2025 NSW Award
The 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is "robot nerd turned drone lover turned CEO/cofounder" (in his words) Rory San Miguel. The award was presented at a special Pearcey Foundation event on Tuesday 14 October in Sydney by Emma Weston, the 2023 NSW award recipient.
Rory San Miguel is CEO and cofounder of Propeller Aero, which is revolutionising site surveying in construction and mining through drone-enabled analytics. Propeller’s integrated platform, which combines drone imagery with ground control technology and cloud-based analysis, allows teams to measure, model and manage worksite progress with unprecedented ease. Under Rory’s leadership, Propeller has grown into a global business with operations in Australia and the US, and partnerships with DJI and Trimble. His work has brought enterprise-grade geospatial insights to industrial sectors, enabling more efficient and safer worksites.
The Pearcey NSW Entrepreneur Award is presented to an outstanding individual who has "taken a risk, made a difference and is an inspiration to others" in the NSW ICT industry. The process draws on nominations from the public and the Pearcey Foundation network. Selection is made in consultation with past award recipients to ensure the continued integrity and quality of this peer-based recognition.
Benjamin Chong, partner at Right Click Capital and chair of the NSW Pearcey judging committee, commented,
At the Pearcey Foundation we love to see Australian entrepreneurs forging ahead in new and emerging technology fields and taking that success globally. Rory is the perfect example of this, applying drone technology with Propeller to solve intractable problems and create greater efficiencies across a range of industries in innovative and revolutionary ways
Other finalists for the 2025 award were: Michael De Nil, Morse Micro; David Doral, Dovetail Electric Aviation; Steve Frisken, Cylite (also a winner in 2011); Cate Hull, FreightExchange; and Richard Kimber, Daisee. All finalists will be entered into the NSW Pearcey Hall of Fame .
Rory San Miguel
A Mechatronics, Robotics and Engineering Graduate from UNSW in Sydney, Rory co-founded Propeller in 2014 to revolutionise site surveying in construction and mining through drone-enabled analytics.
Propeller’s integrated platform, which combines drone imagery with ground control technology and cloud-based analysis, allows teams to measure, model and manage worksite progress with unprecedented ease.
Under Rory’s leadership, Propeller has grown into a global business with operations in Australia and the US, and partnerships with DJI and Trimble. His work has brought enterprise-grade geospatial insights to industrial sectors, enabling more efficient and safer worksites.
Pictured: (L-R) Rory San Miguel, Emma Weston (2023 Pearcey NSW EOTY Winner) Wayne Fitzsimmons (Pearcey National Chair)
Pearcey Event
The Pearcey NSW ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award event is an annual event that recognises an exceptional NSW entrepreneur, often mid-career, who showcases trailblazing innovation, impactful contributions, and serves as an inspiration in the technological sphere.
The 2025 event, attended by around 100 people, was held on Tuesday, 14th October at Macquarie Technology Group's Theaterette in Market Street, Sydney. The award was presented by Emma Weston, of Agridigital, the Pearcey NSW 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year.
Rory was also a winner of a prior University Pitching competition, a time-honored highlight at the Pearcey NSW Entrepeneur Awards nights, showcasing the latest in innovation from the University Incubator scene. This year saw pitches from UNSW, Sydney University , Macquarie University, University of Newcastle, and Western Sydney University, with first place going to Sydney University's The Extra Terrestrials, second place to UNSW's What's On and third place to University of Newcastle's Joborra.
Sponsors
Thanks to our sponsors Macquarie Government, The Next Generation, and ACS.
