Silicon Valley investors recognise Brisbane Australia as innovative start-up hub

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Two Brisbane-based start-ups took first and second prize at the recent Oz-APP awards, among 200 other entries which came from the Asia Pacific region.

The Oz-APP awards are one of Australia's biggest tech development competitions who invite creators of mobile, web, and cloud app concepts to compete for cash and resource prizes and aims to promote collaboration between innovators, global investors and entrepreneurs.

Bill Tai who is a Silicon Valley-based start-up investor and one of the judging panel said there is a growing interest in Australia due to the quality of the ideas and teams coming from Brisbane.

There is a growing awareness in the Valley that Australia is a great source of innovation in the digital space and the awards are providing a focal point for people to come and take a look for themselves.

Ollo Mobile took first prize with its smartphone care system specifically targeted to seniors, receiving a $100,000 convertible note with Qualcomm Ventures.

Ollo Mobile's Cloud-Phone 3G is set to hit the market in August this year.

Infinite Wardrobe, another start-up from Brisbane, took second place with its fashion networking app.

Brisbane has also been referred to as Australia's gaming industry powerhouse, in part for being the birthplace of Fruit Ninja, a fruit-slicing game app that has been downloaded more than 500 million times since its launch in 2010.

Queensland University of Technology graduate Luke Muscat headed the small creative team behind the app, at Half-brick Studios' Kelvin Grove based hub.

This is another industry coming out of Brisbane and the South East Queensland area in particular which is continuing to show very strong alternative business ventures that can only be good for employment in the long run.