Entrepreneur and company founder Taryn Williams will host this year’s InnovationAus Awards for Excellence, bringing her trademark mix of business acumen, creativity and tenacity to the celebration of Australia’s most innovative organisations.
Each year, the Awards showcase the people and projects driving the country’s innovation economy — bringing together investors, founders, researchers and policymakers to recognise how ideas become great Australian companies.
This year’s choice of MC reflects that mission, alongside previous hosts that have included astrophysicist Kirsten Banks and neuroscientist Dr Christina Maher — all leaders who bridge deep technical expertise with public engagement.
Ms Williams follows in their footsteps as a multi-award-winning entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience building companies at the intersection of talent, media and technology.
She founded WINK Models at 21, growing it into one of Australia’s most successful commercial modelling agencies, before launching the online talent marketplace theright.fit and influencer agency The Influencers.
After scaling both ventures across Asia-Pacific with backing from venture capital firm Airtree Ventures, she successfully exited to international acquirers in 2023.
Her latest venture, #Gifted, is a Shopify plug-in that allows brands to manage influencer contra gifting at scale. Co-founded with early Canva and Atlassian employee James Dumay, it has already attracted major clients including Accor Hotels, PE Nation, Estée Lauder and Panasonic.
Ms Williams serves as a board director for Next25 and Digital + Technology Collective, and is a board advisor to All G Foods and Lamborghini FAB.
A regular speaker at events including Vivid Sydney, Mumbrella, and Online Retailer, she is recognised as one of Australia’s most prolific entrepreneurs and commentators on technology, branding and digital disruption.
The InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner will bring together leaders from across Australia’s research, investment and technology sectors. Fewer than 50 tickets remain for the event — to secure a seat, purchase your tickets 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.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.