Forbes Australia picks out three Aussie entrepreneurs who are making waves in the startup space right now.
‘Quick Takes’ featured in Issue 18 of Forbes Australia. Tap here to secure your copy.
FOUNDIT
For childhood friends Angus Ferguson and Joel Tomaino, buying property in Australia has long felt stuck in the past.
“For what is one of life’s largest financial decisions, no one at scale is truly supporting the buyer,” says Ferguson. “When you want to buy a stock, you can read thousands of pages of reports, listen to analyst calls, and make an informed decision about whether that share is a buy or sell. Yet when making a multi-million-dollar commitment to buy property, you’re often deciding based on just a handful of comparable sales. That just doesn’t stack up.”
Determined to address this gap, Ferguson and Tomaino launched FOUNDIT, a buyer-first property platform designed to level the playing field.
“Our goal is to equip buyers with exclusive market research, technology that accelerates the property sourcing process, and a national network of experienced buyers’ agents,” says Tomaino. “Our buyers find the right property for the right price.”
Since launching in 2025, the start-up has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding from prominent real estate operators, including Realtair co-founder Peter Matthews and Propps founder Daniel Bignold.
“FOUNDIT has the team, the tech, and the timing,” says investor and Realbase co-founder Frank Greeff. “They’re solving a massive pain point, and they’ve built a platform that can scale. It’s not just for buyers – it brings alignment and efficiency across the whole ecosystem.”
Qure Skincare
Frustrated by costly and inaccessible skincare treatments, siblings Kristina and Matt Orlic set out to disrupt an industry they felt was leaving too many people behind.
“I know firsthand the frustration of struggling with skin issues and not having access to effective solutions or advanced technology, which is why I wanted to create something better,” says Kristina.
Inspired by this vision, the brother-sister duo founded Qure Skincare, bringing professional, science-backed skincare into people’s homes.
“Our products are designed to work with the skin’s natural processes, delivering the kind of results you’d expect from a clinic, but with the convenience of home use,” she says. “We’re focused on people who are serious about taking control of their skin health,” Matt adds.
Since debuting in 2022 with the Q-Rejuvalight Pro LED mask, an at-home device targeting both ageing and acne, Qure has grown into one of Australia’s fastest-growing start-ups, reporting a 366% revenue increase in 2024 to $37.6 million, according to figures provided to Forbes Australia.
However, for Kristina, the biggest reward goes beyond numbers. “Seeing our products featured in top publications like Vogue and getting attention from celebrities was great, but the true win is hearing from customers who tell us their skin has transformed,” she says. “Those are the moments that make everything we do worthwhile.”
Looking ahead, Kristina remains committed to making advanced skincare accessible to everyone. “We’re working on new products that push the boundaries of skincare technology and deliver personalised solutions with lasting results,” she says. “Our vision is for Qure to be a brand that seamlessly merges beauty, technology, and simplicity.”
Elliephant
Sheree Andersen found herself overwhelmed by an unexpectedly complex task while working at a fast-paced tech start-up: managing corporate gifting at scale.
“From keeping track of important dates to finding gifts people would genuinely appreciate, the entire process was incredibly frustrating and inefficient”, she recalls.
Inspired by the impact of thoughtful gifting on workplace culture and morale, Andersen teamed up with former colleague Johnny Reid in 2022 to launch Elliephant, a B2B gifting platform designed to simplify and scale the corporate gifting process for both senders and recipients.
“Elliephant brings together a curated network of top vendors so companies can manage all their gifting in one place,” says Reid. “Our gifts are delivered digitally or shipped directly, and the platform supports ‘gift of choice’ experiences and branded touchpoints to ensure every gift feels personal and on-brand.”
A product of the Melbourne Accelerator Program, Elliephant has expanded into more than 15 countries and boasts a clientele that includes SAP, Flywire, and the Australian Open. The start-up has raised over $1.2 million from investors, including LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund and Tractor Ventures CEO and founder, Jodie Imam.
“We invested in Elliephant through the Alice Anderson Fund because it’s a company disrupting a category that has seen very little innovation”, says LaunchVic CEO, Kate Cornick. “We look forward to supporting Sheree and the team in their next steps scaling the business after early traction with the likes of the Australian Open.”
‘Quick Takes’ features in Issue 18 of Forbes Australia. Tap here to secure your copy.
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