About

The Pause Awards are an annual programme that recognises and celebrates the most ambitious and effective companies and individuals in Australia. Birthed from Pause Fest, the flagship festival for business and creativity in Australia, we’ve been celebrating the pioneers and innovators since 2010, and started awarding since 2018.

Rather than focusing solely on revenue growth, future projections or vanity metrics, we take a more holistic approach by submitting your breakthrough moment to measure how ambitious and effective your company is. 

Our evaluation is powered by over 60 independent senior industry experts hailing from Australia’s leading companies, including Medibank, Westpac, Airtasker, Birchal, Mastercard, Google, The Guardian and Kmart. Their collective wisdom informs our annual criteria and sets an industry benchmark that is truly unparalleled.

The Pause Awards, over the years, have become the home for champions for Australia’s golden circle of business, connecting ambitious entrepreneurs with powerful mentors and clients. Names like MrYum, Verve Super, Quad Lock, Linktree, Airwallex, and Heaps Normal have all benefited from our awards platform.

We honour only the most exceptional achievements, those that carve out real success and redefine what’s possible, not the intangible. There’s no set number of winners per category, reflecting our philosophy of celebrating genuine innovation over filling quotas. 

Pause Awards are highly competitive and honours under five key Category Tracks: Growth, Excellence, Operators, Good and Culture. With less than 30% success rate, you can become Finalist and win: People’s Choice, Winner, Grand Prix, Hall of Fame, Champion and Diamond award, our highest accolade – the best in show!

At Pause Awards, it’s all about audacity, boldness, and the courage to dare greatly. If that sounds like you, then you might just be our next winner!

We are an independent innovation agent established in 2018 as a part of Pause Fest, the world’s leading festival for business and creativity in Australia.

For over a decade, recognising the top achievers and keeping the high standards was always in line with the Pause Fest ethos as the innovation catalyst and flagship event in Australia. Pause Awards became a natural extension of the Pause movement.

Be the epicentre for the most ambitious and effective companies in Australia, set a new standard of business excellence to champion the relentless pursuit of greatness and inspire collective growth.

Manifesto from the Founder

We envision Pause Awards as more than just an accolade or an event. We are a movement. A collective force of passionate, innovative and visionary industry leaders united by the common goal of propelling Australia to the forefront of global innovation. We are mentors, trailblazers, entrepreneurs, investors and pioneers, committed to shaping the future of our nation.

Our purpose is to empower, energise and elevate the companies that dare to dream big. We believe in nurturing talent, sharing knowledge and fostering an environment where innovation thrives. Pause Awards is a dynamic and ever-evolving platform, adapting to the needs of our community and setting the stage for the extraordinary.

Together, we are an unstoppable force for progress. We invite you to be part of this transformative journey. Your participation, ideas and insights are not only vital to our mission, they are the driving force behind the success of Pause Awards.

Our community grows stronger with each new entry, judge, ambassador or partner. Join us in making history and shaping the future of Australian innovation.

George Hedon

Pause Awards Founder & CEO

Armed with a degree from Melbourne’s Swinburne School of Design, George Hedon embarked on a career journey that led him through design studios and advertising agencies in Melbourne, London and Belgrade. He carried a decade of experience into his third entrepreneurial venture – Pause Fest, which he grew into a world’s leading festival for business and creativity, attracting over 80,000 visitors in only eleven years.

The pioneering flagship Australian event, catalysed the Victorian tech ecosystem and attracted both, the top innovators and emerging startups, and had the largest speaker representation in the country from Airbnb, Canva, Netflix, Google, BBC, Pixar, Amazon and NASA, to name a few out of 1,200.

George’s influence has been recognised with many accolades, including recent awards from Melbourne Design, RedDot and Good Design Australia. He’s crafted a $412B ecosystem with Pause Awards participants in six years.

A speaker, mentor, judge, cyclist and coffee addict, no wonder why they call him the ‘Enabler of Awesome’. George’s track record clearly illustrates a career committed to innovation, leadership and playful experimentation.

The Home for Champions is where Pause Awards winners gather, connect with other top performers, share their insights, and access exclusive resources and experiences. It’s a community built on excellence, where individuals who strive for greatness can come together to inspire the next generation of leaders and learn from each other. Our values are simple: Community first, and then ecosystem.

Awarding real people
that do real things™

Introducing the global pioneers of tech and innovation landscape!

Our Mentors, Advisory Board, and Ecosystem Activators are the driving force behind the Pause Awards. With mentors generously offering their invaluable guidance to our winners, the Advisory Board steering strategic direction, and Ecosystem Activators catalysing local engagement, we collectively champion the spirit of innovation and business excellence across Australia.

Paul Naphtali

Rampersand

Paul Bassat

SEEK & SquarePeg

Kellie Morton

Katherine Averin

TBD

Kate Gooden

Amazon

Jocelin Abbey

The Guardian AU/NZ

Jason Perelson

Synergy Group

Dom Pym

Up

Bryan Williams

Hockey Stick Advisory

Brett de Niese

Amy Fogarty

Enterprize

We believe that success is not just about what you have, but it’s about what you’re searching for. It’s about your journey towards personal and professional growth, and it’s about having the bravery and strength to make your dreams come true.

We know that success is not just about fulfilment, but it’s also about what’s missing. It’s about the moments of pause, the breaks and the interruptions in the transmission that allow you to cultivate your mind, feed your soul, and progress towards your higher goals.

At Pause Awards, we understand that success is not just about the galaxies and the stars, it’s about you, your choices, and your decisions. It’s about having the courage to take that next step to overcome obstacles, and to push through your limits.

We believe that success is about infinite tomorrows, but it’s also about learning from your past and using that knowledge to create a brighter future. We know that success is about the now, about seizing the moment and making the most of every opportunity.

Remember, success is not just about what you do, but it’s also about how you do it. So, choose to present yourself in the best possible way, cultivate your mind, and never stop searching for what you need to succeed.

Never stop searching for greatness.

Pause Awards has seven award levels, with Diamond and Champion being the best in show, introduced in ‘23.

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  Diamond

  Diamond award is the best-in-show, given to the single best winner amongst all five Category Tracks. 

  Winning includes:

  • One esteemed Diamond Trophy, free of charge 
  • 30 min mentoring session with one Pause Ambassador
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates, free of charge 
  • Investable Score certificate, free of charge 
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT, free of charge 
  • Speaking opportunity in partner events and interviews
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  Champion

  Champion award is given to the single best winner in the Category Track. (i.e. Culture or Excellence etc.)

  Winning includes:

  • One esteemed Diamond Trophy, free of charge 
  • 30 min mentoring session with one Pause Ambassador
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates, free of charge 
  • Investable Score certificate, free of charge 
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT, free of charge 
  • Speaking opportunity in partner events and interviews
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  Hall of Fame

  Hall of Fame is privately decided by the Judging Board and elected by Chair for their lifetime achievement.

  Winning includes:

  • One esteemed Diamond Trophy, free of charge 
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates, free of charge
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT, free of charge
  • Speaking opportunity in partner events
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  Grand Prix

  Grand Prix award is given to the single best entry in one category unanimously decided by the Judging Board. (i.e. Hammer or B-Good)

  Winning includes:

  • The opportunity to purchase a Grand Prix Trophy 
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates in Pro Winner Pack
  • Investable Score certificate in Pro Winner Pack
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT in Pro Winner Pack
  • Speaking opportunity in partner events
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  Winner

  Pause Awards winner is judged by 50+ diverse industry experts in Australia and overseas. 

  Winning includes:

  • The opportunity to purchase a Trophy
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates in Pro Winner Pack
  • Investable Score certificate in Pro Winner Pack
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT in Pro Winner Pack
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  People’s Choice

  To be People’s Choice winner, you can rally your troops to vote for you. There can be only one winner in this category.

  Winning includes:

  • The opportunity to purchase a Trophy
  • Two official Pause Awards certificates in Pro Winner Pack
  • Investable Score certificate in Pro Winner Pack
  • Specially designed TrophyNFT in Pro Winner Pack
  • Global exposure across mainstream and industry media
  • Featured in the online global Winner’s gallery and Pause Index

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  Finalist

  The Finalist is still considered as a great achievement as you need to score an average of 7 points to qualify.

  It includes:

  • The opportunity to attend Pause Awards Night
  • The opportunity to become Community member
  • Download and promote with Finalist badges

With less than 30% of entries receiving Pause Awards, getting the national recognition of ‘the most ambitious company in Australia’ has a profound effect on those fortunate enough to get it.

The Home for
Champions™

Why do we care about the tech and innovation ecosystem? Because it’s everything. It gives us the purpose to live, create, care and belong. Our definition of an ecosystem is national, as a country, within we follow niches, states, cities and industries.

The Australian ecosystem is booming! The Startup Genome 2022 report says the Sydney ecosystem is now worth US$68B (A$102B) and Melbourne’s at US$17B (A$25B), which almost doubled in a year.

Startup funding in Australia experienced a decline of 30% in 2022 ($10.6B – to $7.4B), according to the second annual edition of The State of Australian Startup Funding report by Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures. 

Early-stage funding reached record levels with a growing number of founders backed in 2022. The top three funds Airtree, Blackbird and Square Peg raised $2.4B in new funds last year, with Blackbird raising Australia’s first $1B VC fund. Read more.

Aesop exited with whooping US$3.7B deal to L’Oreal, Cloud Guru sold to Pluralsight for US$2B as well as Square’s purchase of Afterpay for US$29B, it is safe to say that Australian tech businesses have now, more than ever, become attractive acquisitions for established overseas players.

We think that rigorous business awards programmes like Pause Awards could contribute in stirring the companies into the right direction, without sugarcoating, in an authentic peer to peer scoring, so that they can be soaring to success in the long-term.

Building better
ecosystems™

The staple of every award competition is its trophy. Pause Awards are very different and our trophy is the creation of love for design and innovation representing our community.

You can become Finalist and win: People’s Choice, Winner, Grand Prix, Champion, Hall of Fame and Diamond award trophy at Pause Awards.

People’s Choice award is decided by public vote, awards are judged in two rounds, Grand Prix, Champion, Hall of Fame and Diamond are all ‘best of the best’ accolades decided by the Judging Board with Chair in 2nd Round.

For more information and detailed levels of awarding with benefits please visit the trophy page.

The Pause Awards Night is a highly anticipated event that unites the entire Australian innovation ecosystem in celebration of the year’s outstanding achievements. Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with prominent figures in the business world, including winners, judges and our partners.

The ticket encompasses the Welcome Reception, Pause Awards Night, Official Afterparty and will be available for purchase on 23 October ‘23 from our website. If you require additional tickets for your team, friends or family – VIP Booths, Tables or Rooms can also be purchased.

We encourage small teams who are uncertain about where to hold their end-of-year Christmas celebrations to join the Pause Awards Night as part of the ecosystem.

On the night, the winners will be announced, and trophy samples will be available for winners to take pictures with. Champion and Diamond winners will take home trophies on the night courtesy of Pause Awards.