Stone & Chalk

It's all happening at Stone & Chalk at Tech Central Sydney! From an AI pitch night to the meeting of fintech and agentic AI, here are some of the great events coming up. We hope to see you there. 🚀 Rise of the Analytics Engineer Thu 23 Apr, 5:30pm – https://lnkd.in/g8Ttig7m Blackbird x Founders Edge: AI Pitch Night Tue 28 Apr, 5:30pm – https://lnkd.in/gt3WqUEk Live Podcast: Fintech & Agentic AI Tue 28 Apr, 5:30pm – https://luma.com/y609ucxl Emerging Tech Unpacked Stripe Australian DeFi Association Meetup Wed 29 Apr, 5:30pm – https://luma.com/vk9lsxue

Throwback to our Builder Lounge event with OpenAI in Adelaide last month ⚡ Lucinda Batey, Startup Success and Community Manager at Stone & Chalk, hit the floor to ask founders: What are you building right now? Here’s what they told us: → “We’re building agentic quantitative trading software” - using AI for sentiment analysis, strategy development and execution. → “We’re focused on voice clarity” - exploring how to integrate OpenAI’s voice capabilities to stay ahead. → “We’re looking at tools like Codex to move faster” - applying new capabilities directly into our stack. And when asked what stood out most? Voice. Not as a feature - but as a better interface. Faster than typing. More natural. Ready to build with now.

Our team recently ran a national 4-week investor relations program with Rebecca A. Culbertson and Emmy D. at Fraction IR  - and it’s sharpened how we think about the role IR plays in building strong, enduring companies. What stood out most is how much happens after the investment lands. There’s often a perception that investor relations is something to switch ‘on’ during a raise. But in practice, the strongest founder-investor relationships are built consistently over time, well before any round opens. A few insights attendees are taking forward: - Investor updates aren’t just status reports. The most effective ones are intentional. They ask for something, invite perspective and create a reason for investors to engage. That’s where the real value starts to unlock. - Conviction builds quietly. It’s not one defining moment, but the accumulation of consistent signals. By the time a round is underway, many decisions are already half-formed. - The value of investors goes far beyond capital - insight, introductions and perspective. But that only comes to life when founders actively involve them in the journey. The shift for many: investor relations isn’t a task on a checklist. It’s an ongoing practice of relationship-building.

The Colosseum Frontier Hackathon is coming to Melbourne. Whether you already know Solana or are just starting out, this is a chance to meet collaborators, learn from experienced builders, and start building. Expect hackathon tips, technical workshops, team formation, hands-on help from Solana mentors, plus food, drinks, and great conversations. With more than $300k in prizes and $2.5M+ in pre-seed funding, this is a real opportunity to turn an idea into something bigger. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gt-5Qmzk

If you’ve ever looked at a startup and thought, how did this go so wrong, this one’s for you. The Product Bus x MLAI are running an interactive workshop that turns startup failure into a murder mystery. The founder is always the culprit. The fun is working out exactly how they killed the business. You’ll meet 12 over-the-top founder types, unpack the mistakes that quietly wreck early-stage ventures, and pick up ways to spot those patterns in your own startup before they do damage. Tickets are limited. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gMZW6j4m

Elbaite didn't start with an idea. It started with a loss. After having cryptocurrency stolen through a third-party exchange, founder Morty Tollo saw how vulnerable users really were. So he teamed up with his sister Samira Tollo to build an alternative. Together, they created a platform where people can trade cryptocurrency while retaining custody of their assets, removing the need to trust a third party. Now, Elbaite is making crypto trading safer and more transparent every single day. This is what happens when experience turns into something better. Learn more about how Elbaite are rebuilding trust in cryptocurrency trading: https://lnkd.in/gvHh2JJh Graham McCorkill Imtiaz Aziz Caitlin Shepherd Ben Colley

We recently partnered with OpenAI to bring Builder Lounge to Tech Central Sydney Innovation Hub, and one thing was clear: It’s never been easier to build. And never harder to keep up. A full house of founders building at the frontier - feeling the pace of new models, capabilities and shifts every single week. They got a window into what’s next: → Agents acting like teammates - executing, not just generating → Voice-first interfaces replacing prompts → Training AI on your own voice in under a minute This is the shift: Tools → teammates. Prompts → conversations. Outputs → outcomes. The real unlock? Not smarter models, but better integration into how we actually work. Alongside live demos (shoutout to Mary Technology, Ankor, and Tiliter), technical deep dives and plenty of honest conversation, the room showed exactly what’s possible when builders get close to the frontier. The gap between idea and product is collapsing - fast. 🎥 Highlights below. Thomas Jeng, Jacqui Duncan, Chloe Browne, Sun Weiran, Thomas Kaldor, Georgie Healy, Sten Pittet, Christopher Sampson.

Fintech is colliding with agentic AI. Join Stripe and Emerging Tech Unpacked during Blackbird Sunrise week for a free live podcast at Tech Central Sydney. You’ll hear behind-the-scenes examples of AI in payments, fraud, customer experience and global expansion. Expect a fast conversation for founders, operators, investors and AI enthusiasts, plus time to connect over drinks. Tuesday, 28 April 👉 https://luma.com/y609ucxl

PHNXX didn’t start with a product. It started with a problem the founders kept seeing: remote operations relying on diesel just to keep going. So they built an alternative. A mobile, solar and battery-powered system that can be deployed in hours, not days. Now, they’re scaling globally, helping reduce reliance on diesel where it matters most. This is the kind of innovation that doesn’t just sound good. It's innovation which changes how the world actually works for the better. Learn more about how PHNXX are powering remote communities with renewable energy: https://lnkd.in/gTBCf9pm Wei-Chi Lee Joel Tay Benjamin Lam

What happens when South Australia’s satellite leaders come together to share, challenge and inspire? Our recent Space Town Hall, hosted in partnership with the South Australian Space Industry Centre, gave us a powerful glimpse into exactly that. Convened by Campbell Pegg, the room brought together some of the brightest minds shaping Australia’s satellite future - from SmartSat CRC, entX Limited, QuantX Labs, Inovor Technologies, AICRAFT and Myriota. The conversation spanned everything from scaling sovereign capability to unlocking global markets, with one clear takeaway: South Australia is no longer emerging in this space - it’s leading. And just when we thought the energy couldn’t get any higher… we were joined by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who dropped in with an update on Artemis II. A timely reminder that while our local ecosystem is growing rapidly, it’s deeply connected to a much larger global mission. 📈 The momentum was undeniable: - A record-breaking turnout - the largest SASIC Town Hall in its 5-year history - A packed room of founders, engineers, policymakers and investors - Open, honest discussions on both wins and challenges facing the sector But beyond the tech, one moment stood out. Dan Franklin from Myriota shared why he does what he does: building a company with a “purpose for people and a purpose for planet” embedded in its DNA. That sentiment captured something bigger than satellites. It spoke to the kind of industry we’re building - one where innovation is not just about capability, but about impact. 💡 So what did we learn? - The future of satellites is increasingly small, scalable and globally connected - South Australia’s strengths in earth observation and small-sat clusters are opening real commercial pathways - Collaboration between industry, government and global partners is the multiplier Most importantly, these Town Halls continue to serve as a vital feedback loop between industry and government - ensuring that as the sector grows, support evolves with it. Thank you to all speakers and contributors. The future of satellites isn’t something we’re waiting for - it’s being built right here.