Tech, which started in early-2022 in Sippy Downs.
Mr Wishart said his company helped organisations meet cyber security requirements, which had previously been a challenge for many of them.
‘There’s definitely a huge demand,” he said.
While new, Mr Wishart believed his company would be a hit as it had quality technology, processes and team members.
Fabrizia Roberto
Sunshine Coast tech entrepreneur Fabrizia Roberto, 39, is the co-founder and chief executive of insurance platform Koverd, which launched in May last year.
Koverd is an online platform where users can buy, view and manage all of their insurance policies.
Koverd also offers advice on cover too.
“We’ve gone from an idea 12 months ago to having five people employed,” she said.
Ms Roberto said it’s going to be a “really big” idea which she hoped will crack overseas markets after it performs well in Australia.
Bradley Davis
Sunshine Coast tech mastermind Bradley Davis, 41, is the co-founder of communication software and platform Notifyre, which started in 2019 in the region.
Notifyre helps businesses and organisations still using traditional messaging, such as FAX and SMS, easily transition to scam-proof digital messaging.
“(It) allows industry to adopt future technology that would otherwise be difficult to adopt,” he said.
Bronte Cresswell
Sunshine Coast small business superstar Bronte Cresswell is the founder and director of social media agency Dash of Milk in Maroochydore.
Ms Cresswell, 27, took out the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network young business woman of the year award last week.
The young talent launched her thriving brand after quitting a job at a social media agency that she landed straight out of university. While it was a hard gig to get, she wanted to create her own brand – but better.
“If after six months it completely fails, that is what it is, and I’ll just find a job somewhere else,” she recalled thinking.
But the rest is history.
Chris Kerrisk
Sunshine Coast entrepreneur Chris Kerrisk, 45, is the founder of online communications platform Cerge after launching late last year.
Cerge helps people with disabilities share their needs and preferences with staff at businesses, such as supermarkets, to allow staff to better understand and help the invisible needs of those customers.
Mr Kerrisk said the biggest barrier often preventing people with disabilities from entering businesses, organisations or areas is a fear of how they might be perceived and treated by others.
“(This) means they don’t participate, and they stay home,” he said.
Steve Barnett
Sunshine Coast entrepreneur Steve Barnett, 37, is one of three masterminds behind grease software company GreaseBoss, which monitors and verifies industrial machinery has been correctly greased.
Mr Barnett, alongside co-founders Tim Hall and Peter Condoleon, said they started from humble beginnings in Mr Hall’s garage 18 months ago, and have rapidly expanded to an award-winning business.
He said he now wanted his product to be at the end of every grease gun.
“We want to be a unicorn,” he said.
Kenny Lienhard
Sunshine Coast digital mind Kenny Lienhard is deep in the crypto world as the chief executive of digital art gallery Meta Collect in Baringa since July.
Meta Collect displays a collection of NFT digital art that can be purchased via cryptocurrencies. The place is also expected to host crypto meetings, seminars and networking events.
“As far as we know this is Australia’s first, permanent NFT gallery,” Mr Lienhard said.
Aaron Blackman
Sunshine Coast software genius Aaron Blackman is the managing director of global software giant Maropost, which is headquartered in Canada but built an Australian base in Maroochydore this year.
Mr Blackman was the founder of Retail Express, which was bought out by Maropost for $55m early this year.
Kris Carver
Sunshine Coast tech mind Kris Carver, a passionate and proven leader, is the chief executive of technology service ENTAG in Birtinya, helping businesses and organisations transform their enterprises.
Louis Stowasser
Former Mapleton resident Louis Stowasser, 31, who once worked in Silicon Valley, is the co-founder of cybersecurity software company Sec Alerts.
Mr Stowasser and his team have big clients on board such as Nando’s, Adidas, and Expedia.
Ben Johnston
Sunshine Coast tech innovator Ben Johnston is one of the co-founders behind a breathtakingly immersive virtual reality start up HavenXR in Sippy Downs.
Unlike regular virtual reality, HavenXR takes immersion a step further by having users interact with the virtual and physical world together – the ultimate experience.
Mick Fielding
Sunshine Coast robotics engineer and entrepreneur Mick Fielding is the executive director of technology and manufacturing company Raider Targetry in Buderim.
Raider Targetry creates a unique moving target system for live-fire training, simulations and testing.
Jim Lee
Sunshine Coast innovator Jim Lee, 42, founded nationwide fleet management and GPS tracking company The Fleet Office in Mooloolaba in 2015.
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Originally published as Sunshine Coast technology: The 15 next Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs of the Sunshine Coast
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