Date: August 2025

Event Location: Jones Bay Wharf, Sydney (2025 & 2024), Cicada Innivations (2023)

Mission: Deep tech rarely gets the spotlight it deserves. Cicada Innovations asked me to build an annual event that would change that — a programme that gave Australia's most serious scientific founders a stage worthy of their work, and connected them with the investors and partners who could help them scale.

Design: Over three consecutive years I produced the Tech23 Series end-to-end — curating and interviewing founders, managing a $200K budget, coordinating vendors and the full event team, and building the processes and frameworks that allowed the Cicada team to eventually run it independently. Every detail was designed to give founders credibility and investors confidence — because the room only works if both sides feel they're in the right place.

Impact: 400+ attendees per event. 40% of featured founders secured funding following their Tech23 appearance. A programme now fully handed over and running under its own steam — which is exactly how I measure success.