25 years of deep tech

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 supported over 500 companies, helped raise billions in funding, and seen $6.1bn in exits from deep tech ventures. We’ve twice been named ‘Top Incubator in the World’ by InBIA.

We have expanded nationally to include incubators in Eveleigh, Westmead, and Melbourne, and launched programs like the Health Commercialisation Training Program and the National Space Industry Hub. We are also the custodians of Cicada x Tech23 — Australia’s flagship platform for deep tech leaders.

Our mission remains the same: to advance scientific discovery and help 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.