Future of Sex, in association with Disruptor’s Handbook hosted Australia’s first Sextech Hackathon in Sydney on March 23, 24, and 25. 2018 The first Australian Sextech Hackathon brought together the world’s leading authorities in Sextech from Europe and the US, as well as locally, to inspire, discuss, and mentor teams as they innovated solutions to a range of issues. The event provided the opportunity to collaborate and get involved in the fast growing $20B Sextech industry. The Hackathon aimed to hit key objectives such as raising awareness and catalysing innovation, while encouraging participation from a diverse range of voices to discover better solutions to current sexual health issues. The Hackathon also strived to support new female-identified leaders who are passionate about changing the world to drive innovation further in the field.

1. A U S T R A L I A ' S F I RS T
F U T U R E O F S E X, O R G
REPORT, MARCH 2018

2. A FAST-PACED
INNOVATION
COMPETITION
BACKGROUND
Future of Sex, in association with Disruptor’s Handbook hosted
Australia’s first Sextech Hackathon in Sydney on March 23, 24,
and 25.
The first Australian Sextech Hackathon brought together the
world’s leading authorities in Sextech from Europe and the US,
as well as locally, to inspire, discuss, and mentor teams as they
innovated solutions to a range of issues.
The event provided the opportunity to collaborate and get
involved in the fast growing $20B Sextech industry. The
Hackathon aimed to hit key objectives such as raising
awareness and catalysing innovation, while encouraging
participation from a diverse range of voices to discover better
solutions to current sexual health issues. The Hackathon also
strived to support new female-identified leaders who are
passionate about changing the world to drive innovation
further in the field.

3. 90% FEMALE
PARTICIPATION
THE EVENT
The pre-event briefing saw over 90 participants, mentors and
subject matter experts come together to hear stories of lived
experience, see demonstrations of new and innovative sextech
and learn about the challenges for the weekend.
The challenge statements were “pitched” to the assembled
audience of hackers, hipsters, hustlers and sexologists by the
“Challenge Owners”, and then the participants took the stage
and microphone. They had only 30 seconds to lightning pitch
their idea and call for team members.
In the chaos that ensued as team speed dating took place, 14
new teams emerged. Some had never met before. Some had
no idea what to expect.
Over 80% of the participants had never been to a hackathon
before. 90% were female. We were breaking new ground.

4. CHALLENGES
PROBLEM STATEMENTS
NCOSS Challenge: How can we make sex education and sexual
expression more accessible for the 1million Australians with
disability?
SUGAR & SAS Challenge: How do we prepare the next
generations for a sex positive future?
PROJECT GELDOM Challenge: If we could make a condom
that people actually want to buy and use, it could change the
contraceptive market.

6. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Let’s Talk About It
Sami Hurwitz, Leah Gelman,
Lucy Dalton
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Let’s Talk About It
A Facebook page providing advice
and information about sex.

7. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Who Wants To Know
(3rd Place)
Meril Summerhill, Brooke Nolan,
Meray Azar, Fiona Coorey, Hope
Kramer
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Who Wants To Know
An early childhood sex education
app.

8. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Life Stuff
Emma Prater, Ben Morrison
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Life Stuff
An education app on safe sexting.

9. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Lone Will
William McKee
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Lone Will
A meme generator that draws
from online, sex-oriented
resources.

10. TEAMS AND IDEAS
The Vortex
James Looker, Rowena Murray
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
The Vortex
An organisation that creates
conscious erotica.

11. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Love & Consent
Rossana Naveda
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Love & Consent
A game based online dating
application.

12. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Lily
SJ Matthews, Richard Gao,
Vienna Chen, Megan Thompson,
David Bell, Nikki Goldstein
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Lily
A service for matching people to
doctors who can provide reliable
advice on STIs.

13. TEAMS AND IDEAS
On The Blob –
Making Periods Great
Again
Chere Koh, Steffie Yee
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
On The Blob –
Making Periods Great Again
A gift box for girls at the beginning
of menstruation.

14. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Ignite
(2nd Place)
Isiah McKimmie, Rachael Moore,
Varun Naik, Tamina Pitt, Gary
Leung
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Ignite
An app that helps users revitalise
their sex lives as couples.

15. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Sex Advisor
Judy Huang, Zoe Dee
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Sex Advisor
A service for international students
in Australia.

16. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Come Pass
Anastasia Shelyukhina, Eva
Sheliukhina
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Come Pass
AI system for improving sexual
partnerships between couples.

17. TEAMS AND IDEAS
AudioVibe
(1st Place)
Diri Nasalo, Natasha Reidy, Chris
Youssef, Anna Xu, Richard Guo,
Michael Liu
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
NCOSS Challenge
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Audio Vibe
A voice controlled, hands free
vibrator.

18. TEAMS AND IDEAS
GRIP
(Highly Commended)
Jocelyn Floro, Kate Paterson
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Project Geldom Challenge
GRIP
Reimagined packaging for
condoms.

19. TEAMS AND IDEAS
Andie
Richard Gao
PROBLEM YOU ARE SOLVING:
Sugar & Sas Challenge
Andie
A chatbot for providing sexual
identity and experience advice,
initially focused on LGBTQI kids.

20. WHAT’S NEXT?
FOR THE WINNERS:
INCUBATION
WHAT DID THEY WIN?
AudioVibe – 1st Place
• Return flight to Paris to the SextechLab and the
opportunity to participate in France’s Sextech
Hackathon (for project owner)
•Full Academy Xi course scholarship OR $1750 Academy Xi
scholarship for each team member
• $100 Academy Xi Bootcamp credit for each team
member
Ignite – 2nd Place
• $1000 Academy Xi course credit for each team
member
• $100 Academy Xi Bootcamp credit for each team
member
Who Wants To Know – 3rd Place
• $750 Academy Xi course credit for each team member
• $100 Academy Xi Bootcamp credit for each team
member

21. WHAT’S NEXT?
FOR FUTURE OF SEX
GLOBAL HACKATHON SERIES
– 2018 –
Central Europe – June
United States – August
Asia – September
SEXTECH ACCELERATOR
Register your interest
for the Future of Sex
SexTech Accelerator in late 2018:
REGISTER

22. WHAT DO
WE DO?
ABOUT FUTURE OF SEX
Future of Sex is a research and media lab exploring the
intersection of sexuality and technology. As the recognized
authority on sextech, the company conducts research and
interviews, and gathers invaluable insights and industry
data as well as releasing a popular podcast Future of Sex
and event series globally.
Founded by Bryony Cole, an international speaker,
published writer and producer, who has been featured on
shows like Viceland and Technopia, and articles in Wired,
TechCrunch, The New York Times, Playboy, Mashable,
Motherboard, ABC, Financial Review, Brides, Glamour and
many other global media. She continues to attract global
attention for her work empowering women through media
creation and organising global hackathons.
Check out the website futureofsex.org
Listen to the podcast on iTunes

24. Media coverage
“The 48-hour event was focused on leveraging technology to
resolve some of the most complex problems in human sexuality.”

25. THANK YOU!
OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
The Sextech Hackathon would
not have been possible without
the support of our sponsors and
partners who all went above and
beyond to help us reach deep
into our communities to create
connection and change.

26. CONNECT WITH US
facebook.com/futureofsex
twitter.com/futureofsexshow
futureofsex.org
LET’S GET
SOCIAL
instagram.com/futureofsex