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Entrepreneurs putting Ipswich on the world tech map

Forget Shark Tank, innovators are bringing their big ideas to life at Ipswich start up hub Fire Station 101. Meet some of those who are putting Ipswich entrepreneurism on the map.
Katharina von Heusinger & Reiner Adolfsen (The Golden Bone Bakery)

This small business success story is Ipswich to the bone. In 2015 Katharina started making healthy treats for her dog Jett from her home kitchen after researching mass-manufactured products that were loaded with sugar, artificial colours, preservatives and other nasties. Everything started in Ipswich – from upscaling to produce natural and nutritional pet treats in the kitchen of The Ipswich Club on Gray Street to the support of Bundamba vet Dr Gillian Sylvestre. The Golden Bone Bakery is now the official sponsor of the RSPCA School for Dogs and Katharina and Reiner continue to build their business base with the support of Fire Station 101.

The Golden Bone Bakery business in action.
Christine Mudavanhu (PickUp Australia)
Bellbird Park-based PickUp Australia is a supported passenger transport service for 4.2 million Australians with a disability. Christine came up with the idea in 2015 after understanding the frustrations people with a disability face in their daily commute. Cars hit the road for a pilot program in February this year and Christine joined Fire Station 101 to refine her business plan and focus on building a mobile app that will allow approved providers to list their services and empower people to plan and book transport and assisted shopping at retailers. It’s a bit like Booking.com for passenger transport services, and it’s being developed in Ipswich.
Peter Bail (Grow Logic)
Grow Logic is an integrated farm management platform that combines software, hardware and science into a single cloud-based solution. With the support of Fire Station 101 Peter is out to improve the lives of growers and consumers by increasing yields in line with Australia’s population growth. Grow Logic provides unmanned aerial vehicles for real time high-def crop imaging, web-based farm mapping software and online planning and scheduling software. All this means increased efficiency and greater control for growers when it comes to watering, maintaining and harvesting crops. It also helps to reduce waste labour, onsite costs and paperwork.
Anne-Marie Walton (Wantu)

North Ipswich resident Anne-Marie won Fire Station’s first ever pitch comp in February last year with what was then known as Express2Fun. Rebranded after extensive testing, the Wantu app helps busy parents access learning-based activities for children aged two to eight years. It’s all about adults spending quality time with their kids in a fast-paced world that doesn’t always include a healthy work-life balance. Anne-Marie won the Community Choice award at the Australia Post Regional Pitch Fest in June. She is working to secure corporate sponsorship to help make Wantu available as a free app for families across the world.

Fire Station 101

Australia’s first and only fully government backed innovation hub is at 101 Limestone Street in the Ipswich CBD.
Kate Perry (Wiserr)

Wiserr is an online platform that provides people with a place to share their skills and experiences. It challenges age discrimination by placing a high value on the wisdom that comes with years of experience, facilitating the flow of information from one generation to the next. Kate started work on the Wiserr concept in 2015 after talking to family and friends who were experiencing age discrimination in the workplace. Her time at Fire Station 101 has helped build solid business foundations and Wiserr has since grown to connect people through group workshops, Skype mentoring calls, one-on-one tutorials, webinars, odd jobs and e-commerce stores.

Maybe you know others who are doing great things in Ipswich? email [email protected]. Or, maybe you just like reading about great achievements in your city. If that’s the case, subscribe to Ipswich First news alerts!

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