A new awards program celebrating top startups, leaders, innovators and disruptors in Australia’s sharing economy has been launched by Australia’s first sharing economy accelerator The Sharing Hub.
According to Dave Eddy, Awards Manager at The Sharing Hub, the Sharing Economy Awards highlight companies having a real impact on the emerging sector, with one winner selected from each state along with a national champion.
“The Australian sharing economy is becoming a vital part of Australia’s economy, with recent research revealing that businesses have seen revenue growth of 68 per cent from an estimated $1.6 billion in 2014-15, to $2.6 billion in 2015-16, in NSW alone,” he said. “The number of people earning income through sharing economy platforms also doubled in NSW from 45,000 to 92,400 people.”
Eddy told Dynamic Business that eligible award entrants include companies that have “created innovative technology that is changing the way we work for the better”, new market players that are “disrupting their sector with rapid growth”, company founders who are “doing something completely unique to help communities and the sector” and consumers “who are successfully using to sharing economy to boost their income”. He noted that a consumer from each state will receive $1000 in prize money, with an overall national winner receiving $5000.
“While the awards are designed to recognise talent within the sharing economy and successful users, all award winners will share the same desire to use technology to find more efficient and convenient ways of doing things,” Eddy said. “The Sharing Hub is excited to launch the awards to recognise and drive this emerging sector in Australia, and we look forward to announcing the winners in early 2018.”
The awards will be judged by prominent sharing economy leaders including Steve Orenstein, founder and CEO of on demand express courier service Zoom2u; Alexis Soulopoulos, CEO and co-founder of Australia’s pet-sitting network Mad Paws; Justin Hales, co founder and CEO of Camplify, which connects RV owners with holidaymakers; and Mike Rosenbaum, co-founder and CEO of self-storage marketplace Spacer. Rachel Botsman, a leading keynote speaker and the author of ‘What’s Mine is Yours’, a book looking at collaborative consumption, will also be judging the awards.
The Sharing Economy Awards 2018 are now accepting nominations from each state. To enter, businesses and consumers can nominate by visiting: www.thesharinghub.com.au/awards/
The award entries close Friday, 22nd December and winners will be announced in early 2018.
