Eligibility

“Adelaide is a hub for world-class health and medical research. For experienced professionals the Global Talent Visa Program is fantastic. The application was processed through to permanent residency in 12 days. I'm still stunned at the speed of processing.  Of all the cities I have lived in during my career, Adelaide is the best - a fantastic city, so easy to navigate, very vibrant and really welcoming.  It’s close to both the ocean and to the hills, suiting every lifestyle. What's not to love?” 

Relocating during a global pandemic was probably not on Linda Somerville’s list of New Year Resolutions in January 2020. Linda's skillset lies in the commercialisation sector, mainly assisting SMEs as she has a complete understanding of the science whilst also appreciating the struggles SMEs have. She is now looking to offer the Australian biotech industry the benefit of not only her skills and knowledge, but also her deep connections with the UK’s biotech ecosystem from her new home in South Australia. 

“I look forward to contributing to the future of Australia, growing the tech economy here and being an advocate for the country abroad.”

Kristi is a business growth specialist and has been creating and leading innovative, tech-enabled organisations for 15 years. This includes roles in cyber security, data science and software engineering.

'Our aim is to continue producing creative digital content to develop the Australian digital games ecosystem thanks to the Global Talent Visa Program.' Margarita 

Margarita and Juan Pablo are co-founders of a video game development company leading the creative arts tech scene. The company focuses on music interactivity, and creating innovative games of entertainment and educational value.

"Australia is a sought after location for R&D of new healthcare products"

Dr Kathleen Bashant Day manages a research collaboration between top scientists at the National Institutes of Health (USA), Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, and industry partners at the ZellMechanik Dresden (Germany).

Kathleen has extensive experience in several United States-based academic research laboratories, and she worked as a life sciences consultant prior to her Ph.D. As a successful Global Talent Independent program candidate, Kathleen looks forward to contributing to the MedTech sector in Australia.

“I am excited for the challenge of diving into the Australian tech startup community and utilizing my US and international experience to add as much value as possible to the Australian ecosystem.”

Kelsey Doorey is a tech startup growth specialist with over  ten years’ experience in the US market, with startups including two now unicorns, an IPO, an acquisition and over $1 billion USD capital raised. She also raised over $10 million USD while running her own startup from top investors and venture capitalists across the world.

After five years building her own business, Vow To Be Chic, which was the first and only company to rent designer bridesmaid dresses, Kelsey now provides strategic start-up business development advice to C-suite clients. Kelsey is currently working on a Start-up 101 playbook for a top Australian venture capital firm to help local Australian start-ups accelerate their growth and avoid common mistakes, learning from her own experiences and those of other start-up founders.

“My mission is to give Australia and the world tools to meaningfully mine their own minds to find resilience, meaning and purpose.”

Patrycja Slawuta is a Polish-born behavioural scientist who founded SelfHackathon, a boutique behavourial consultancy. SelfHackathon employs scientists and subject-matter experts to partner with disruptive startups, innovative companies and ambitious organizations to help them upgrade their corporate and cultural operating systems, from serial entrepreneurs to start-up teams and Fortune 50 enterprises. Patrycja lectures globally, spending much of her time talking to brands about resilience, adaptability and upgrading the human operating system.

'This is not just an investment in Australia....this is about hope, the future, success, and feeling good. It's about opportunity and I am delighted Australia has accepted us.'

A serial entrepreneur from the UK, Stephen has owned a number of businesses in the food, hospitality, tech and sports industries with a combined value of over AUD $150 million. 

Stephen’s the creator of the largest professional chefs’ network in Europe, The Staff Canteen. He’s bringing it to Australia, which is the app’s third biggest marketplace after the UK and the USA. Stephen is planning to replicate his European success of 300 per cent growth in just under 3 years, and showcase the opportunities in Australia to the world via his global platform.

“I’m very excited to bring PlatoScience to Australia. The opportunities for growth here are endless and it truly is a lifestyle destination! The visa process was seamless, and the support Australia provided has been excellent.”

Balder Onarheim is the founder and CEO of PlatoScience, a Copenhagen based neurostimulation company, which he is bringing to Australia. 

With PlatoScience Balder has created the headset product PlatoWork, which stimulates specific brain regions while you work. Balder is already looking for new employees and partnerships in Australia, to keep growing PlatoScience in the Southern Hemisphere.

“Australia offers brilliant opportunities for entrepreneurs like us and a great environment for our children to have a bright future.”

Dirk-Jan ter Horst and Gaurav Singhal are co-founders of Drive lah, a peer-to-peer car sharing platform they created in 2018 that has now become Singapore’s largest car sharing community.

After picking Australia as their next destination for the Drive lah platform, they have partnered with a local Australian technology firm and will soon be launching the Australian version, Drive Mate, which will contribute to Australia’s urban mobility and smart cities initiative, creating jobs for locals along the way. 

They both look forward to adding value to the Australian startup ecosystem by mentoring young founders and helping them on their journey

“Australian researchers are pioneering work in health and personalised medicine”

Dr. Fatemeh Karimi is a biomedical scientist/engineer. She joined the University of New South Wales (UNSW) after receiving the highly prestigious and competitive Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and started her own research team. She completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Melbourne.

Dr. Karimi is a multidisciplinary researcher with extensive knowledge, skills, experiences, and expertise on design, synthesis, and development of polymers, biomaterials, and delivery platforms for various biomedical applications including cardiovascular disease, diabetic wound healing, tissue engineering, and tissue regeneration.

“Australia is a compelling destination to develop and commercialise the next generation of agriculture and food technologies.” 

Sakka Mohamed is a full stack developer and automation and electrical engineer. He has successfully developed and delivered complex projects in Australia, Canada and Japan. 

For the past four years, Sakka has been the lead software engineer and architect of Australian company, MCF Safe, working on application development to create innovative and scalable solutions for the foodservice industry.

“Australia has one of the world’s richest stocks of critical minerals and rare earths.” 

Dr Francky Fouedjio is a Data Scientist with intensive experience in developing and implementing data-driven scientific methods to solve complex and critical problems in the mining industry. 

Dr Fouedjio received his Ph. D. in Geostatistics from MINES ParisTech – Paris School of Mines, and completed his postdoctoral studies in Data Science, Geostatistics, and Uncertainty Quantification at Stanford University, USA. Dr Fouedjio is currently working as a Data Scientist for a leading global mining company in Australia.