25 Years of Cicada Innovations | A Deep Tech Icons Panel

Cicada Through the Years: A Deep Tech Icons Panel

Join us to celebrate “Cicada Through the Years” a panel of deep tech trailblazers who’ve built companies that have reshaped industries, from biotech and medtech to advanced manufacturing and space.

As part of our Deep Tech Icons series, this event puts the spotlight on founders and innovators who began their journey at Cicada Innovations and went on to build globally impactful ventures. Together on stage, they’ll share the untold stories, pivotal moments, and lessons learned from building long-term, high-impact businesses in one of the world’s toughest arenas: deep tech.

Whether you’re a founder, researcher, investor, or just deep tech-curious, this is a chance to hear from those who’ve done the hard yards, and to be inspired by what’s possible when science meets scale.

This special edition of Deep Tech Icons also celebrates Cicada’s 25 years at the heart of Australia’s innovation ecosystem.

Speakers

Meet the visionary founders whose groundbreaking work continues to define the technology landscape.

• Bill Clasquin, Founder of Envizi (acquired by IBM)

• Dr. Elisa Mokany, Co-Founders of SpeedX

• Simon Poole, Co-Founder of Indx, Engana, Optium, Cylite

Hosted by: Sally-Ann Williams, CEO, Cicada Innovations

What to Expect

Inspiring Stories: Founders reflect on their early days, scaling challenges, and what’s next for Australian innovation
Networking Reception: Celebrate with industry peers, funders, alumni, and community champions
Legacy Moments: Contribute to our “Deep Tech Hotline” project and share your memory of Cicada
Sneak Peek: A look ahead at what’s next in our Icons Series with more events to come throughout 2025

25 Years of Cicada Innovations

Cicada Innovations is celebrating 25 years of fostering Australia’s deep tech ecosystem. This series of events throughout 2025 aims to celebrate its vibrant community, showcase its impact, and look ahead to the future of deep tech innovation. The Cicada Deep Tech Icons Series features influential alumni and community leaders, highlighting Cicada's history and future.

Meet the Panel

Bill Clasquin, Founder & Former Director & CTO, Envizi

Bill Clasquin took his former company, Envizi, from a garage startup in 2004 to a successful acquisition by IBM in 2022. Today, he's focused on becoming a driving force behind startups that are creating positive social, environmental, or economic impact in the world.

Having faced the full spectrum of early-stage founder challenges himself, Bill understands the value of having experienced guidance through the highs and lows. While his technical expertise as a CTO is invaluable for any SaaS business, it's his broader leadership experience—as Director and Chair of Envizi—that equips him to help founders navigate complexity and scale with purpose.

Under Bill’s leadership, Envizi developed one of the most robust carbon accounting and energy analytics platforms in the ESG industry. The platform was used by nearly 200 enterprise clients worldwide, including CBRE, Canon, Microsoft, NatWest Bank, and Telstra. The acquisition by IBM was a recognition of the company’s significant contribution to solving environmental challenges for businesses globally.

Bill remains driven by a desire to improve efficiency, outcomes, and environmental impact—and brings that mindset to his work mentoring emerging founders. He thrives on partnering with entrepreneurs who share his outlook on life and business.

Dr Elisa Mokany, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, SpeedX

In this role, Dr Elisa leads the development of innovative diagnostic technologies and commercialization of infectious disease and antibiotic resistance tests. Elisa has over 20 years’ experience in medical research, she has worked for St Vincent’s hospital developing tests for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer and later at Johnson & Johnson Research (JJR) where she developed diagnostic tests for leukemia and was involved in the commercialisation of proprietary technology known as DzyNA PCR.

While at JJR, Elisa undertook studies towards her PhD, which involved co-invention of the novel nucleic acid technology, PlexZymes®. Elisa is an inventor on 8 patents/patent applications involving nucleic acid analysis including the novel PlexPrime technology which has multiple applications in the in vitro diagnostic field. Elisa studied at the University of NSW, obtaining a BSc (Hons 1st Class) and later completed her PhD at JJR in conjunction with the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science at the University of New South Wales.

She has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation (2022); the Australian Company of the Year (2021) and ATSE’s Clunies Ross Award for Innovation (2020).

Dr Simon Poole AO, FAA, FTSE, FIEAust, FIEEE is an engineer/scientist/entrepreneur with over 40 years’ experience in Photonics in academia, research, and industry.  He has been involved in start-ups in both Academia and industry for the majority of this time and is renowned for both his contribution to the technology of photonics as well as the companies he has founded.  These include Indx (acquired by JDSUniphase in 1997), Engana (now Finisar Australia) and Cylite (acquired by Alcon in Jan 2025).  These companies have, between them, generated over $3B in export revenues and employed over 1,000 people in Australia.   

He has received numerous awards for his work in commercialising Photonics in Australia, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation (2018), and in the same year he was made an Officer in The Order of Australia for his service to the Photonics community and industry. In 2023 received the inaugural IEEE Photonics Society Industry Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the translation of photonic ideas into successful commercial products.