Going Global: Four Aussie Founders Share Their Success Stories | Fishburners x Our Innovation Fund
Event description
Aussie tech businesses have had a lot of success on the global stage but going forward, Aussie businesses need to accelerate their global expansion for many reasons; market size, customer base, and opportunities for product development, hiring and raising that next round of capital.
Investing in high-growth businesses and with offices in Sydney and New York, Our Innovation Fund has seen seven of its nine portfolio companies successfully ground their businesses within the competitive US market: winning customers, hiring talent, and raising capital from top-tier US investors.
At this special event, hear from four of those market leading companies: online learning and education leader GO1, RangeMe - the CPG industry’s product discovery platform, HR Tech success story Enboarder, and Collabosaurus - a marketing platform that match-makes brands for promotional partnerships.
The event will kick off Fishburners’ new, dedicated event space at Sydney Startup Hub. The evening’s MC will be Pandora Shelley, CEO at Fishburners, Australia’s largest community for tech startups, and Jerry Stesel, General Partner at Our Innovation Fund, will facilitate the panel discussion.
Please join us for networking drinks from 5:30pm to 6pm, followed by an insightful panel discussion from these leading Australian startups who are establishing themselves as global success stories. The event will conclude at 7pm.
Who are the Speakers?
Brent Pearson, Founder and CEO, Enboarder
Brent founded Enboarder in 2015, betting on the premise that given the chance, the market would embrace experience-driven onboarding rather than sticking with the ‘tasks and paperwork’ status quo. His bet proved accurate, with Enboarder reaching the milestone, in January 2019, of 100,000 onboarding experiences powered by the platform.
Brent, whose focus is Research & Development, Recruitment Strategy and Recruitment Technology, believes early investors make a huge difference. Currently, Enboarder has offices in Austin and LA in the US, a presence in the UK, and plans to expand its international presence this year. He also recently raised capital from the NY-based top-tier VC firm Greycroft.
He has worked in the HR/Recruitment industry since 2000 and began his career as a Business Analyst with global firm Booz Allen Hamilton in 1988.
Nicky Jackson, Co-Founder and CEO of RangeMe
Nicky Jackson is the co-founder and CEO of RangeMe, the CPG industry’s product discovery platform. Nicky had a successful career as a Marketing Executive with Kellogg’s, Pepsico and Jim Beam and noticed that she faced a common dilemma: how to get her products listed with major retailers? RangeMe was born and Nicky led the efforts in building the team and product as well as raising capital from Australian and US investors. After establishing an office in San Francisco, moving her family there for the business and winning customers like Wholefoods, Albertsons, Sephora and Jet.com, RangeMe was sold to private-equity backed ECRM in 2017.
Scott Cooper, VP of Marketing, GO1
Scott Cooper is vice president of Marketing at GO1.com, the world’s largest compliance, professional development and general training marketplace. His experience is scaling startups has seen his analytical skills put to effective use in executing marketing strategies from various geographical locations. Scott thrives at building and managing remote teams, pushing emerging brands into the spotlight and creating experiences that generates growth. In 2018 he wrote his first book, A Guide to Better E-Learning - a resource to help online learning course creators get more engagement from their learners.
GO1.com makes it easy for businesses to train their staff, with the world’s largest compliance, professional development and general training marketplace. By providing a single platform that extends from first aid training through to degree-bearing courses, GO1 makes it easy to find and compare the best training options available. The marketplace features more than 500,000 courses and other learning items created by local and international experts. Customers include SEEK.com.au, Oxford University, state and local governments and St John Ambulance.
Since launching in 2015, GO1.com has grown to be a world leader in online learning and education. The company’s investors include Y Combinator, Shark Tank’s Steve Baxter, SEEK and Oxford University, enabling the startup to continue expanding its offices across the world.
Jess Ruhfus - Founder of Collabosaurus
Jess is the Founder of Collabosaurus, a marketing platform that match-makes brands for promotional partnerships. With a background in fashion publicity and marketing education, Jess was frustrated sourcing cool brand partnerships in events, products & social media for clients and employers. So, she launched Collabosaurus in 2015 and bootstrapped, the platform has attracted over 5,500+ brands including Porsche, ASOS, Koala and Topshop. Jess has spoken for Apple, General Assembly, The Collective Hub, ADMA & The College of Event Management and has just returned from San Francisco as she headed up the U.S expansion of Collabosaurus.
Jerry Stesel - General Partner, Our Innovation Fund
Jerry is a founding partner of Our Innovation Fund, LP an Australian based venture capital firm that invests in innovative high growth businesses, which has offices in Sydney and New York. Our Innovation Fund is made up of a team of proven business builders with a long track record of backing leading entrepreneurs. Jerry founded and successfully exited a tech enabled payment services company and has over 15 years of technology investing, investment banking and legal experience.