Tech talent recognised

Aqura Technologies was named best tech company while VentureX HQ co-founder Sheryl Frame received the Achiever of the Year title at the 2022 WAITTA INCITE Awards on Friday night.

The winners of the 31st INCITE Awards, run by the WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance, were announced in front of a crowd of 300 guests at The Westin Perth.

Ms Frame was awarded the title for her work starting VentureX HQ, an educational network for women who are founders of scaleable business ventures or investors seeking growth opportunities.

Aqura Technologies, a provider of next generation fixed and industrial wireless networks, was named the Dr Mal Bryce Western Australian Tech Company of the Year.

Pearcey Western Australian Entrepreneur of the Year was won by Mahmood Hussein, who leads commercial drone training and services company Global Drone Solutions.

Assuro took out the Startup of the Year category for its online banking platform which offers bank guarantees and surety bonds and Neurotologix won the Social Impact award for its remote patient monitoring system that has the potential to change how dizziness and vertigo are diagnosed.

The Transformative Business Solutions award was won by Pentanet neXus, Marble Bar Primary School was awarded the Innovating Government award, while Edith Cowan University’s Sideffect Gameplan was named Research & Innovation Project of the Year.

University of Western Australia student Omar Anwar won Research & Innovation Project of the Year for a smart beehive monitoring system for remote regions, and a team from Deloitte and Curtin University won the Peter Fillery Undergraduate Tertiary Student Project for their quantum computing interface.

WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance president Colin Janssen said the 2022 finalists and winners showcased what an exciting place WA was for technology and solutions to global problems.  

“We can all leave here tonight proud to be a part of this wonderful community and the State of Western Australia,” Mr Janssen said.

“Each year we are more and more impressed by the calibre of our entrants.

“We can only imagine the outstanding new solutions and innovative ideas we will see next year… We look forward to seeing you again in 2023.”

The category and merit winners will represent the state at the national iAwards.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Innovation and ICT Minister Stephen Dawson announced the finalists of the 2022 WA Innovator of the Year awards.

Finalists include Walk to Beat, a company that has created smart walking stick for Parkinson’s sufferers, livestock health and welfare monitoring system Xsights Digital and master planning platform Sentient Hubs.

Several 2022 Incite Award winners are also finalists in the WA Innovator of the Year awards, including Neurotologix and Assuro.