At 20, Freesia Gaul is already emerging as a distinctive force in Sydney’s technology scene.
She is the CEO and co-founder of On Zero, a Sydney startup developing affordable haptic gloves that allow people to feel and interact with objects in virtual environments. The technology began with an experimental glove assembled in her university dorm room and has since attracted international attention, including recognition from MIT and SXSW Sydney.
But Freesia’s influence extends beyond her own company. Through the Australian Creative Electronics Society (ACES) and Sydney Hardware Meetup, she is helping build the community she struggled to find when she first arrived at university: an open, collaborative space for engineers, makers, founders and curious people who enjoy creating technology.
“Intelligence is something that you can come across quite easily around here, but the willingness to work with people is quite hard.”
Freesia came into the startup world through maker culture. She loved modifying electronic waste, experimenting with engineering and building things simply to discover what was possible.
“I find that electrical engineering is basically being a wizard.”
That mindset remains central to her work. Freesia believes some of the most interesting ideas emerge when people are given permission to experiment without immediately having to prove a commercial outcome.
“They do it because they love it, not because they’re getting paid. There’s something so great about that passion.”
Why you should get involved!
ACES and Sydney Hardware Meetup connect communities that do not always naturally meet: hobbyists, engineers, students, hardware founders, researchers, investors and established technology companies.
Sydney Hardware Meetup provides a local connection to the international Hardware Meetup network. ACES gives the community greater freedom to support Australian makers, develop local partnerships and help promising ideas move beyond an individual workshop, university lab or computer screen.
For people interested in hardware, robotics, electronics, extended reality or physical product development, the value is not simply networking. It is the opportunity to show unfinished work, exchange practical knowledge and find people capable of helping turn an idea into something real.
“Good ideas are everywhere… Really, the question really is, how can you even begin to execute that?”
Freesia believes Australia’s relatively small population makes these connections particularly important. The right engineer, manufacturer, founder or adviser may not be immediately visible. Sharing knowledge creates the network effect needed to find them.
“If you can share what you know to the next guy and the next guy, eventually you lift the whole team up.”
How does Australia compete?
Freesia rejects the idea that Australia lacks technical talent. Its strengths include world-class research, engineering expertise, renewable energy capabilities, natural resources and proximity to manufacturing centres across Asia.
The problem is converting those advantages into successful companies and industries.
Australia needs to bring researchers, engineers, founders, manufacturers, investors and government into closer conversation. It also needs to create more room for unconventional ideas and early prototypes.
Freesia contrasts this with the openness and ambition she has observed in the United States.
“Because they’re constantly sharing all of these ideas, it means that things at least get done.”
Australia also needs clearer support for hardware startups navigating the difficult gap between a promising prototype and a commercially viable product. Compliance, manufacturing, taxation and legal requirements can be difficult to understand, particularly for first-time founders without established networks.
“A lot of these things are truly just trapped behind regulations, words no one can understand, things that people could only have known if they had friends already in the space.”
Her vision is an Australian technology ecosystem in which knowledge does not disappear when one project ends. Instead, each experiment, company and founder makes it easier for the next one to succeed.
That is what Freesia is trying to create through On Zero, ACES and Sydney Hardware Meetup: not simply another startup community, but a stronger foundation for Australian hardware innovation.
“If we want our country to succeed, we need to succeed together.”
espresso Displays is proud to be part of this community. As makers of Australian-designed portable monitors, we hosted the first Sydney Hardware Meetup and continue to support local product development and engineering wherever we can, including through Sydney Hardware Meetup and UNSW Sunswift Racing.
Freesia was featured in this week’s Australian Financial Review (AFR). Find out more about Freesia at freesiagaul.com and her business, On Zero.