Perth-founded software company CorePlan has been named the 2026 Dr Mal Bryce WA Tech Company of the Year at the 35th INCITE Awards, WA’s longest-running technology recognition program, held on 17 July at a ceremony celebrating the state’s digital innovation ecosystem. The awards, delivered by the Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance, recognised 20 winners across nine categories, alongside three honorary award recipients acknowledged for their broader contribution to the state’s tech sector.
Now in its 35th year, INCITE has tracked and celebrated WA’s technology and digital innovation community since 1991, offering a long-running benchmark of how the state’s tech sector has evolved from a relatively small, resources-adjacent niche into an increasingly diverse and internationally connected industry in its own right.
CorePlan’s Journey From Perth Consultancy to Global SaaS Platform
Founded in Perth in 2016, CorePlan has grown from a local consultancy into a globally operating software-as-a-service platform now used by more than 600 companies and 9,000 users across four continents, a trajectory WAITTA president Premila Jina highlighted in presenting the award as an example of what is possible when local tech founders choose to stay and build in WA rather than relocating to larger, more established tech hubs interstate or overseas.
The company’s growth has directly created skilled technology jobs within Western Australia, while its international customer base demonstrates that WA-founded software businesses can compete and win on a genuinely global stage, a message award organisers consistently emphasise as central to building confidence in WA’s broader tech ecosystem among prospective founders and investors.
Honouring a Lifetime of Contribution
The night’s peak honour, Achiever of the Year, went to Professor Iain Murray AM, recognised for 35 years of work quietly rebuilding what is possible in WA technology, fittingly presented by 2025 Achievers of the Year Kay Hargreaves and Tina Ambrose. Professor Murray was nominated by his own former student and fellow INCITE Awards winner, underscoring the mentorship and talent pipeline that award organisers say has become one of the program’s most valuable, if less tangible, legacies over its 35-year history.
A Broad Cross-Section of WA Innovation
Beyond the headline Tech Company of the Year and Achiever of the Year honours, this year’s 20 winners spanned nine award categories covering a genuinely broad cross-section of WA’s technology sector, from early-stage startups through to established enterprises, with 13 confirmed to go on and represent Western Australia at the national iAwards later in the year. That national representation gives winning companies a further platform to showcase their work beyond WA, potentially opening doors to interstate and international opportunities that a purely local award cannot provide on its own.
Science and Innovation Minister’s Backing
WA’s Minister for Science and Innovation, Stephen Dawson, praised WAITTA’s longstanding role in bringing together the state’s digital ecosystem since 1991, crediting the organisation with nurturing local talent and promoting WA’s technological capabilities over more than three decades. That government backing reflects the broader priority the state has placed on technology and innovation as a pillar of its economic diversification strategy, alongside parallel investment in programs spanning space technology, critical minerals processing and clean energy innovation.
Part of a Wider Innovation Recognition Calendar
INCITE’s awards sit alongside other prominent WA innovation recognition programs, including the separately run WA Innovators of the Year, currently taking applications for its own 20th anniversary edition, giving the state’s technology and innovation community multiple avenues through which to gain recognition and visibility over the course of a year. Together, these programs form an increasingly established calendar of innovation showcases that organisers hope collectively build sustained public and investor awareness of WA’s growing technology capability.
What Comes Next
With this year’s winners now confirmed and preparations underway for the national iAwards, WA’s technology sector will look to build on the momentum generated through the INCITE Awards, using the recognition to support continued growth for companies like CorePlan and the state’s broader digital innovation community heading into the awards’ next milestone year.
