Western Sydney Innovation Connect: Women x Industry
On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, Western Sydney Innovation Connect: Women x Industry brought women founders together with industry leaders for a full day of pitching, panels and honest conversation at The Joan, Penrith.
Hosted by Western Sydney Business Women (WSBW) in partnership with Entrepreneurial & Small Business Women Australia (ESBWA), and proudly sponsored by Investment NSW, this landmark event explored challenges through the lenses of innovation, technology and sustainability.
Member for Penrith, Karen McKeown OAM, warmly opened the day, and Amanda Rose, Founder and CEO of Entrepreneurial & Small Business Women Australia (ESBWA) and Western Sydney Women hosted the summit, setting a tone that was collaborative and forward-looking.
Photos: Relise Photography
The Pitch Sprint
One of the undeniable highlights of the day was the Pitch Sprint, hosted by Nikki Meller, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Women in AI Australia, Founder & CEO of CREDuED and Julie Pham, Program Manager, Liverpool Entrepreneurship, UNSW Founders. Before the summit, finalists completed an intensive program to refine their ideas, sharpen their pitches and step confidently into new opportunities.
Five women took the stage, backed themselves and their businesses, and presented to judges Priscilla Tan and Tiziana Porreca in front of a live audience.
The winner was Smriti Bangera, Founder & Director of Chloris. Chloris builds diagnostic infrastructure for primary care that enables GPs to identify patterns across fragmented systems and consultations over time. The platform addresses the diagnostic delay experienced by women with chronic conditions by creating continuous information flow between patient-reported data, existing clinical data and clinical reasoning.
Smriti shared what drove her to build Chloris: “Chloris was built through lived experience. 1 in 2 women live with a chronic condition, yet the median time to diagnosis is 4 years. It's a systemic problem, and we realised we had to do something about it. Being part of an event that puts us in front of people who genuinely understand what we’re building and why, is exactly the kind of support that moves things forward.”
The runner-up was Gita Rahardjo, Founder & CEO of Red Blood Comic. Red Blood Comic creates evidence-based, child-friendly comics and visual resources that help children and families understand complex medical information. Our tools support clinicians to communicate more effectively, improving health literacy, engagement, and equity in care.
Our finalists were Augusta Chris-Umoren (AdecSafe), Lotus Zhong (Beacon247) and Katherine Twyford (Flood Prepared Australia), who all shared powerful ideas focused on helping people and saving lives — a reminder of what's possible when we support women-owned businesses.
Amanda Rose, Founder of Western Sydney Women, said the standard of this year's finalists reflected why events like this are necessary. "The calibre of women who took the stage at this year's Pitch Sprint was outstanding. These are founders solving real problems and doing it with clarity and conviction. Events like this exist because women founders still face disproportionate barriers to funding, networks and opportunity. When we create spaces where they can be seen and heard, the results speak for themselves."
The Panels
Three panels covered crucial conversations for women founders across the day.
Tiziana Porreca (Founder & Director, AMONGST and Chief Community Officer, Entrepreneurial & Small Business Women Australia) led the Procurement and Commercial Pathways Panel with Amanda Rose and Julie Mikhail (Managing Director of Engineering Business), exploring how women can collaborate to access funding and commercial opportunities.
Amanda Rose facilitated the Infrastructure and Construction Deep Dive Panel with Sally-Ann Eather (Executive Manager and Co-Founder, Eather Group), Raquel Manning (Founder & Director, Blue Diamond Property Group) and Rebecca Embleton (Workforce and Industry Participation Manager, Lendlease), discussing how to carve out space in industries that aren't always built with women in mind.
The Innovation Deep Dive Panel, facilitated by Kathryn Price (Director, Ruby Agency) with Lauren Hitchen (Principal Solicitor and founder of L.E.H Legal), Sarah Qian (Founder, Compassion Creamery) and Rachel Carey (CEO & Founder of Allara) covered problem-solving, new ways of working and the role of storytelling in creating change.
Closing the Day
The day wrapped up with networking, giveaways and connections, brought to life by Sarah Cassim (Western Sydney Business Women Lead & Founder of Hawkesbury Women in Business) and Networking Sponsor, Lauren Hitchen (Principal Solicitor and founder of L.E.H Legal).
To our generous sponsors, panellists, speakers, guests and the wider community, thank you for bringing the warmth, wisdom and laughter that made this event special.
Thank you to our Partners & Sponsors
Major Partner: Investment NSW
Venue Partner: The Joan
Pitch Sprint Partner: UNSW Founders
Networking Partner: L.E.H Legal
Silver Sponsors: Parklife Metro and Lendlease
Creative Partner: Relise Photography
Support Partners: Women in AI Australia, Penrith CBD Corp and Western Sydney Startup Hub