​8 Startups to watch in 2017

Picture: Dennis Skley (Flickr)

The beginning of the year is always an exciting time in the startup sphere. New ventures are popping up all over the place, ready to take on the new year. But in a space like Sydney that’s overflowing with fledgling companies, how do you know which startups to keep an eye on?

We’ve got you covered with eight of the best Sydney-based start-ups to watch in 2017.

1. Spacer – Spacer bills itself as ‘the fastest growing space sharing community’ in Australia. Its aim is to connect people who have spare storage space – such as an empty garage, a shed or a spare parking space – with those who need affordable storage options. Good for finding conveniently located and affordable self storage, Spacer insures your goods to the value of $5,000 whilst in storage to give you peace of mind.

2. OpenAgent – This startup allows home sellers to find and compare real estate agents online. With its team of coders, marketing analysts and customer service providers, OpenAgent’s aim is to help people find the best real estate agent to sell their home. Their agent rating and matching enginge searches and analyses over 25,000 real estate agents to determine the best fit for each home seller.

3. Mad Paws – Mad Paws is a Sydney-based startup whose aim is to connect pet owners with convenient, affordable boarding solutions ‘whilst still maintaining the care, love, and attention pets receive at high-end, expensive, pet boarding services’. It’s almost like Uber for pet-sitting – trusted local animal lovers essentially run their own pet-minding business through Mad Paws, providing pet owners with a cheaper alternative option to traditional pet boarding.

4. Car Next Door – ‘We’re on a mission to dramatically change the way people think about cars,’ says Car Next Door, another Sydney startup. Citing money-saving, eco-friendliness and community connectedness as its main benefits, Car Next Door is a ‘peer-to-peer’ car rental service, connecting car owners with people who need to borrow a vehicle. It’s currently operating in the central suburbs of both Melbourne and Sydney.

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5. Campaign Monitor – This startup aims to help businesses create, send and optimize professional and well-designed email marketing campaigns. Boasting highly personalised campaign creation that promise great results from customers, Campaign Monitor also connects to hundreds of other apps, allowing businesses to seamlessly integrate their entire online presence.

6. Career FAQs – For those trying to decide which Australian university to attend, Career FAQs is perhaps the most handy site on the web. This startup helps connect future students with their dream courses, and also provides career advice and resources such as resume templates and job interview preparation techniques.

7. Rufino – A luxury eCommerce store for dogs based in Sydney, Rufino is another startup to watch this year. The store boasts ‘the world’s softest leather dog collars’ – superfine, made of genuine leather and handcrafted by Sydney-based designers. Rufino’s limited edition products are sure to grow quickly in popularity with devoted dog-lovers all across the country.

8. LegalVision – ‘Australia’s fastest growing legal services provider’, LegalVision helps Australian businesses to seek legal assistance, advice or documentation. Promising cost-effective, fixed-fee prices, LegalVision’s lawyers work primarily online, which helps keep costs down and ensures higher availability than traditional legal assistance.

Keep an eye on these eight Sydney startups this year – they’re all going places and are definitely ones to watch!

Alana Downer is the Content Marketing manager at Learn to Trade which provides financial trading training.