Queensland entrepreneurial talent on world stage

Local entrepreneurs will share the stage with international stars at the three day technology and innovation Advance Queensland Myriad Festival in Brisbane next month.

Minister for Innovation Leeanne Enoch said Myriad would be an opportunity of a lifetime for Queensland entrepreneurs to stand alongside international success stories including Gruntify CEO Jamie Leach, MYOB’s Simon Raik-Allen and The Hustle founder Sam Parr.

“The Myriad Festival is a huge opportunity to showcase Queensland talent and for our brightest entrepreneurs to present their ideas to national and international tech gurus and potential investors,” Ms Enoch said.

“It gives us a chance to highlight our local success stories, those Queenslanders who are making their mark in the world.”

Among the home-grown talent to be included in the Myriad speakers’ lineup is Queensland Young Australian of the Year and Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion, Taj Pabari.

The 17-year-old from Brisbane founded Fiftysix Creations, a build it yourself tablet and coding kit for children and he is keen to share his passion for innovation with others.

“Myriad will showcase what young people are doing here in Queensland and that’s really important. I believe our generation is the future, and it’s important to become engaged in this innovation economy and people can do this through Myriad,” Taj said.

Local entreprepreneur Andrew Barnes from online learning and education startup GO1, will also be speaking at Myriad. GO1 has grown from a garage-based business in 2015 to a world-wide organisation with 50 employees today.

Building on the success of the 2016 Advance Queensland Innovation and Investment Summit, Myriad is set to boast an impressive line-up of key entrepreneurial leaders, international investment gurus, guest speakers and presenters, including Melbourne-based Code Like a Girl Co-founder Ally Watson.

“I know what it’s like to be a woman in a startup and I hope to inspire other girls to give it a try themselves,” Ally said.

“The shortage of skilled technologists is just going to get worse and we need to address that. Women are an untapped resource and it’s proven that increasing the number of women in business can lead to an increase in financial success and employee performance.”

Other speakers include Colin Kinner (Startup Onramp), Jay Morgan (J. Walter Thompson Group), Kim Allom (Defiant Dev), Nirary Dacho (Refugee Talent), Jan Owen AO (Foundation for Young Australians) and Nicolle Hazell (Blue Chilli).

Myriad is being delivered by Myriad Technology Conferences in partnership with Advance Queensland, the Palaszczuk Government’s $405 million whole of government investment in Queensland innovation.

Myriad will be held at the Brisbane Powerhouse from 29-31 March 2017. More information is available on the Advance Queensland website.

Media contact: 0437 859 987