Privacy-focused payment startup Xiippy was the big winner from the River Rival pitch competition that closed out Brisbane’s Something Tech conference last week, taking out both the judge’s award for Best in Product and tying for the Best of the Best award with diabetes medicine subscription service Stripped Supply.
Xiipy is encouraging retail merchants to introduce paperless receipts and loyalty rewards programs without collecting large swathes of information about their customers.
Hamish Sadler CEO of Xiippy said it “feels great” to have his company recognised by a panel of judges.
“It was a real surprise to get two awards,” he told Information Age. “Thanks so much to ACS and River City Labs for putting on this event and giving me this opportunity.”
Sadler was one of eight startup founders who pitched his company to a panel of judges comprising John Kearney Head of Startups and Scaleups at AWS, Siobhan Casey Director of the ACS Innovation Labs, Stew Glynn Co-Founder of Ten13, and moderated by RCL mentor Peter Laurie.
Xiippy shared the honour of Best of the Best with Stripped Supply, a startup providing a subscription box for people with diabetes that automatically sends out much-needed supplies like insulin.
Founder of Stripped Supply Ashley Hanger said she was glad to show her company to a crowd of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists at Friday’s pitch competition.
“It feels special being able to automate something people desperately need,” Hanger said. “I’m grateful for the chance to spread the word about Stripped Supply at an event like River Rival.”
Snapi, a startup that makes devices which automatically reads electricity meters, won the People’s Choice Award as voted on by the audience.
Founder Mark Hartmann described it as a “a wonderful opportunity” to showcase Queensland’s tech startup ecosystem.
“Winning the People’s Choice award is a credit to the way we’ve designed a product that appeals to our target audience.”
All winners will receive complimentary memberships to River City Labs.
Pauline Fetaui General Manager of River City Labs said she was proud of the quality of emerging technology companies across Queensland.
“Congratulations to the winners of River Rival and thank you to all the speakers who presented over two days and the week as part of Something Tech and Something Fest,” she said.
Siobhan Casey said she enjoyed seeing entrepreneurs exploring ways to make a difference in the world.
“I love seeing people solve problems in innovative ways like Ashley, who took a concept we’re all familiar with for things like makeup and clothes and has turned it into a much-needed service for medicine.”
River Rival closed out the two-day long tech conference Something Tech held as part of Brisbane’s weeklong Something Fest.
