Two more companies, Calyx and equidi, have been chosen to take part in AO StartUps. The program is the latest step for the Tennis Australia Innovation team and provides an opportunity for early-stage companies to pilot their cutting-edge technology at the Australian Open and in other areas of Australian tennis.
Cleantech startup Calyx provides data-driven insights to understand the environmental impact of food items, including their carbon footprint. The insights then empower growers, brands, retailers and consumers to make more sustainable choices.
“The AO is committed to finding opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint of the event. With Calyx we are excited about piloting their technology to bring innovation to our food program,” Tennis Australia Head of Innovation Dr Machar Reid said.
Calyx will be working behind the scenes at AO 2023 to footprint food menus, detailing the environmental impact, including carbon emissions, biodiversity and water. The aim is for the sustainability of food items to be displayed on food menus in the future, helping consumers make informed choices.
“The food we eat accounts for significant global greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor of biodiversity loss. We're hoping that the sustainability insights provided by Calyx will help chefs and diners understand how their food choices impact climate change,” Tennis Australia Sustainability Director Matthew Nicholas said.
“With close to one million fans visiting the AO each year, we love the idea of deepening their understanding of the environmental impact of food choices through impact transparency, which might include labelling menu items with a Climate Score or carbon footprint,” Calyx founder and CEO Lauren Branson said.
Branson has spent more than 20 years working in biodiversity and conservation, seeing first-hand the impact climate change has had on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This led to the development of Calyx, a company that specialises in using data-driven insights to reduce the impact of our food system on planetary boundaries.
“Food is something tangible in our everyday lives and takes centre stage at the Australian Open. It's an exciting opportunity for Calyx to partner with Tennis Australia through AO Startups and help educate their stakeholders on the impact of food choices and support TA to be the innovative, climate leader they have committed to being,” Mrs Branson said.
equidi uses evidence-based insights to help businesses level the ledger on gender, providing companies with real-time visibility over pay, opportunity and representation gaps, across every part of their business – on a single dashboard.
“As a sport and business that drove equal prize money for women and men, we understand the important role that sport can play in driving equality across all aspects of society, so we are naturally excited to announce equidi as an AO Startups company,” Tennis Australia Head of Innovation Dr Machar Reid said.
The launch of AO StartUps is the latest step in Tennis Australia’s innovation program which helps startup companies pilot their cutting-edge technology at the AO and other areas of Tennis Australia’s business.
The Tennis Australia People and Culture team will pilot the Equidi platform throughout 2023 to track progress and accelerate its efforts toward gender equity targets.
“The technology will be hugely beneficial to accurately compare pay gaps and representation in real-time across every part of our workforce as well as check how we are performing against industry peers,” Tennis Australia People & Culture Director Scott Glover said.
For over 15 years, Natalie Flynn, equidi CEO and founder, has been working to empower businesses to take a lead in creating a more equitable and inclusive future.
“We’re delighted to be partnering with AO StartUps on bringing to life equidi’s vision of shaping a more equitable and inclusive future – one we can all look forward to. It’s an honour to be working with Tennis Australia – an organisation with aligned values and a long-standing commitment to levelling up the balance on gender for good,” Flynn said.
“We’re excited to be leading the paradigm shift in how gender equity is being addressed by businesses today and look forward to helping them see the change and be the change – doing good business – even better.”
The full cohort of AO StartUps will be announced across AO 2023.
Visit aostartups.ausopen.com to learn more.
About Calyx
At Calyx our vision is to provide data-driven insights to transform our food system. We use data to deliver impact transparency across food supply chains. Empowering millions of people to make better choices as growers, brands, retailers and consumers.
About equidi
Equidi is a world-first platform that’s providing companies with real-time visibility over – pay, opportunity and representation gaps, across every part of their business – on a single dashboard. With AI-generated recommendations to drive action, and the tools, resources, and strategies to set goals, track progress and lift performance, every day. equidi is empowering businesses to take a lead in creating a more equitable and inclusive future. A future we can all look forward to.