In our fast-changing world, it’s a priority for tech startups to develop new technologies to support and improve human lifestyles. While these efforts were initially driven by financial numbers to keep businesses afloat, one of the latest industry trends is to give back to the community and apply Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, a term coined in 1953 but became popular only recently. This trend is expected to keep up as new consumers, including millennials and Generation Z, denounce the negative global impacts corporations have on communities and the environment and ask to see more companies giving back.
We’ve kept our eyes peeled on 7 Sydney-based tech companies that are investing their money, time and efforts to give back to the community.
Let’s kick off our list with Cover Genius, the Sydney-based leading insurance e-commerce company. Founder and Head of Product, Chris Bayley, decided to sponsor and support Good Return through an employee Social Impact Program. The program provides microloans to women across South East Asia - a matter Chris is passionate about.
Next on our list is the Sydney-based tech giant Atlassian, which founded the philanthropic model ‘Pledge 1%’ with founding partners Salesforce Foundation and Rally. The new movement aims to make the community a key stakeholder in every business and encourage other startups to participate, with the belief that if every single founder embraced the movement, considerable global resources could be mobilised for social good.
Similarly, Ansarada is now pledging 1% of its equity, product and time to the Adara Group, a charity with the goal of supporting impoverished people around the world. This philanthropic partnership aims to leverage the skills and resources of the investment banking industry to improve the lives of women and children in developing countries.
At the forefront of tech developments and innovation, Canva is once again leading by example. Taking different approaches to create social impact, their efforts range from supporting Wholistic Transformation Resource Center (WTRC), through to encouraging the use of photo and video by donating printers, fax and school supplies to Mano Amiga, a school in the Philippines supporting low-income families.
This fast-growing Sydney-based tech company understands its impact on community needs to grow in tandem with its business. Finder’s main concern is the serious impacts of climate change. Consequently, it switched to LED lighting and green energy, and has set up automatic power in its Sydney headquarters. It has also partnered with OzHarvest to minimise food waste, turning more than 1,000kg of food into nearly 4,000 meals for people in 2018.
Hipages’ latest community project consisted of lending a helping hand to Silver Chain to improve a dementia center in Western Australia, making it a more dementia-friendly environment. With the financial support of the company, a Hipages’ tradie crew fully renovated the garden in Silver Chain’s Rockingham Social Centre, which is the first site to hire qualified, trusted and verified tradies around Australia.
EdApp, an award-winning microlearning platform, is also combining efforts to give back to the community. Some of the company’s team members are taking on the gruelling Hawkesbury Canoe Classic this month and paddling 111km this year with the ambitious goal of raising $10,000 for Australia’s Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation to help people who are diagnosed with leukaemia.
These Sydney-based tech companies set a shining example for other companies across the industry. They are proving that it’s possible to lead in innovation while giving back to the community, not only through financial contributions but also sustainable initiatives.
Despite being in business for over two decades, Phocas’ product launch cadence is still very much like a hot new startup. Engineers get to learn something new every day while exploring new tech stacks while working to fix a lot of ‘world’s first’ problems and assessing the latest technology available to improve existing products and create new ones.
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