Cicada x Tech23 in Brisbane 2025: Meet Australia's Deep Tech Leaders

Cicada x Tech23: Is Coming to Brisbane to Celebrate Deep Tech Leadership & Innovation

Cicada x Tech23 has always been about championing bold ideas and the brilliant minds behind them—and in 2025, we’re taking that spirit on tour.

In the lead-up to Cicada x Tech23 in September, we’re bringing together deep tech innovators, industry trailblazers, and emerging leaders across Australia—to celebrate the people shaping the future. Because innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when we dare to push boundaries, challenge conventions, and forge new frontiers together.

At Cicada Innovations, we believe in the power of deep tech to change the world—but change is driven by leaders willing to take risks, visionaries willing to experiment, and communities willing to back them. The Brisbane event is your chance to connect, learn, and spark the collaborations that will shape the next wave of Australian deep tech breakthroughs.

Hosted by Sally-Ann Williams, will feature candid conversations with exceptional founders who have navigated the highs and lows of building deep tech ventures—sharing insights on leadership, resilience, and what it takes to drive real impact.

Meet The Panel

• Bob Criner, Co-Founder & CEO at Stralis Aircraft

• Chris Jeffery, CEO at Convergence Medical

Tech23 isn’t just an event. It’s a movement. A movement of relentless curiosity, audacious ambition, and unwavering belief in what’s possible. This is your chance to be part of it.

Why Attend

• Meet the minds redefining industries
• Celebrate the leadership within the Tech23 alumni
• Connect with Australia’s deep tech community shaping the future

Join us on the Road to Tech23. Be inspired. Be part of something bigger.

Meet Radical Innovators and Leaders

Bob Criner, Stralis Aircraft

Stralis makes emission free hydrogen electric aircraft, with our first product entering service in 2027 with launch customer Skytrans. Commercial air travel currently accounts for ~2% of global CO2 emissions, but that proportion will increase significantly as other industries decarbonise. Our aircraft are fuelled by green liquid hydrogen produced from water using renewable energy. The only emission from the tailpipe of our aircraft is water vapour. Our world leading hydrogen fuel cell technology allows our planes to fly 10 times further than battery electric alternatives whilst being 50% cheaper to operate than fossil fuel powered aircraft. Our aircraft will unlock a future where flying is cleaner, cheaper and more convenient.

Bob Criner has 18 years of international aerospace experience, working on the cutting edge of electric aircraft innovation for the past 8 years at Heart Aerospace, Ampaire, magniX and GoogleX (Makani). Earlier in his career, Bob held lead positions at Saab, Airbus, UTC, Gulfstream, Northrop Grumman and Boeing. Bob studied aerospace engineering at UNSW and went through Y Combinator in W23.

Chris Jeffery, Convergence Medical

Convergence Medical Pty Ltd is a Brisbane based medical device company, focused on the advancing arthroscopy with design and development of the world’s first arthroscopic robot (the V01 – Arthroscopic Surgical Robot). The V01 replaces outdated and unreliable equipment with mechanisation and intelligent automation. The robot platform is designed with up to 5 arms operating various instruments simultaneously. It is also equipped with flexible miniature cameras, offering safer operations and wider anatomy access compared to traditional rigid scopes. As recognised in its patent and US FDA breakthrough status (achieved by <3% of FDA submissions), the V01 offers a significant and fundamental improvement over contemporary solutions, dramatically impacting patients' and surgeons' lives

Dr. Chris Jeffery, a medical doctor and engineer, is the CEO of Convergence Medical, renowned for medical device translational research and innovation. Formerly CEO of Global orthopedics company Field Orthopaedics and founder of the publicly listed company, Audeara producing headphones which can learn how you hear and provide you with personalised sound. Dr. Jeffery has special interest in minimally invasive orthopaedics, robotics, software development, and AI. He has led multiple businesses, bringing over 2000 devices to market, and raised over $22 million. Now, he oversees the development of V01at Convergence Medical, which he believes will transform healthcare.

About Cicada x Tech23

Cicada x Tech23 is Australia's biggest deep tech festival, showcasing 23 of the nation's most promising ventures, and connects visionary founders to a network of investors, leaders and big thinkers.

+ Register your interest in the main event here 
+ Explore more about the festival on our website 

Thank you to our sponsors