What Humanitech does

Humanitech is a non-profit initiative of Australian Red Cross, established in 2021 and headquartered in Melbourne, that operates as a convenor and think-and-do tank at the intersection of frontier technology and humanitarian action. It does not sell a commercial product; instead, it runs programs that bring together humanitarian practitioners, technology startups, researchers, policymakers, and communities to co-create responsible technology solutions across three focus areas: Disasters and Emergencies, Inequity and Injustice, and Climate Change. Its core portfolio comprises the Humanitech Principles (a six-principle ethical framework co-developed since 2021-2022 and formally published in 2024), the annual Humanitech Summit (held free of charge from 2021 through 2024 at venues including State Library Victoria and the Telstra Customer Insight Centre), the Humanitech Lab innovation program (which provides grant funding and mentorship to startups such as AirSeed, Hold Access, Kara Technologies, Maya Cares, and Climasens), and the Humanitarian Challenge competition. Past initiatives include the discontinued Traverse blockchain verifiable-credentials platform (closed 2021), documented as a published sector case study.

The initiative is funded through philanthropic and foundation partnerships — most notably Telstra Foundation as founding partner, QBE Foundation, and The Coca-Cola Foundation — and operates with a small senior leadership team embedded within Australian Red Cross. It does not charge for event attendance or for access to its principles, case studies, and reports, and has no disclosed commercial pricing model. Its go-to-market is event-driven and community-led: a free flagship Summit serves as the primary convening mechanism, supplemented by an open-application Lab program, community co-design pilots (e.g., the 2024 Dargo climate adaptation platform with WEO and the Dargo community), and open-access publications including the Future of Vulnerability: Humanity in the Digital Age report. Partnerships span the global Red Cross Red Crescent Movement (IFRC, GDPC), corporate foundations (Telstra, QBE, Coca-Cola), academic institutions (ANU, Monash, RMIT, Swinburne, UTS, ADM+S Centre), and technology firms (Thoughtworks, Microsoft, Telstra).

Name

Humanitech

Legal name

Australian Red Cross

Website

https://humanitech.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Humanitech is a non-profit initiative of Australian Red Cross, founded in 2021 in Melbourne, that convenes humanitarian, technology, academic, government, and community stakeholders to co-create responsible technology solutions through an annual Summit, an innovation Lab, a Principles framework, and community co-design pilots.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Technology Innovation Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Humanitarian technology innovation
• Responsible technology frameworks
• Non-profit innovation programs
• Frontier technology ethics
• Disaster resilience technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding & Philanthropic Support: Humanitech is funded through partnerships with corporate foundations (Telstra Foundation as founding partner, QBE Foundation), government support, and the parent organization Australian Red Cross. The initiative mobilizes financial and pro bono support across corporate, humanitarian, government, and philanthropic sectors to sustain its programs, summit, and Lab innovation activities.
2. Innovation Program Partnerships: Humanitech Lab operates as a grant-funding program, providing financial support to startups and innovators tackling humanitarian challenges. It leverages multi-sector partnerships (e.g., QBE AcceliCITY Humanitarian Challenge with QBE Foundation and Leading Cities) to distribute funding and scale technology solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Humanitech is a non-profit initiative of Australian Red Cross that operates as a think-and-do tank at the intersection of frontier technology and humanitarian action. It convenes cross-sector stakeholders, publishes the Humanitech Principles framework, runs the annual Humanitech Summit, operates the Humanitech Lab innovation accelerator, and administers the Humanitarian Challenge competition to fund and support startups applying frontier technology to disasters, inequity, and climate change.

Product overview

Humanitech is an initiative of Australian Red Cross that does not offer a commercial SaaS product but rather operates as a think-and-do tank producing programs, publications, and events focused on ensuring technology serves humanity. Its core portfolio consists of the Humanitech Principles (a six-principle framework for humanity-first technology design), the Humanity First publication, the annual Humanitech Summit event series (2021–2024), the Humanitech Lab innovation program (supporting start-ups in disasters & emergencies, inequity & injustice, and climate change), the Humanitarian Challenge competition, Humanitech Case Studies documenting real-world pilots, and the Traverse case study documenting lessons from a discontinued digital identity platform. The Principles framework anchors all other programs and is applied in the Lab and Challenge pilots, while publications like the Future of Vulnerability report provide the research foundation for the initiative's approach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Humanitech Principles A framework of six practical principles (Take time to understand the problem; Build now for the future; Anticipate consequences; Empower people and communities; Innovate openly and collaboratively; Safeguard data and privacy) designed to help innovators, partners and policymakers design technology with communities that protects dignity, earns trust and adapts to a changing world. Framed by three cross-cutting themes: do no harm, centre community, and move at the speed of trust.
• Humanitech Summit Australia's flagship annual event at the intersection of frontier technologies, social innovation, and humanitarian action, bringing together leading thinkers across sectors to share ideas and spark new ways of working with technology to benefit people and society. Held annually from 2021 through 2024 at venues including State Library Victoria and Telstra Customer Insight Centre, Melbourne, with free admission.
• Humanitech Lab An innovation program that partners with start-ups and innovators leveraging frontier technology to tackle social and humanitarian challenges in three focus areas: Disasters & Emergencies, Inequity & Injustice, and Climate Change. The Lab supports organisations with grant funding, expert guidance, and a co-design approach grounded in the Humanitech Principles. Cohort examples include AirSeed (drone planting), Hold Access (digital identity for First Nations), Kara Technologies (sign language avatars), Maya Cares (AI chatbot for Bla(c)k women), and Climasens (climate intelligence).
• Humanitarian Challenge A challenge program that sources and supports technology-driven solutions addressing humanitarian problems, including the QBE AcceliCITY Humanitarian Challenge and the Dargo climate adaptation project. The program tests and amplifies innovative approaches, beta-testing the Humanitech Principles through live pilots.
• Future of Vulnerability: Humanity in the Digital Age A report inviting conversation around the complex questions that frontier technologies can introduce or heighten in terms of vulnerability, highlighting opportunities for collaborative exploration to develop 'humanity first' approaches to data and technology in humanitarian settings.
• Traverse Case Study A case study documenting Australian Red Cross's creation, design, and shutdown of Traverse — a blockchain and verifiable credential-based web and mobile application for humanitarian sector digital identity. The platform was closed in 2021 after encountering critical challenges around technology maturity, ecosystem readiness, and resource constraints, providing lessons for the humanitarian sector on blockchain and Web3 technologies.
• Humanitech Case Studies A series of case studies documenting real-world projects where technology and community insight come together to build community resilience. Each case study shows what happens when innovation is tested in real-world humanitarian settings — from mapping heat risks to restoring damaged landscapes — and highlights practical lessons for others to apply.
• Humanitech Lab Projects Video Series A video series sharing the insights and impact of projects taking place through the Humanitech Lab, where technology is being designed and developed alongside communities to tackle humanitarian challenges. Hosted on the Humanitech Vimeo showcase.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 45 Dargo community members participated in co-design workshops; ~80 total engaged across the pilot
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, founding/flagship and supporting.

• Leading CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Leading Cities (headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts) partnered with Australian Red Cross Humanitech and QBE Insurance to launch the QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge Humanitarian Track. The challenge sources global startups to address community climate resilience problems. Leading Cities runs the AcceliCITY program — among the world's largest smart and resilient city-focused accelerators — providing pilot projects, startup funding, and curriculum to entrepreneurs globally.
• Telstra Foundationfounding/flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerTelstra Foundation is Humanitech's founding partner, providing long-term strategic and financial support for the initiative. The partnership enables the annual Humanitech Summit and the Humanitech Lab innovation program. Telstra Foundation focuses on technology for humanity and supports digital changemakers in the non-profit sector and young digital makers in remote and regional Australia. The Telstra Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Telstra (inc. Code Club Australia).
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADM+S Centre is a key academic research partner collaborating with Humanitech on responsible technology research and policy. The partnership involves joint events (including the 2022 ADM+S Symposium hosted by Humanitech), co-research on digital inclusion, data ethics, and community data action, and collaboration on the Dargo pilot which drew on ADM+S research expertise. Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas serves as Director of ADM+S and Advisory Board member of Humanitech.
• AirSeed TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAirSeed Technologies is an environmental restoration company and Humanitech Lab scale partner. Using drone-planting solutions with AI and patented seed pod biotechnology, AirSeed partnered with Humanitech (supported by Telstra Foundation and QBE Foundation) to deliver over 600,000 native seed pods to landholders in NSW affected by landslides. AirSeed's drones can plant up to 40,000 seed pods per day and GPS-tag every planting location.
• ClimasenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClimasens is a climate resilience technology company and Humanitech Lab scale partner. Humanitech supported Climasens to scale its climate intelligence platform, building on an initial pilot to identify people most at risk during heatwaves in South Australia. The platform combines climate data and AI to help Australian Red Cross and municipalities monitor heat waves and their impact on at-risk populations.
• Kara TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKara Technologies is a Humanitech Lab scale partner developing digital human (avatar) technology to provide on-demand sign language for emergency information for the Deaf community. Humanitech supported Kara Technologies through the Lab program and featured the company in the 2024 Summit program. Grace Covey, a Deaf woman and Kara's Communications Manager, represents the community-first approach underlying the partnership.
• Hold Access (WUNA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHold Access (WUNA) is a First Nations digital identity company and Humanitech Lab cohort member. The company developed a digital wallet empowering First Nations people and undocumented individuals to hold diverse identification with access in their control. Founder Jason-Urranndulla Davis adapted an ancient message stick technology (60,000+ years old) into a modern digital format, addressing identity standards with 100 points of Aboriginality.
• WEO (When a Map Becomes a Mirror)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWEO is a satellite and AI mapping company that won the 2024 QBE AcceliCITY Humanitarian Challenge with its hyperlocal climate adaptation platform. WEO partnered with Humanitech to pilot the platform with the Dargo community in Victoria. The platform combines satellite data, AI, and local insights to help communities understand and adapt to climate risks, and was iteratively co-designed with community input throughout the pilot.
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFRC, through its Solferino Academy, collaborates with Humanitech on digital innovation in the humanitarian sector. At the 2024 Summit, IFRC representatives (Heather Leson, Digital Innovation Lead; Ben Holt, Global Lead for Strategic Foresight) led sessions exploring humanitarian innovation frontiers and new approaches to intersecting global crises.
• Australian Red Crossfounding/flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumanitech is an initiative of Australian Red Cross. The parent organization provides institutional credibility, operational infrastructure, humanitarian sector networks, and the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that underpin Humanitech's approach. Australian Red Cross programs (Emergency Services, Migration Support, Community Programs) collaborate directly with Humanitech on pilots and innovation initiatives.
• Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe GDPC is a reference center established by the IFRC and hosted by the American Red Cross. It partners with Humanitech on disaster preparedness innovation, with Jessica Ports Robbins serving as Senior Partnerships & Innovation Lead. The collaboration explores digital technology and innovation in humanitarian preparedness across the Red Cross Red Crescent network.
• Centre for Public ImpactsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Centre for Public Impact (a BCG Foundation initiative) collaborates with Humanitech on responsible technology. Lorenn Ruster serves as a Responsible Tech Collaborator with the Centre while also being a PhD student at ANU School of Cybernetics, bridging public sector impact and technology ethics. The Centre was involved in developing the Humanitech Principles framework.
• Trust AlliancesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Trust Alliance is a multi-sector collaboration hosted by Australian Red Cross focused on how technology development can be committed to shared principles: do no harm, humanity first, open ecosystems, equity, and transparency. Rahul Soans manages the Trust Alliance. Humanitech staff including Amanda Robinson (Chair) and Katy Southall (former Manager) have led this network of private, public and for-purpose organisations developing shared standards for ethical digital identity.
• She's a CrowdsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerShe's a Crowd is a social enterprise (National Winner, Telstra Best of Business Awards 2022) that uses geolocative technology, data analytics, and AI to address gender-based violence. Founder Zoë Condliffe partnered with Humanitech Lab to use the Humanity First/Humanitech Principles prototype to refine the Gendered Safety Scorecard tool, demonstrating how the framework helps innovators improve solutions for marginalised communities.
• Maya CaressupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMaya Cares is an AI-powered chatbot enabling Bla(c)k Women and Women of Colour and their communities to access real-time information and support when experiencing racism. Part of The Creative Co-Operative, Maya Cares was showcased through the Humanitech Lab program and applied the Humanity First principles to guide its community-centred design approach.
• Human Technology Institute (UTS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Human Technology Institute (HTI) at University of Technology Sydney develops tools, policies and skills for human-centred approaches to emerging technology. HTI Co-Director Edward Santow is a key Humanitech Summit speaker and thought leader. The institute collaborates on responsible AI policy, facial recognition technology governance, and AI assurance — areas aligned with Humanitech's advocacy mandate.
• ANU Tech Policy Design CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe ANU Tech Policy Design Centre (led by Prof. Johanna Weaver) is a key academic partner. Prof. Weaver is a member of the ICRC Global Advisory Board on digital threats during conflict and served as Australia's lead negotiator on cyber issues at the UN. The Centre contributes expertise on tech policy, AI governance, and international technology standards to Humanitech's work.
• Monash University – Emerging Technologies Research LabsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMonash University's Emerging Technologies Research Lab (led by Prof. Sarah Pink) is an academic research partner. Prof. Pink's work on design anthropology and emerging technologies informs Humanitech's human-centred approach. The collaboration contributes interdisciplinary research on everyday human and environmental futures in the design and use of emerging technologies.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mercy Corps Ventures: Mercy Corps Ventures is the impact-investing and venture arm of Mercy Corps, backing frontier-tech startups in climate, fintech, and resilience. It is a comparable humanitarian-organisation-affiliated investor/convener.
• Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL): DIAL, housed at the UN Foundation, advances responsible digital inclusion and digital public goods for the humanitarian and development sectors, sharing Humanitech's focus on principles, ethical frameworks, and cross-sector convening.
• NetHope: NetHope is a global consortium of NGOs and tech companies that designs and deploys technology solutions for humanitarian and development work, closely paralleling Humanitech's convening-plus-innovation model, including grant programs for tech-enabled humanitarian projects.
• GSMA Innovation Fund: GSMA runs innovation funds and accelerator programs that back frontier-tech startups serving vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries, mirroring Humanitech Lab's grant-funded support for startups applying frontier technology to humanitarian challenges.
• Data.org: Data.org funds and convenes organisations using data and AI for social impact, with philanthropic backing (e.g., Mastercard, Rockefeller Foundation). Its challenge grants and capacity-building programs are similar to Humanitech Lab and the Humanitarian Challenge.
• The Engine Room: The Engine Room supports civil-society organisations to use technology responsibly and ethically, with a strong focus on data governance and responsible technology frameworks; comparable to Humanitech's Principles-based approach.

Regional players

• Frontline AIDS / Frontline Technologies: Frontline AIDS operates programmes combining advocacy, community-led design, and digital tools for marginalised communities. While focused on health/HIV, its community-centred responsible-tech ethos parallels Humanitech's approach.
• Australian Council for International Development (ACFID): ACFID is Australia's peak body for international development NGOs, convening humanitarian organisations and setting sector standards. It is a regional analogue of Humanitech's convening role in the Australian humanitarian ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Skoll Foundation: Skoll Foundation funds and connects social entrepreneurs tackling systemic issues, including in humanitarian tech. While broader, its model of grant + convening + ecosystem building overlaps with Humanitech's approach.
• UNICEF Innovation: UNICEF's Office of Innovation funds and pilots frontier-tech solutions (AI, drones, digital identity) for children and humanitarian contexts worldwide. It is a much larger, established equivalent of Humanitech Lab and its Challenge program.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/humanitechau

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Humanitech