The themes contained within Cicada x Tech23 are a reflection of Australia’s deep tech pipeline, its trends and its outlook. Many Australian deep tech founders possess the ingenuity to disrupt traditional industries, thus diversifying the economy, improving quality of life and enhancing sovereign capability.
Improving quality of life is the foundation on which the ‘A New System of Care’ theme at Cicada x Tech23 2026 is built.
Deep tech companies aiming to solve complex health and medical challenges test current conventions, processes and standards of care. It takes someone equipped with innovative perspectives to unstitch this woven fabric, using science and engineering – coupled with the patience required to outlast lengthy timeframes.
Sister Elizabeth Kenny is one such person. Her unshakeable belief in her methods – in the face of harsh criticism – saw her stare down one of the most insidious diseases of our time, polio, which was responsible for killing or paralysing half a million people worldwide at its peak.
Kenny began as a self-appointed carer at Guyra, near Armidale, diagnosing a polio outbreak by telegram with the help of Toowoomba surgeon, Aeneas McDonnell. She treated patients with a mix of hot fomentations, baths and passive and active movement, discarding the splints and callipers that were standard care.
Ridiculed by Queensland doctors and a Royal Commission that opposed her methods, she was nonetheless backed by the Queensland Government, which helped her open 'Kenny Clinics' across the state with the support of the state's own medical superintendent, who believed Kenny's patients recovered faster with better overall outcomes.
Kenny went on to run wards in England and the US, where her rejection of splinting shocked doctors but ultimately won wide acceptance, culminating in the Sister Kenny Institute, built in 1942 and still standing today.
Kenny's combination of conviction and active movement helped shape the movement-based approach at the heart of physiotherapy today. Her story is an embodiment of the need to challenge the conventions of our time, to improve outcomes for those who need it most.
Nearly a century on, five ventures in this year's Cicada x Tech23 cohort are looking to answer the age-old question, with diagnostics, therapeutics and technology:
How can we improve and extend life in the face of significant healthcare challenges?
With the same refusal to accept current standards of care, these deep tech founders are looking to challenge what’s possible, tackling chronic conditions, aggressive cancers and procedural fear where medicine has stalled and breakthrough innovation is overdue.
The five ventures comprising A New System of Care in 2026 are located below:
Arelis is developing a non-invasive urine test that will reduce endometriosis diagnosis time to days instead of years for the 190 million people affected by the disease. The test fits into existing pathology workflows, allowing the company to bridge the gap between first symptoms and diagnosis, meaning that patients can access answers and care much earlier.
Armaitide is developing a next generation, targeted therapy to reach and treat cancer cells more effectively than current treatments. The company’s technology uses small, precision-engineered molecules to reach cancer cells more effectively, with the potential to improve outcomes for patients with aggressive cancers.
Dentroid combines photonics, robotics and AI to address the needle pain and fear in dentistry and medicine. Nuralyte – a gentle mix of lights that replace anesthetic needles and gels for dental and dermal applications – addresses a major barrier to better dental and general healthcare.
PremieHealth has engineered a new class of neonatal nutrition that recreates the bioactive signals found in nature’s most advanced milks within Australian marsupials, giving preterm infants access to organ building molecules missing products on the market today. The company is ensuring that every baby receives the organ building signals evolution designed, reshaping survival and lifelong health, and the very foundations of neonatal medicine.
Ultra Bionics is developing a minimally invasive implant that ‘steers’ therapeutic stimulation to precise cortical regions across the entire brain in a manner that is safer and more effective than deep-brain stimulation. Controlled from a single device, the implant uses focused ultrasound to direct energy to desired brain locations, and is delivered with minimally-invasive surgery.
Cicada x Tech23 is Australia's biggest deep tech event. To secure your seat, click here.
