Cicada x Tech23 in Sydney: Meet Australia's radical innovators

We are bringing Sydney's deep tech community back together, and we want you to join us.

Get ready to reunite with Sydney's deep tech community on Wednesday 27th March at Cicada Innovations for an evening dedicated to deep tech. This is your chance to reconnect with fellow founders, innovators, investors, and leaders in New South Wales' deep tech ecosystem. 

Be part of the conversation shaping Australia's future as we hear from three visionary founders transforming industries like Air transport, Fashion, and Manufacturing. Led by Cicada's CEO, Sally-Ann Williams, our panelists aren’t just discussing the future; they're actively building it:

• David Doral, CEO and co-founder of Dovetail, pioneering an electric-powered propulsion system, revolutionising air transport and sustainability.
• Tom Hussey, CEO and co-founder of Xefco, transforming the textile industry with cutting-edge manufacturing solutions used by global fashion brands.
• Jeka Viktorova, CEO and co-founder of Syenta, everaging advanced electrochemistry, to provide the world's fastest and most high-performance manufacturing equipment.

Dive into the future of deep tech and discover how you can contribute to building Australia as a deep tech nation. Join us to glimpse a future where deep tech isn't just a concept, but a tangible, life-changing reality.

This event marks the launch event of Cicada x Tech23 2024, Australia's biggest deep tech festival, set to take place on 7th August in Sydney.

Come and network with the brightest and boldest of Sydney's deep tech community and join the CxT23 village. 

About the radical innovations

Dovetail

Air transport is an emissions-intensive sector, contributing to 2% of global emissions, almost 1 billion tons of C02e p.a., with no credible plan to become carbon neutral in the next decade. While air transport has grown in the last two decades, regional aviation has shrunk significantly. Only in Australia, 90 airlines have disappeared, most of them small regional operators, and globally 70% of destinations have lost services in the last 3 years, leaving many small communities underserved. Dovetail Electric Aviation has developed an electric-powered propulsion system that integrates into existing legacy commuter aircraft to reduce emissions to zero while lowering operations costs, multiplying the number of regional routes x10.

David is an Innovative aerospace leader with 25+ years of international experience running R&D programs, engineering companies, manufacturing plants, and business units. David graduated from Madrid Polytechnic University with BEng and MSc degrees in Aerospace Engineering and has an MBA from INSEAD. Started his career as a new airliner development engineer for Boeing and Airbus, and in the last decade, he has held executive positions at different aerospace companies in Europe and, more recently, Quickstep in Australia, where he was CTO and Head of Engineering.

Xefco

Textiles are a fundamental part of our everyday lives and are one of the world’s biggest manufacturing industries. Outdated wet manufacturing processes used for textile finishing and dyeing are responsible for 20 percent of global water pollution and 3 percent of global carbon emissions. Xefco is harnessing the unique properties of plasma to create a highly efficient, water-free solution for textile dyeing and finishing, with the potential to eliminate up to 20 percent of the world’s water pollution and 2.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.

Tom Hussey, co-founded Xefco and leads the company as Chief Executive Officer through the development and commercialisation of multiple innovative textile technologies. Tom is the former Head of Research and Development at Zhik Pty Ltd, where he was responsible for driving the company’s strategic innovation agenda. He is highly skilled in the development of technical textiles and manufacturing processes and has extensive experience coordinating cross disciplinary research, production and commercial teams.

Syenta

Syenta is on a mission to revolutionise the electronics manufacturing sector by delivering printers based on their groundbreaking technology to customers. The world- first 3D printing technology comprises a range of novel solutions including photonics, batteries, sensors and software, and works with materials such as copper, conductive polymers and epoxy. Through this amalgamation of talent and technology, Syentia has developed a transformative manufacturing solution that will change the way we create physical products in the future.

Jeka is a highly accomplished professional with a strong background in chemistry and printed electronics, having worked in both industry and academia. She earned her Master's degree from RWTH Aachen and gained valuable startup experience in printed electronics in Germany prior to pursuing a PhD at ANU. During her doctoral program, Jeka co-invented and led the development of an innovative additive manufacturing method using electrochemistry, which ultimately led to the creation of Syenta. 

About Cicada x Tech23

Cicada x Tech23 is celebration of radical innovation and bold ideas in the world of deep tech, 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 
• Delve into the insights into Australian deep tech in our 2023 Report.