Aakanksha Chhikara is interested in new technologies that create value for business and help change lives. Her expertise is in wearable health monitoring sensor technologies combined with management experience at start-ups. Aakanksha has just founded Akanz, a wearable technology company. Previously, she drove Product Innovation and Business Development functions at dorsaVi, a wearable medical device company in Melbourne. During this time, Aakanksha was also on the committee for AusMedtech. Prior to dorsaVi, Aakanksha was pursuing her PhD at Imperial College London and held senior positions at various Australian & UK start-upsluding Robogals Global, Robogals UK and Epigeum (spin-out from Imperial College). She has also worked in the leading R&D department of Bosch in Germany and Australia. Aakanksha holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (Personalised Healthcare Monitoring Technologies) from Imperial College London (UK), Graduate Certificate in International Business from the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Engineering (Robotics and Mechatronics) from Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia). She is a 2014 fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in Melbourne.

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Alan Dee is founder and CEO at 2Crates, a marketplace that allows customers to design, receive competitive quotes and order their kitchen renovation all in one place. His professional career spans over 15 years in the IT industry across hardware, software, e-commerce and project management. Alan’s first startup failed in 2005. Learning from his mistakes, he ventured into another business a year later that flourished. Around the time Alan launched his third startup in late 2009, he was sought out by a firm in the health care sector to create their new e-commerce subsidiary. Alan’s revolutionary business model and vendor negotiations undercut the Australian market and resulted in ten’s of thousands in revenue within a few months of launch. Relocating to Melbourne in 2012, he went back to University to become a Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and develop the business model for 2Crates. Alan is a Fellow in the 2014 batch of the Melbourne, Australia Startup Leadership Programme (SLP) char.

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Alexander Cram is the CEO and Founder of Tixchange. He is an expert in team work, international relations and law. He is a 2018 fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in the Melbourne chapter.

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Alvaro is a former international development enthusiast, interested in spreading ideas, examining and connecting places and people, and feeding his new chocolate addiction. Having several ideas on how to improve his suburb and little hope that taking his idea to council was going to achieve anything, we founded an online platform to connect people and organisations to improve their suburbs. Creative Suburbs is the first installment of a series of projects to improve government and citizen relationships and the places where we live. Alvaro is a Fellow in the 2014 cohort of the Startup Leadership Program in Melbourne, Australia.

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Andrew is a healthcare business analyst and doctor who is developing a product named medtasker, which is a smartphone-based communication system designed to replace pagers in hospitals.

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Armando is an unconventional and creative Engineer that makes ideas happen. Excellent thinker and Co-founder of the creativity cell, winner of three national creativity awards by the Mexican National Institution of Postgraduate Education (DGEST, 2006-2009). With previous experience in the manufacturing industry and design, Armando is now changing the way vehicles are serviced. Co-founder and CTO of Energia Australia (renamed as Energy Efficient Systems), Armando have been able to expand the business, raise capital and take Energia to the next level. Now, Armando is a 2014 SLP fellow Melbourne.

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Ashwin works as the Business Development Manager at Wealth Enhancers, a boutique private wealth management firm focused on accountability coaching for high-ome, high-potential young professionals and entrepreneurs. Ashwin began his career in M&A tax at Deloitte. He then moved to London with global law firm Linklaters in 2008, qualifying as a solicitor specialising in cross-border M&A across the London, Hong Kong and New York offices. In 2011, Ashwin returned to Melbourne to join UBS Investment Bank, where he executed M&A, equity and debt raisings, and provided strategic advice to corporates across the Consumer & Retail Products, Gaming and Industrials sectors. One Rupee Flights is a unique flights & travel auction website. It is set to launch in India in early 2014, and is affiliated with the successful Australian start-up - One Cent Flights. Ashwin hopes to make air travel more accessible to the masses in India through the One Rupee Flights platform. Ashwin is passionate about business and financially educating his fellow young professionals and entrepreneurs, helping them focus on kicking personal and professional goals. Ashwin is a Fellow in the 2014 Startup Leadership Program ‘s Melbourne char.

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Barry is an entrepreneur and investor in the health and wellness space. He holds a physiotherapy degree from the University of Melbourne and is one of the youngest Graduates of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Barry has had extensive experience in multidisciplinary primary healthcare start ups, commercialisation of medical devices, cloud-based practice management software development and chronic disease clinical research. He currently holds directorships in a management consulting firm specialising in business development & venture fund raising (Synergist Ventures), a multidisciplinary allied health network specialising in chronic disease care and obstructive sleep apnoea diagnostics & therapy (YouFirst Health), a dental professional teeth whitening brand sponsoring Miss World Australia (The Whitening Clinic), a digital health marketing agency (Interactive Health Technologies) and an online functional health food & beverages shop (Essential Tea). Barry also assists in the venture capital raising process for early-stage technology startups, world-class property developments and recently, movies in the production pipeline involving A-list Hollywood celebrity casts. He is a 2013 Fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in Melbourne.

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Bashar has over 12 years of experience in the IT industry specialising in managing development teams in web and software based projects. He is a results-driven professional who has managed local and remote development teams and completed projects in the UK, Spain, Latvia, India and Australia. He has worked across diverse industries and platforms utilising architecture, development and leadership skills to facilitate technical project and team management. For the past 4 years with Cardola, Bashar has been involved in developing a worldwide interactive solution for luxury hotels in order to enrich guest experience with extended concierge services using touch screen devices during their stay. He is a 2013 Fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in Melbourne.

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Ben is the founder and Managing Director of NHC Australia, which is focussed on providing water security for the community through the improvement of yields from those very large dams which capture and store rainfall. The objective is to utilise an innovative pay-for-performance business model and charge for the amount of water saved from being lost to evaporation. NHC has filed provisional patent applications, but is still continuing research on various key components to support the business model. Ben and NHC co-founder Philip Miles were finalists in the 2013 RMIT University Business Plan competition, details here: https://bpc.rmit.edu.au/2013-Finalist-Profiles Ben was inspired to start the business when he saw the problem of storing water at a mine site in remote central Australia and realised that there are many products on the market, but none that can provide water security on terms that the utilities, miners and farmers who have large these large dams. Ben is a Fellow of the 2014 Melbourne char of the Startup Leadership Program.

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Ben Richardson is a qualified Aerospace Engineer, and serial entrepreneur with hunger to help as many people as possible create fantastic startup companies. Ben gained his passion for startups through his employment as a growth & implementation strategist for high-end web applications at Squareweave. Shortly afterwards, Ben partnered with his two co-founders and started exploring the startup scene with the aim to facilitate the creation of startup businesses, without the prerequisites of technical and strategic skill, allowing passionate founders to focus on, and experience the most exciting and rewarding aspects of running a high-growth startup. In May 2013 Andrew Chin, Sebastian Sibelle, and Ben Richardson co-founded the world’s first venture technology firm, accelerator, andubator that exclusively invests in subscription service companies. Subservice has been written up, interviewed, and publicly promoted by passionate advocates of the concept. This trio also founded capsule.vc which is an umbrella investment firm currently involved in a myriad of startups ranging from hardcore tech applications, to phsycical system med-tech startups. Ben is a Fellow in the 2014 batch of the Melbourne, Australia Startup Leadership Programme (SLP) char.

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Brittany Cullen is the Founder of AXS Health. She is a 2018 fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in the Melbourne Chapter.

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Cameron Scott El Presidente at Milkcrate Marketing- an eccentric guerilla-marketing agency for the start-up world- is also the Founder & Director of Energia Australia and The Society of Young Entrepreneurs. Though traditionally an excellent accountant with experience at Davis Evolution and Boost Juice, Cameron severely lacks interest in the corporate grey-suit lifestyle and a stable nine-to-five job. With a knack for adventure, taste for success and risk taking behaviors, his expertise lay in the entrepreneur world, with ideas and advice for start up businesses. Cameron’s bucket list is full of business ventures marking time until their opportune execution. However, querulous with his achievements so far as a founder, director, advisor, leader, innovator and participant in many entrepreneurial affairs, Cameron has decided to up-skill himself with a Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation- an accomplishment he will hang on his wall, beside the well framed Accountancy and Financial Planning Bachelors. A marathon runner, a serial Entrepreneur and nothing less than a high achiever. He is a 2013 Fellow in the Startup Leadership Program in Melbourne.

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Internationally experienced builder of businesses, Project Manager and Consultant having worked throughout Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. Experienced in process and product design, operations and project management in both a start-up and corporate environment with a diverse knowledge of and technical skills in smart grids, energy management and energy analytics.

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