33. From Medical Researcher to AgTech Leader with Vicky Alexandrou

Idea Overflow

Vicky Alexandrou spent 17 years in medical research, along with a several-year stint as a Greek Teacher. And now she's all-in on agricultural technology (AgTech)... what the?
We learn how Vicky combined her medical background and passion for innovation to now lead Bio-Optics / Woven Optics, a company that enables wool farmers to know the value of their fleece in real-time, reducing time from about 6 weeks to 1 minute.
Having done a PHD and with an intimate knowledge of the way academic research papers and journals work, we later riff on an idea to modernise the system and build a new business model.
Get in contact with Vicky:

• LinkedIn
• Bio-Optics / Woven Optics

About Vicky
Vicky is the Managing Director and co-founder of Bio-Optics Australia and a part of the core team since the company was founded in 2018.
Vicky completed her research PhD in Medicine in 2020 after a 17-year career in medical research. During her time at both the University of Adelaide and University of Melbourne, she worked primarily as a Research Assistant and Laboratory Manager with a core focus in exploring the central mechanisms of chronic pain. In 2004, Vicky completed her Graduate diploma in Secondary Education and worked as a Greek language teacher for several years.
During her PhD, she participated in several entrepreneurship courses including CSIRO’s ON Prime, University of Adelaide’s Tech eChallange and the Australian-French Entrepreneurship Challenge, where she was part of the winning team that was awarded a 10-day study tour to Paris, France.
More recently Vicky was the recipient of the 2022 Women in Innovation Award for Emerging Innovator and to date has helped raise over $800K in funding for Bio-Optics Australia.
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This episode is part of a special series with _SOUTHSTART in the lead up to the 2024 festival from the 5th to 7th March in Adelaide. Click here for tickets and more info.
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Music by Rodney Hutton. Artwork by Anton Mastrullo.