Published 20 November 2024
The winners of the Future Anything National Grand Final for 2024 were unveiled last night at an inspirational event at The Triffid in Brisbane, with a live audience of over 250 guests and hundreds more watching online.
Perfect Pitch
The culmination of Future Anything’s Activate program, The Grand Final showcased eight teams of school-age entrepreneurs from Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales pitching their innovative, scalable, and sustainable ideas live on stage.
They then faced some tough questions from judges Alana Kennedy (Founder and CEO of Ochre Sun , Chrisanthi Demos (Publishing Manager at InQueensland Media ), and doctor and lawyer, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM.
The top spot was taken out by E-Scooter Trailers from Brisbane South State Secondary College following an incredible live pitch by founder Alexander.
Built using carbon fibre, the patented Carbon Cart increases safety by reducing crashes from overloaded e-scooters, helping riders transport groceries and other goods safely and easily.
Safe Surf from Matthew Flinders Anglican College, the first-ever Primary school team to pitch in the National Grand Final was awarded the Runner Up spot with their innovative inflatable rash vest and a wristband that boosts surfer and swimmer safety at the beach.
The Highly Commended spot went to Kikjabs from MacGregor State High School. Founder Fakiha’s idea for branded, comfortable hijabs are designed to empower girls and promote inclusivity in sport.
Showcase Success
In addition to the pitches, a further eighteen teams took part in the Future Anything National Grand Final 2024 in the buzzing Showcase Expo.
Showcase judges Adele Laughton (Queensland Social Enterprise Council), Murray Galbraith (Syntropic Studio), Harley Drake and Blaize Saxon (Unified First Aid) faced the tough task of selecting our showcase winners. It was a particularly exciting evening for Blaize and Harley, winners of last year’s National Grand Final, who returned as judges one year on.
EduGo Mobile Tutoring from Kenmore State High School was awarded the Showcase Winner with their innovative idea that brings affordable tutoring to underserved communities through a bus that travels around lower-income neighbourhoods.
Taking out both the Showcase Runner Up spot and the coveted People’s Vote was Bass Buster Lures from Canterbury College, who are creating lead-free fishing lures to end oceanic lead pollution, promoting a healthy marine environment without compromising quality.
For the first time in 2024, a number of other teams were also recognised in special categories including Scent of Australia (Brigidine College Indooroopilly) who picked up the Showcase Sustainability Award 2024, NerFly (Queensland Academies for Health Sciences) who collected the Showcase Innovation Award 2024 and Bright Knights (Ferny Grove SHS) who took home the Showcase Community Impact Award 2024.
Launching ideas into the real world
As well as taking home cash prizes, the winning teams will also access a range of incredible prizes including mentoring, brand development, financial advice, and some exciting Discovery and Development Days, all designed to help our young founders to develop their ideas and further their entrepreneurial ambitions. Several of the winners also snagged a spot in the 2025 cohort of YouthX, Australia’s only startup accelerator for school-age entrepreneurs.
Nicole Dyson, Founder and CEO of Future Anything said “We were blown away by the support of a huge number of epic organisations, who together contributed to a prize pool for our 2024 National Grand Final that was worth in excess of $100,000. Their support will help our young innovators take the next step on their entrepreneurial journeys, supporting them to launch their ideas out of the classroom and into the real world.”
Enterprising Educators
Young people weren’t the only ones celebrated at the Future Anything National Grand Final, with the teachers that have supported students on their Activate journeys also recognised in the Future Anything Educator Awards.
Mary Roberts (St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe) was recognised as Trailblazer of the Year, an award celebrating the impact of a first-year teacher of Future Anything’s award-wining Activate in-curriculum program.
This year’s Educator of the Year Award, recognising the impact of an experienced Activate teacher, went to Rachel Noonan (Loreto Kirribilli), with the incredible team from Ferny Grove State High School picking up the award for Team of the Year.
Nic Dyson added, “As an organisation founded and led by educators, our Educator Awards are a really special part of our Grand Final. We can’t do what we do without the heroic efforts of educators in classrooms; taking learning and linking it to the real world. In a crowded curriculum with competing priorities pulling schools in all directions, the commitment of our teachers to authentic learning experiences like Activate has immeasurable impact on the lives of young people in their classrooms.”
Twelve schools were also inducted into the Future Anything Hall of Fame, with this special award recognising their five-year commitment to being part of Activate; embedding a generational approach to catalysing enterprising mindsets in their schools. The 2024 Hall of Fame inductees were:
- Bowen State High School
- Bribie Island State High School
- Cardijn College
- Corinda State High School
- Ferny Grove State High School
- Kildare College
- Marymount College
- Redcliffe State High School
- Sheldon College
- St Andrew’s Anglican College
- St Patrick’s College Mackay
- Yarrabilba State Secondary College
The Future Anything National Grand Final 2024 was generously supported by Major Partner, the Queensland Government, though the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, and a host of epic organisations who contributed prizes to support our school-age entrepreneurs.
THANK YOU
Huge thank you to all the partners, sponsors, educators and students who make this event possible.
Major Partner
Prize Sponsors
