Cicada x Tech23 has announced its 2025 cohort of 23 ventures, selected from a record 150 applications across Australia. The program spotlights deep tech companies developing breakthrough technologies to address global challenges in climate, health, energy, and infrastructure.
Cicada x Tech23 2025 is set to be the most dynamic and nationally diverse event in its history. This year’s lineup features a remarkable group of ventures from across Australia, including teams from the ACT, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.
It’s not just their geographic spread that makes this cohort stand out: it’s the depth of their innovation, the originality of their thinking, and the personal conviction driving their work. Each selected venture is tackling major challenges with cutting-edge science and bold ideas. But what really unites them is a shared sense of purpose. Many of these founders are drawing from lived experience and a deep belief in the change they want to create, and that energy is palpable.
Cicada x Tech23 is designed to give these founders a real platform to help them build connections with investors, industry leaders, and policymakers, and to accelerate their path from the lab to the market.
The 2025 event is backed by a strong group of partners and sponsors including Main Sequence Ventures, Addisons, CFO+, Radium Capital, TechVisa, CSIRO, Onset, the University of Sydney, Boson Ventures, Dassault Systèmes, and Westpac. It all takes place on September 10, 2025, at Doltone House on Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney.
Expect big ideas, real conversations, and a front-row seat to the next wave of deep tech innovation!
The 2025 cohort
Behind each venture is a story of purpose-driven innovation. A founder developing a fully implantable artificial kidney, motivated by the loss of her father on the transplant waitlist. A mother of a premature baby who created real-time neonatal monitoring technology to prevent harm. An Indigenous engineer electrifying mining fleets to help decarbonize Australia’s heaviest emitters. An aerospace team rethinking flight to enable heavy vertical lift in remote and crisis-stricken areas.
The 23 ventures span five categories examining how deep tech can transform critical systems:
Re-Sourcing the World ventures are transforming carbon, waste, and critical minerals into sustainable raw materials. Banksia Minerals Processing is developing clean electrochemical copper smelting using room-temperature electrolysis.
COOL ENGINEERING has built compact plants that capture CO₂ and convert it into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels. Facet Amtech has developed a room-temperature ammonia synthesis catalyst, bypassing the century-old Haber-Bosch process.
Built with Biology companies harness living systems to grow and fabricate materials. Algenie uses a patented helical photobioreactor for large-scale algae production that absorbs two kilograms of carbon for every kilogram of product.
BioCarbon converts forestry waste into GreenChar for steelmaking. Humble Bee Bio created a bioinspired peptide that restarts elastin production. Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE) develops nature-inspired membranes recovering valuable materials from wastewater. Sprout Materials has developed a chemically recyclable polyurethane foam alternative.
Engineering New Capability ventures enable operations beyond legacy systems’ reach. Burl Aerospace is building aircraft with mono-wing rotor systems for extreme payload deployment without runways. CatQ has developed optical quantum error correction improving performance up to 1,000x.
DeteQt created a compact quantum magnetometer for GPS-free navigation, already backed by a $3.4 million Australian Defence contract. Powered by NOA builds wireless charging systems for autonomous drones and robots. X-Centric Sciences developed a handheld soil testing device delivering lab-grade analysis on-site.
A New System of Care companies shift healthcare from reactive to preemptive. Liora Neurotech is developing Lumara, a wearable biosensor predicting psychiatric relapse through biomarker tracking. Nutromics created a lab-on-a-patch for real-time diagnostic monitoring at the bedside, already tested in humans and backed by $20 million.
OncoRevive developed a blood test over a billion times more sensitive than standard cancer detection methods. One Kidney is building a fully implantable artificial kidney system. Pretect Devices created Vedette, a wearable monitor preventing IV leakage injuries in neonatal care.
The Built World, Upgraded ventures embed intelligence into physical infrastructure. ConryTech developed the BullAnt platform, modular air-conditioning reducing energy use by up to 70%. Electric Power Conversions Australia (EPCA)retrofits mining haul trucks with battery-electric powertrains, achieving world-leading battery energy density.
Kardinia Energy produces lightweight, flexible printed solar panels, already touring with Coldplay. PuraLink builds autonomous robots for underground pipeline inspection. Terria created an open-source platform for building interactive maps and digital twins, used for Australia’s National Map and the NSW Spatial Digital Twin.
Other opportunities
- Customer Discovery Course – NSW HealthTech Commercialisation Program – Over 7 weeks (one day per week), you will learn the importance of Customer Discovery, a customer-centric, scientific process that tests assumptions about your product or business model. This course is free but spots are limited and applications close on the 4th of July. Apply today.
- NSIH Fast Start 6 month coaching program – supported by Investment NSW – tailored for ambitious space, aerospace, and defence dual-use ventures so you can supercharge your commercialisation journey. Only 2 places are available – Apply now.
Get your ticket here.
Based on announcement from Cicada Innovations
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