Premier USA event for Flinders startups

Andrew Ashley NVI
Andrew Karas, founder of 3D printing group Trinpy, with Flinders NVI’s Ashleigh Keane at the 3D facility at Flinders at Tonsley.

Small startup companies from Flinders New Venture Institute are on the big stage in the USA for two weeks to network and share their ideas with like-minded businesses.

The annual Flinders tour will take in both San Francisco and California’s Silicon Valley and New York’s “Silicon Alley” with Austin, Texas in between.

In Austin, members of the delegation will meet SA Premier Jay Weatherill who will host a special event for the SA visitors in the Austin City Hall.

The US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are among the keynote speakers at the international South by Southwest 2016 (SxSW) festival in Austin. The conference and festival is a long-running place for professional and creative talent to learn about emerging technologies, original music and independent films.

A roundtable with Flinders NVI partner Tech Ranch will also be held with business and civic leaders from Austin where social innovation will be the focus of the discussion.

The delegation, with more than 10 South Australian innovators, will be a great opportunity to see how other entrepreneurs are tapping into emerging 3D and other technologies, says Andrew Karas, of Trinpy.com, a startup company supported by Flinders at Tonsley and by the NVI Venture Dorm intensive program last year.

With a degree in mechanical engineering, Mr Karas is anticipating strong growth in the desktop 3D printing market and is keen to see what’s happening in the States.

Trinpy, an online marketplace for 3D printable models, is offering consumers and 3D printer resellers subscriptions to designs that can be printed on desktop 3D printers.

Two of Trinpy’s printable designs have featured on one of the largest 3D printing news sites, 3dprint.com, including this monster truck with working linkages and suspension systems (pictured).

Other SA entrepreneurs on the US delegation include:

  • Sarah Gunn, founder of social event impact management company GoGo Events and floral bioproduct BioBloom
  • Dan Squire from Drones over Water
  • Gavin Smith and Will Tamblyn, the founders of 3D hologram group Voxiebox
  • Sarah Blackman, the founder of Brigita and Transflow Filters
  • Adelaide representatives from Workforce Blueprinting and PwC
  • Adam Callen and Laura Byrne from creative studio Made in Katana – along with Councillor Sue Clearihan from Adelaide City Council – will join the group in Austin for the SXSW Festival (10-15 March) where hundreds of creative thinkers converge.

“We want to give these passionate emerging businesses the best chance at creating a startup or business model of value,” says Matthew Salier, the Director of Flinders NVI, who is leading the delegation.

“A trip to the US, one of the most dynamic markets in the world, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these entrepreneurs.”

 

 

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