January 01, 2020

FUTURE FOUNDERS “I feel so lucky to have this platform to be able to talk about indigenous women in technology,” Jade says. “To inspire our girls and women to be able to say, ‘Yes, I want to be in technology. I want to have a global tech company.” Is it any wonder her 12-year-old daughter already has a roadmap for her own digital start-up?

Mikaela Jade only discovered her Aboriginal heritage when she was 29 years old.

"It's been a long journey for myself and my siblings and my mother and my mother's family to reclaim our cultural heritage," says Jade. "I actually come from a long line of strong women I have found out."

As a young girl, Mikaela Jade was instinctively drawn to the bush. She recalls running her fingers over rock carvings, curious about the people who engraved the artwork thousands of years ago. She was unaware, back then, that the carvings held important clues to her own identity.

While long sensing her connections, Mikaela only learned of her Indigenous heritage when she was 29.

A Canberra woman has won a national award for entrepreneurs by using 21st century technology to bring alive the ancient stories of indigenous people, including those embedded in rock art thousands of years old.
 

Indigenous woman Mikaela Jade, a mother-of-two from Red Hill, has created the free app - Indigital Storytelling - which uses augmented reality, the same technology as Snapchat - to tell the stories to a modern audience, including literally showing ancient rock art figures dancing, singing and interacting  with the user.

Mikaela Jade, founder and CEO of groundbreaking tech business Indigital has become the latest recipient of the Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award.

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Accepting the accolade yesterday in front of a packed room at Bloomberg Sydney, Jade  said she had come from a long line of strong women who had propelled her vision.