Sourdough pioneer Laurent Boillon named Australia’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, as Employment Hero’s founder wins tech award

A French-born baker who developed a world-first way to supply frozen artisanal sourdough products to supermarkets has been named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ for Australia at the prestigious business awards.

Professional services firm EY Australia’s annual entrepreneurship awards celebrated their 25th anniversary in Sydney on October 15, also recognising 22 national finalists who represent the best of entrepreneurship our country has to offer.

The judges selected one winner across five categories: Social Impact, Industry, Services, Technology and Emerging. The winners were chosen based on how they’re driving progress in Australian business through purpose, growth and impact.

And the winners are:

• Industry: Laurent Boillon, Laurent Bakery
• Emerging: David McGiveron and Bianca Tarrant, Our Cow
• Services: Matthew Rear, PPS Water Group
• Technology: Ben Thompson, Employment Hero
• Social Impact: Ashley van de Velde, LifeFlight

The top honours went to beloved baker Laurent Boillon, who was named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for Australia. He will go on to compete with national winners from more than 60 countries for the title of the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2026 at the global competition in Monaco in May 2026.

“This year’s national winners set the standard for Australian entrepreneurship through their innovation, ingenuity, and determination,” Colin McNeil, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Australia Program Leader said.

“Their achievements span industries and sectors and are the driving force behind the country’s economic growth and prosperity. We are proud to honour Laurent and all of our winners who are shaping the nation’s economic future.”

French baker’s rise to the top

Dubbed a ’30-year overnight sensation’ by MC Emma Alberici, Boillon impressed the judges with his innovative approach to creating and manufacturing premium baked goods across Australia and the world.

With a career spanning Europe and the Caribbean, he is credited with bringing artisanal French baking to Australia.

Born in Aix-en-Provence, Boillon founded Laurent Bakery in Melbourne in 1993. From those humble beginnings in South Yarra, Boillon built something special off the back of a premium product: levain, a sourdough that rises naturally and is made without added yeast or shortcuts.

Knowing what our tastebuds wanted before we did, Boillon built an empire of 18 stores and two production facilities manufacturing premium pastries and breads across Australia and the world.

If you’ve bought sourdough from Coles lately, it comes from Boillon’s factories.

“I created and developed a new way to supply top-quality sourdough products to supermarkets in a frozen form. Nobody in the world was doing fully baked frozen bread,” he said.

“Our bread does not dry. So you can put in two or three times back in the oven – it becomes soft again. Most of our competitors today, when you do that with their bread, it becomes like a biscuit – rock hard.”

WATCH: How Laurent Boillon made his passion profitable

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by EY Australia (@ey_australia)

When accepting the night’s top honours, an emotional Boillon said “You’ve given me time to reflect on myself – I never did.”

RedBalloon founder Naomi Simson, chair of the independent judging panel, said that the quality of entries for the awards is “is a true testament to Australia’s entrepreneurial spirit”.

“These awards are about seeing opportunities where others don’t. Laurent has demonstrated truly innovative ways of scaling artisanal, delicious food and making them available for everyone. He has developed markets abroad and at home, and he has an incredible growth story and trajectory,” she said.

Selina Short, EY Leader for Clients and Industries, Oceania added: “Success stories like Laurent’s show us that great ideas can come from anywhere, but need capital, capability and confidence to create global impact.

“For our nation to truly harness the impact of entrepreneurs, our policy settings must be updated to foster innovation and boost productivity. Modernising the tax system for research and development, implementing intellectual property incentives, and enhancing business cashflow are some ways to help turn Australia’s bold ideas into commercial success.”

Employment Hero takes out Technology award

Ben Thompson, CEO and cofounder of HR software unicorn Employment Hero, took home the award for Technology.

“This recognition belongs to the team. They’ve driven our mission with me from day one: to make employment easier and more valuable for everyone on earth. It’s a huge privilege to serve small businesses. They’re under recognised for their contributions globally but we’re very proud to champion them,” said Thompson.

More than 350,000 businesses and 2.5 million employees across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and Canada use Employment Hero.

Launched back in 2014, the platform gives small and medium-sized businesses access to enterprise-grade tools.

In 2025, Employment Hero surpassed A$300 million in annual recurring revenue. The business has also recently launched a two-way talent marketplace, and expanded EH Work, an employee super app that brings together career management and financial wellbeing.

WATCH MORE: Ben Thompson’s secrets to Employment Hero success

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by EY Australia (@ey_australia)

The winners circle

David McGiveron and Bianca Tarrant took home the Emerging award for their grass-fed meat subscription company Our Cow.

After their farm was ravaged by severe bushfires and drought in 2019, McGivern and Tarrant started Our Cow to improve the lives of farmers and meet consumer demand for high-quality, ethically sourced produce.

Today, Our Cow delivers grass-fed, free-range and organic produce direct to consumers across Australia, while offering stability and fair pay for 100s of farmers and their communities.

WATCH: Our Cow’s purpose

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by EY Australia (@ey_australia)

Matthew Rear of PPS Water Group won the Services award.

A former C-suite executive in the lithium industry, Rear has grown his water infrastructure company significantly in recent years, delivering sustainable water management solutions for remote mining projects across WA.

For more info, visit the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year website.

Startup Daily is a media partner for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program.