CeBIT Australia 2018 came to an exciting close this week with PitchFest 2018.
Ten finalists (from 40 entrants) pitched their tech-related start-up ideas to a panel of expert judges.
The winner was PingData, whose founder Paul Weingarth, wants to rid the world of paper receipts.
He wants to put an end to the transaction – and there are at least 300 billion of them every year.
Paper receipts occupy space in your wallet or purse and can easily be lost. They are a general pain for both customers and retailers.
Ping Data aims to change all that, through the PingReceipt. It works by digitally capturing receipt data from customer payments, which creates a digital receipt. This is then matched to the transactions in a user's banking app, and becomes immediately viewable and retrievable.
For customers, this means never losing a receipt again (not to mention having a much easier time with tax returns). Flexible storing options also make it simpler to see what you’ve spent.
For merchants, it means faster transactions and a better way to engage with customers by gaining insights and feedback as well as an opportunity to send targeted and personalised offers.
Innovative solutions
Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business John Barilaro said the quality of finalists for PitchFest was outstanding, which demonstrates how the StartUp sector is creating innovative solutions to improve all sectors of the economy.
Ping Data took out the top prize valued at over $20,000.
Other finalists included in third place Littlescribe, an app that aims to improve literacy standards in Australian schools.
And BenchOn (second place), a B2B talent mobility platform that “matches your short-term contract requirements to the hidden talent inside Australia’s best companies.” It focusses on solving the problem of employee underutilisation, by helping one business quickly match idle staff from other businesses with current short-term contract opportunities in theirs.
A Cyber Security Conference and future-focused StartUp Conference rounded out the three days of Asia Pacific’s largest business technology exhibition.
Harvey Stockbridge, Managing Director, Hannover Fairs – organisers of CeBIT Australia, said the event, which celebrated its 17th year, was a remarkable success.
“CeBIT plays a vital role in bringing together investment, talent and ideas under one roof,” he said.
