The Pearcey Victorian Entrepreneur Award is presented to an outstanding individual who has "taken a risk, made a difference and is an inspiration to others" in the Victorian ICT industry.
The process draws on nominations from the public and the Pearcey Foundation network. Selection is made in consultation with past award recipients to ensure the continued integrity and quality of this peer based recognition.
Nominations can be received at any time.
The 2024 Pearcey Victorian Entrepreneur Award will be held on 4th September at Melbourne Connect in conjunction with the
Pearcey Oration.
The Pearcey Foundation very much appreciates the generous support by the Victorian Government over many years.
Since 2016, the presentation of Victorian Pearcey Award has been proudly part of the Victorian Government's Digital Innovation Festival (DIF).
The 2024 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Chris Piastri, co-founder and CTO of HP Tuners. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director of Melbourne Connect at the University of Melbourne. This was the flagship event of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week.
The 2023 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Didier Elzinga, founder and CEO of Culture Amp. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by the Honourable Ben Carroll MP, Minister for Industry & Innovation, State Government of Victoria. A flagship event of the Victorian Digital Innovation Festival and of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week
The 2022 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Jason Lohrey, founder and CEO/CTO of Arcitecta. The award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne by Kathy Coultas, Director of Technology & Innovation, Department of Economic Development, State Government of Victoria.
The 2021 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bronwyn Le Grice, founder and CEO of ANDHealth. The award, in its 23rd year, was presented by the Honourable Mr Danny Pearson MLA, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Government Services and Creative Industries.
The 2020 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Grant Petty, founder and CEO of Blackmagic Design. The award, in its 22nd year, was presented by 2011 award recipient and Deputy Chair of Pearcey Victoria, Dr Elaine Saunders.
The 2019 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Craig McDonald, founder and CEO of MailGuard and BlackEvents. The award, in its 20th year, was presented by the international thought-leader Roger Taylor, Chair of the UK Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, who also gave this year's Pearcey Oration at the dinner.
The 2018 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bernie Tschirren and Michael Cameron on Tuesday 28th August at the Monash Chambers, Melbourne. The award was presented by Dr Amanda Caples, Chief Scientist, Victoria as part of a special Pearcey Day(PDF, 107 KB).
The 2017 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Cyan and Collis Ta'eed as part of the Pearcey Oration held on Monday 28th August at the Hub, Melbourne. The award was presented by Rick Harvey, Victorian Chairman of the Pearcey Foundation who noted that the award is not just about success, it is also very much about Cyan and Collis being great entrepreneurs and really special people "taking a risk, making a difference and being an inspiration".
The 2016 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Martin Hosking at a special Pearcey event Tuesday 6th
September in Melbourne as part of the Victorian Government Digital Innovation Festival.
The Award was presented by Dr Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist to the Victorian Government, who also gave the 2016 Pearcey Oration.
The 2015 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Alison Hardacre at the ACS Branch Forum on Wednesday 7th October in Melbourne. Alison was recognised for being both an outstanding person and, via her company HealthKit, making disruptive changes in the very challenging health industry.
The 2014 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bevan Clark and Guy King as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 4th June in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.
The 2013 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Leni Mayo as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 5th July in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.
The 2012 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Oliver Roydhouse as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 4th July in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.
The 2011 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr Elaine Saunders as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 6th July in the River Room at Crown, Melbourne.
The 2010 Victorian State Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Brett Paterson as part of the the Victorian ACS Fellows dinner on Tuesday 22nd June 2010 at the RACV Club in Melbourne. The event was sponsored by Multimedia Victoria, Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and the Australian Computer Society.
The 2009 Victorian State Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Robert Murray as part of the the 2009 National Pearcey Event on Thursday 1st October 2009 at the Sofitel on Collins in Melbourne.
The 2008 Victorian State Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Mike Giuffrida at an award ceremony held on Friday 1st August at Melbourne High School. It was held on the opening night preceding the Victorian IT Teachers Association ICT and Careers Expo all part of a National ICT Careers week organized nationally by the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
An audience of nearly 100 ICT luminaries warmly applauded the presentation of the Victorian Pearcey Award 2007 to Ashley Herring, and Pearcey Victoria Commendations to Dr. Stan Skafidas and George Parthimos, at a cocktail party in central Melbourne on 27th August 2007.
The 2005 Victorian State Pearcey Award was presented to Graeme Huon. The presentation was made by the Victorian Minister for ICT, Marsha Thomson during the National Pearcey Banquet on Friday 14 October 2005.
Marsha Thomson, Victorian Minister for Information & Communication Technology, presented the 2004 Victorian Pearcey Award to Luke Howard, CEO of PADL Software, before an audience of 200 IT luminaries and guests in the Great Hall of the National Gallery Victoria on Friday evening.
On Saturday March 22nd Ms Liz Beattie MLA, Parliamentary Secretary for Education on behalf of the Hon. Marsha Thomson MP, Minister for Information & Communication Technology presented the 2003 Victorian Pearcey Award to Alec Umansky, founder of Defence Communications Industry.
On Saturday March 23 the Minister for ICT, the Hon Marsha Thomson MP, presented the 2002 Victorian Pearcey Award to Jonathan Zufi, Founder and Director of UDU World Pty Ltd, a software company selling products into Australia, the United States and South Africa.
The 2001 Victorian Pearcey Award was presented to Anna Carosa, Co-Founder and Vice President of ehyou.com Ltd, by Victoria Treasurer and Minister for State and Regional Development, John Brumby, at the Australian Computer Society National Conference at Lorne on 17th March.
