AirTrunk founder and chief executive Robin Khuda as the featured speaker at the 2025 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence at the Sydney Town Hall on Thursday November 27.
In a room full of entrepreneurs and investors looking to scale the businesses, a few words from a man who has enjoyed extraordinary success – and overcome huge challenges – will no doubt inspire.
Robin Khuda is an Australian data centre giant. He founded AirTrunk in 2015, growing the business across the Asia Pacific and Japan before the company’s $24 billion sale to Blackstone in 2024.
The ink was barely dry on the sale contract before Mr Khuda had announced a $100 million donation to the University of Sydney via the Khuda Family Foundation to create pathways for girls from western Sydney into STEM education and careers.
The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence brings 550+ startup founders, venture investors, researchers and policymakers together to celebrate Australian success stories across 11 categories.
The black-tie gala dinner is a fabulous night of serious fun and equally serious networking.
“The trajectory of AirTrunk’s stunning rise from its startup origins to become a globally significant player in the world data centre market has been incredible to watch,” said InnovationAus.com publisher and CEO Corrie McLeod.
“For Australian entrepreneurs at the start of their commercial journey, looking to scale their businesses, there is no better example of commitment to innovation excellence leading to business success,” Ms McLeod said.
Mr Khuda founded AirTrunk as a hyperscale data centre provider in 2015 to meet burgeoning demand for cloud services having come from the data management and telecommunications industry.
Mr Khuda has received global recognition for his leadership, entrepreneurialism, and influence. In 2024 he took out the AFR’s top prize as joint ‘Business Person of the Year’ and won the ‘APAC Digital Infrastructure Leader’ Award at the Tech Capital APAC Finance Awards.
The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence are considered the premier awards program for Australia’s innovation community, particularly in emerging and deep tech industries. You can join industry leaders at these awards by securing your seat here.
The InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence are proudly supported by ACS, PEXA Group, the CSIRO ON Program, Griffith Hack, TechnologyOne, Q-CTRL, National AI Centre, University of New South Wales, KPMG, AgriFutures Australia, Investment NSW and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
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