Spyrides reaches innovation sweet spot

Jason Spyrides, a Moriah College Class of 2015 alumnus, has emerged as an impactful young innovator, app designer and entrepreneur in the Australian scene, and from next week, America.

Now 29 and recently relocated to New York, Spyrides has always been drawn to solving what he calls “overlooked problems” through technology.

In 2024 he created and launched the Weanie app, which grew out of a deeply personal struggle.

A former smoker, Spyrides tried nicotine patches and going cold turkey, and found both approaches to quitting the unhealthy habit miserable.

So he built an app designed to help people to cut back on smoking or vaping gradually, rather than quit outright – a method that had worked for him.