John Carroll
Co-founder at Vexev
Dr John Carroll is co-founder of Vexev, a Sydney medtech company founded in 2018 by Carroll and Dr Eamonn Colley. Both were PhD students at the time, researching how blood flow behaviour relates to the development of vascular disease. Vexev's VxWave is an autonomous ultrasound system designed to let non-specialists scan the blood vessels of the upper limb, starting with patients who have chronic kidney disease. In its 120-patient CANSCAN trial, the company reports a 94 per cent scanning success rate. VxWave is still for investigational use only. Vexev is backed by Blackbird and Neotribe Ventures and raised $6 million in August 2026 to speed up US commercialisation.
Key moments
Jump straight to the part of Building with Atoms and Bits: 5 Founders Making Hard Tech in Australia | HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou, Antares you want.
- 2:21 Founder intros: HEO, Alloy, Vexev, Zabidou Antares
- 5:53 Why humanoid robots are still 5+ years away
- 7:50 HEO's natural language satellite tasking "vibe tasking" robots
- 12:35 Hiring in deep tech: why PhDs aren't a requirement anymore
- 14:27 Finding training young talent in robotics
- 20:52 US vs Australia: aerospace talent, poaching the Golden Dome effect
- 27:50 Why US investors now believe in Australian hard tech
- 30:54 "Competition is for losers": building what no one else has
- 32:43 How fundraising for hard tech has changed in 5 years
- 41:05 Zabidou's brutal pre-seed deadline capital efficiency
Connections
Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026
Want a show of your own?
W2D1 Media — the team behind the Day One Network, which helped build Blackbird Ventures' Wild Hearts — builds and produces podcasts for funds, founders and operators. If you want a show built around your brand, let's talk.