Two decades of impact

Cicada Innovations was established in 2000 in Sydney. Supported by our founding shareholders – ANU, UNSW, USYD and UTS – the vision was to bring together the fields of business, engineering and science to build businesses solving complex global challenges.

Since our inception, we’ve seen an unprecedented $1.3bn in exits from six deep tech ventures in the last two decades. We’ve helped over 350 companies raise billions in funding, file hundreds of patents globally, and employee thousands. And we’ve twice been awarded ‘Top Incubator in the World’ by InBIA.

We now operate incubators and deliver training across Australia, but our mission remains the same. To further scientific discovery and help the next generation of innovators build impactful deep tech businesses.

Sally-Ann Williams, Chief Executive Officer

Our team is headed up by our CEO, Sally-Ann Williams who previously spent 12 years with Google Australia’s R&D team where she was responsible for leading Google’s efforts in startup engagement and research collaborations.

Sally-Ann is an experienced Non Executive Board member currently serving on the boards of Cicada Innovations, Qudos Bank, Data61, NSSN, and AusOcean, Chair of the Computing Advisory Board at ANU, as well as the advisory board member of the Heavy Ion Accelerator NCRIS Facility, a member of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology governance committee, and a member of the NSW Government Tech Central Advisory Board.