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IN PICTURES: Rackspace recognises small teams with big ideas

13 Photos Nermin Bajric (ARN)

Rackspace hosted its second annual Small Teams Big Impact Awards on September 11 at the Cell Block Theatre of the National Arts School. The company's startup liaison officer, Robert Scoble, formed part of the judging panel and was joined by Melissa Widner (Heads Over Heels), Ben Chong (Sydney Seed Fund), Rick Baker (Blackbird Ventures), and Chris Ridd (Xero). The event saw six new businesses pitch their ideas to the panel, with Wattcost taking out the top gong.

  • The Rackspace Small Teams Big Impact event was held at the Cell Block Theatre, National Arts School Sydney.

  • Rackspace General Manager and Director Angus Dorney takes the stage as MC for the evening.

  • First pitch of the night - David Zimmerman, CEO of Elex Ratio, a legal professional services organisation offering consulting and systems integration services to Courts around the world.

  • Second up was Jon Soong, CEO of Marker’s Empire, developers of 3D printing software for schools and learning applications.

  • The third pitch of the night was from Jonathan Clarke at PASA, an e-commerce platform that aims at assisting ethical co-operatives in low-income countries in exporting their products all over the world.

  • Judge Ben Chong from Sydney Seed Fund and Founder Institute asks a question during a Q&A session with a finalist.

  • The Small Teams Big Impact audience in the Cell Block Theatre.

  • RecycleSmart CEO Giorgio Baracchi took to the stage in the forth pitch. Recycle Smart specialises in providing visual bin inspections, community engagement and incentives for households to dispose of waste more consciously.

  • The fifth pitch was from Jason O’Neil, CEO of Today We Learned, an application designed to encourage parent engagement in school education.

  • The sixth and final pitch was from Wattcost CEO David Soutar. Wattcost is a new Australian energy saving technology that provides real-time control of home electricity costs from a smartphone or tablet device.

  • Wattcost announced as the winning pitch, CEO David Soutar collects the Small Teams Big Impact award from Rackspace General Manager and Director Angus Dorney.

  • The judging panel included: (left to right) Melissa Widner, Co-Founder of Heads Over Heels and General Partner at Seapoint Ventures, Ben Chong at Sydney Seed Fund and Founder Institute, Rick Baker from Blackbird Ventures, Robert Scoble, technical evangelist, author and Rackspace Startup liaison officer and Chris Ridd from Xero.

  • The six finalists: (left to right) Giorgio Baracchi, CEO of RecycleSmart, Jason O’Neil, CEO of Today We Learned, Jonathan Clarke of PASA, David Zimmerman, CEO of Elex Ratio, Jon Soong, CEO of Marker’s Empire and David Soutar, CEO of Wattcost.

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