Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.
com
THE FASTEST GROWTH
FELLR IN A CLASS
HIGH-FLYERS
TOP PERFORMERS
OF ITS OWN S3 OF THIS YEAR S8, S10
2022 FAST LISTS
‘‘We’ve declared war on the lemon, lime and bitters,’’ says Fast 100 list leader David Andrew, founder of Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits. PHOTO: LOUIS TRERISE
Three cheers T
he top rank in the Fast 100 has
been taken out by Naked Life
Non-Alcoholic Spirits, and the
fastest of the Fast Starters is
to no-alcohol
Fellr, which produces hard
seltzer – carbonated water mixed with an
alcohol base and fruit flavourings –
launched amid the first lockdown.
drinks trend
The fastest growing companies in Austra-
lia in 2022 have been identified by The Aus-
tralian Financial Review’s Fast 100 and Fast
Starters lists, presented by Pemba Capital
Partners and PwC.
Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits, with a Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits, foun-
ded in Melbourne in 2016 by former strategy
compound annual growth rate of 331 per consultant David Andrew, has ridden Aus-
tralia’s post-lockdown sobriety wave all the
cent over three years, is top of the Fast 100 way to the top of the Financial Review Fast
100.
class, writes Michael Bailey. After achieving $357,694 turnover in
1
2019-20, Naked Life trebled its range and
won distribution in Woolworths and Coles,
on its way to $6,655,929 revenue in 2021-22 –
a compound annual growth rate of 331 per
cent over the last three financial years.
Naked Life’s success has edged out gym
franchise Fitstop (with a CAGR of 288 per
cent), property syndicate organiser Free-
dom Wealth Creation (256 per cent), remote
medical and evacuation specialist Medical
Rescue (220 per cent) and personal loan
provider Fundo (218 per cent) for glory in
the Fast 100.
The Fast 100 list recognises the growth of
Australian standalone companies which
started trading before July 1, 2017, and recor-
ded at least $5 million of revenue in 2021-22.
The list is ranked by CAGR of revenue
over the previous three financial years, the
majority of which must have been gener-
ated organically and be from more than one
customer.
Entrants must provide third-party verific-
ation of revenue from an external account-
ant or auditor.
The Fast 100 has been published annually
since 1990, first in BRW Magazine and since
2016 in the Australian Financial Review.
Household names that started out as Fast
100 list members include Atlassian, Bookto-
pia, Boost Juice, Carman’s Fine Foods,
Cellarmasters, Grill’d, Herron Pharmaceut-
icals, Lonely Planet, RedBalloon, Seek,
WebJet and Worley Parsons.
Helping to explain Naked Life’s triumph
in 2022 is the global rise of the non-alcoholic
drinks market, which now has a 3.5 per cent
share of the total beer, spirit and wine mar-
ket. This is up from negligible levels only a
Continued next page
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Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Rapid growth
not taken
for granted
The companies on The Australian Financial
Review’s Fast 100 and Fast Starters lists for 2022
come from many industries, but are united in
not taking their track records of rapid growth
for granted.
Across the 32-year history of the Fast lists,
many finalists have gone on to become
household names, and they did it by being in a
constant state of change. Think of Atlassian
deliberately killing off its legacy server-based
products, or WebJet in 2015 becoming one of
the world’s first businesses to accept payments
in bitcoin.
This year’s Fast crop demonstrate a similar
agility, which they will need as the economic
outlook darkens in the coming year. For
example Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits,
which has topped the Fast 100 for fast-growing
companies more than five years old, went from
five different flavours to 15 in just the past year.
Founder David Andrew continues to keep his
product developers busy, with a recent move
into foodstuffs like drinking chocolate. Such
vertical or horizontal expansions are a constant
as Fast finalists tell their stories in the pages that
follow. Wider product ranges aside, many Fast Peter and Rebecca Hull, owners of the Fitstop gym concept, in one of their Brisbane franchise locations. PHOTO: DAN PELED
finalists got there simply by identifying a trend
and setting up for it early. From S1 Brands, there are plans for 10 locations in
California by the middle of 2023.
A prime example is number one on the Fast
Starters list for fast-growing companies less Alcohol-free drinks firm An Australian gym franchise with designs
on America invites obvious comparisons to
than five years old, Fellr. It was founded by two tops Fast 100 listers F45, whose ambitious Stateside strategy has
former Big Alcohol marketers who noticed that slumped amid the deteriorating economic
‘hard seltzers’ - basically carbonated water decade ago, according to drinks market outlook, and legal investigations into
mixed with an alcohol base and fruit researcher IWSR. whether its directors misled investors on
flavourings - were taking off in the US, but that And the value of the booze-free market, F45’s growth prospects.
already $152 million a year in Australia, is Rest assured Hull says he has watched the
an Australian brand was yet to be launched. forecast by IWSR to rise at a rate of 31 per F45 debacle and taken ‘‘huge learnings’’
With about half the calorie content of beer, hard cent a year, until at least 2024. us is the complexity of what we can offer – from it, but says the contrast with Fitstop
seltzers have found themselves swept along by The heady growth in no-hangover booze our aim is to produce a drink that you will extends beyond F45’s ‘‘high-intensity inter-
Australia’s post-lockdown national health kick, is down to a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of factors, of finish at the same time as everyone else in val’’ approach to training being very differ-
which also explains why number two on the which the pandemic has only been one, the round,’’ he says. ent from his own ‘‘strength and
Fast 100 for 2022 is FitStop, a gym franchise according to Andrew. For instance, Naked Life’s gin-and-tonics conditioning’’ approach.
‘‘Yes, lockdown gave people time to reas- use distilled botanicals, just like their alco- ‘‘I never started a fitness franchise group
focused on strength and conditioning rather sess their drinking habits, but that was just a holic counterparts. to go and sell 3000 locations and have an exit
than the high-intensity workouts offered by the catalyst,’’ the 40-year-old says. ‘‘We’ve declared war on the lemon, lime strategy from day one,’’ he says.
likes of F45. ‘‘The big driver has been all the research and bitters – these things you scull back in a In fact, Hull’s first five franchise sales
Good old-fashioned tales of triumph over and development that’s gone into a bigger few seconds and still get charged a heap for,’’ upon switching to the model in 2017 were to
adversity also abound in this special report on range and better-tasting non-alcoholic Andrew says. members of his then two gyms. They already
the Fast 100 and Fast Starters finalists. Take Joe alternatives. Because you’re only going to try There is no doubt some crossover in the understood Fitstop’s training approach,
one if your favourite kind of drink is there for clientele for non-alcoholic drinks and those born from Hull’s early career training ath-
Joseph, a former franchisee of Aussie Farmers
you as an option.’’ for the second place-getter in 2022 Fast 100, letes after injury cruelled his own hopes to
Direct. When that network collapsed in 2018, he With just five SKUs (stock keeping unit – a Fitstop, which grew 2019-20 revenue of $1.8 be a motocross professional, and focused on
wasn’t discouraged - instead, he took the cold- number that retailers use to differentiate million to $27.9 million in the financial year patience and discipline.
chain logistics concept he had been pitching products and track inventory levels) a year just gone. The gym franchise was founded in ‘‘Franchising is all about selling to the
them and implemented it himself, with JD ago, Naked Life ‘‘hired far more product 2013 by motocross rider-turned personal right people, and having great systems that
Refigerated Transport now turning over $15 developers than a team of our size usually trainer Peter Hull and his then-partner, over time build a great brand,’’ he says,
million a year. Then there are the timeless good has’’ and now offers 15, from sake to sangria now-wife Bec, who bankrolled their first ‘‘tin name-checking his hero systems as those of
and even a sin-free Scottish malt ‘‘whisky’’. shed’’ gym in Brisbane by selling her Toyota Dominos, Flight Centre and Airbnb.
ideas, like that of Muval, whose founders It’s a breadth of choice to which Andrew Corolla for $18,000. ‘‘You can have the best marketing team in
noticed that the removals industry was partially credits Naked Life’s outsized FitStop now has 95 franchised locations, the world, but it will all fall apart pretty
relatively untouched by technology - until they growth. mostly in Queensland, but after a $3 million quickly if you don’t have those first
applied an online ‘‘The other thing that’s been a winner for injection this year by 30 per cent owner Lift three.’’ AFR
tasking model to it.
Muval is now a $19
million business,
having grown 149 per
cent over he last
three years. We hope
Equity and pricing challenges ahead
you find these Fast
stories inspiring.
MICHAEL BAILEY ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

However, if the colder winds blow in from capital to drive growth. The venture/growth
RICH LIST CO-EDITOR Opinion offshore economies that look fragile in the capital industry in Australia has grown
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Mark Summerhayes face of dramatic global tightening of dramatically in the past 10 years and
monetary policy, it may be that 2023 and provided much-needed fuel for high-growth
Since we last participated in the Fast 100 2024 present another set of challenges to high-cash-burn early-stage technology
program, there has been a dramatic change SME owners who have already navigated ventures. The best of these will attract
in the investment and economic outlook for the GFC and the global pandemic. support but at lower valuations and the
high-growth companies in our region. As always, the impact on high-growth price of this support will be a refocus from
2022 AFR Fast Lists Australia by all accounts remains the ‘‘lucky companies not positioned within more growth at any cost to delivering a clear path
country’’ and relatively insulated. defensive sectors will depend on how to profitability.
Editor: Padma Iyer padma.iyer@afr.com Key thematics behind this relative carefully they have prepared themselves. However, the number of venture-backed
Art director: Jeff Allan jdallan@afr.com position of strength include a healthier Most smaller growth businesses outside startups or early-stage companies in
Advertising government balance sheet, proximity to of more defensive industries have lower Australia is still small by comparison to
Group business directors: Owen Bouche high-growth economies in the Asia-Pacific gearing than their counterparts overseas as other developed economies offshore. Where
obouche@nine.com.au region, more even wealth distribution due to the big four commercial banks in Australia the hard yards and preparation will be most
James McCluskie jmccluskie@nine.com.au compulsory superannuation and a low have had most SMEs on a drip-feed since the important in Australia is in the higher
Account executive: Shy Virk proportion of households (in the 30pc GFC. The biggest issues for earlier-stage number of local smaller private businesses
svirk@nine.com.au range) with mortgages. companies will come in accessing equity that have been ‘‘bootstrapped’’ by founders
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Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review

Fellr Australia’s fastest growing company

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Fast Starters
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Michael Bailey
The fastest growing in Australia, as identi-
fied by the 2022 AFR Fast Starters list, is
Fellr, which produces hard seltzer – basic-
ally carbonated water mixed with an alcohol
base and fruit flavourings.
Fellr, which was launched amid the first
lockdown and turned over just $11,701 in
2019-20, made $4.5 million revenue in
2021-22.
That equates to a compound annual
growth rate of 1863 per cent over the last
three financial years, enough for Fellr to
edge out seat cover manufacturer Razor-
back 4x4 (with a CAGR of 1658 per cent),
concrete ordering app Bidcrete (1454 per
cent) and online beauty educator Islash
Boutique (1364 per cent) to top the Austra-
lian Financial Review Fast Starters list for
2022.
The Fast Starters list recognises the
growth of Australian standalone companies
which started trading on or after July 1, 2017,
and recorded at least $500,000 of revenue in
2021-22.
The list is ranked by CAGR of revenue
over the previous three financial years, the
majority of which must have been generated
organically and be from more than one cus-
tomer.
Entrants must provide third-party verific-
ation of revenue from an external account-
ant or auditor.
Fellr’s story involved a leap of faith to
which most of their fellow Fast list finalists
could relate.
Will Morgan and Andy Skora were both pavement. We got a ton of ‘nos’ at first – 2019-20 to $2.5 million last financial year.
brand managers at the Sydney office of nobody knows who the customers are for a Founded in 2019 by Melbourne’s Mitrou
French drinks behemoth Pernod Ricard, new product – but because we over-invested family, Razorback 4x4 makes seat covers for
who were getting sick of their hard work in quality ingredients for our liquid, we four-wheel drives.
making somebody else rich. gradually started to cut through.’’ ‘‘It’s definitely a bit random, but seat cov-
‘‘We both had ambitions of starting our The hard seltzer market in Australia grew ers are actually one of the top accessories for
own businesses one day, and when we saw 282 per cent in 2021-22 to become a $210 mil- 4x4 cars,’’ explains general manager Lucas
the hard seltzer market starting to emerge in lion category. Mitrou.
the US, it dawned on us that there were no Morgan credits that growth in part to hard ‘‘Until recently they have been more of a
really authentic, Aussie craft brands in the seltzers having roughly half the caloric con- practical and protective item rather than
ready-to-drink space,’’ says Morgan. tent of beer, and indeed the ready-to-drink something to show off. This is something we
Over beers in Bondi one day, the pair category to which it belongs – most of whose wanted to change, so we created a product
resolved to chuck in their six-figure jobs and products are less fattening than wine and that not only protects the seats better, but
chase the dream of launching a seltzer that beer – is the only alcohol category still grow- looks great too.’’
celebrated the beach lifestyle – albeit one ing as Australians become more health con- Made from canvas or neoprene, and avail-
whose unique production method was scious following their initial lockdown able in sizes which the Mitrous claim will fit
partly inspired by beer. binges. every major 4WD model, Razorback’s seats
Fellr’s alcohol base is rice and corn, fer- Fellr is competing against American are made in one of the factories of a major
mented using the same method as for the giants like White Claw, but Morgan and original equipment manufacturer for the
frothy stuff. Skora’s goal is to be number one. auto industry.
‘‘We felt this method gave our drinks a ‘‘We’re pushing hard for it,’’ Morgan says. ‘‘Any OEM part has a much stricter set of
fuller mouth feel and depth of flavour, He adds that Fellr also now has a non- material, safety and quality control proced-
versus a lot of the other seltzers that are Top: Fellr seltzer when it was forced to market a new, alcoholic range, so it can lean into the emer- ures when compared to your average part
made with distilled spirits or neutral grain founders Andy Skora unproven product to buyers it could not ging ‘‘sober curious’’ market that saw Naked sold in a store,’’ Mitrou says.
spirit,’’ says Morgan. (left) and Will meet face-to-face as the pandemic struck. Life Spirits this year top the Fast 100 for com- The much larger U.S. market is the next
‘‘There’s a lot of craft to it. It takes us four Morgan. Above: ‘‘When you’ve quit your job and poured panies over five years old. target for Razorback – Mitro was at a major
weeks to ferment, brew and pack, while Lucas Mitrou, GM of your life savings into your new project, and Hard seltzer might seem an easy sell com- trade show in Las Vegas when we spoke –
most others can buy cheap neutral spirit and Razorback 4x4. MAIN then a pandemic hits, it’s a harrowing pared to the product sold by Razorback 4x4, while an expansion into camping gear like
blend it in one day.’’ PHOTO: JANIE BARRETT moment,’’ says Morgan. the second-ranked company on 2022’s Fast swags, chairs and awnings is also on the
The extra time and effort helped Fellr ‘‘As soon as restrictions lifted we hit the Starters, which grew revenue from $8043 in horizon. AFR

and families. Many of these private pricing, few business owners are
companies have survived the dramas of the What might well experienced in managing pricing.
past 15 years, so they are well-versed in the And to make things more difficult, once
basics of how to prepare for a downturn –
prolong inflation is the inflation jumps we enter what economists
reset cost bases, work hard to minimise bad dramatic depreciation call a period of ‘‘disequilibrium’’. Inflation
debt exposures and align key employees to can fast become a spiral as it embeds itself in
the challenges of tougher times ahead. of the local currency. wages and rents.
What might be a bit different in the In predicting its next move, owners in
coming slowdown, though, is the need to more dynamic fast-growth businesses face
manage cost/margin pressure ‘‘ahead of the that most ‘‘bootstrapping’’ founders have significant margin risks if they undershoot
curve’’ of inflation. What might well prolong built early momentum by listening to and price moves in relation to input costs. And
inflation in Australia is the dramatic loving their customers. Repeatedly the the further challenge is that this risk once
depreciation of the local currency. founders of businesses we partner with have understood can encourage overshooting of
In simple terms, devaluation imports naturally been incredibly conservative with price rises which in turn exacerbates input
future inflation by driving up imported input respect to using price as a financial lever. costs for others and inflation and so on.
costs. Australia’s lower current inflation rate Higher interest rates historically has self-funded their growth So much so that even the owners of the The new emerging challenge for the
and the RBA’s options to stick to 25bp versus and inflation are (relative to more abundant venture capital most mission-critical services and software owners of fast-growth companies during
75bp rate hikes in the US comes with a bound to affect or bank funding overseas) they need to focus are extremely reluctant to even trial price what hopefully is for us just a lower growth
potential sting in the tail. The associated consumers. hard on making early price adjustments rises. At a time when pricing strategy may and higher-for-longer inflation episode
devaluation means the inflation rate here ahead of inflating cost bases. Now a private become an essential part of a strategy to (relative to more severe ‘‘stagflation’’ in the
might be ‘‘stickier’’ and take longer to adjust equity firm advocating price rises to their manage through this new economic UK, Europe and maybe the US) is to master
downwards. What this means for high- investee companies is normally heard as a challenge, many business owners are ill- more dynamic pricing strategies to protect
growth business owners here is they face a cynical way to fatten short-term profits to prepared. This inflationary break out has in margin and cashflow. AFR
new hurdle to add to all the other usual enhance returns or line up an exit. a knee-jerk fashion forced many managers ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

challenges. To protect margins and At Pemba, as a backer of high-growth to move on pricing. But given the historic Mark Summerhayes is managing director at
maintain the internal cashflow that technology companies, we have observed inertia with respect to proactive ‘‘value’’ Pemba Capital Partners.
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Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Tough times in the

market favour all
the disruptors
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Fintechs
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Simon Evans
The boss of collections company Credit
Clear – which features in the Fast 100 com-
panies list this year – expects activity levels
to pick up as swiftly as tougher times hit the
economy. Chief executive Andrew Smith
says the signs are there for the ‘‘tailwinds’’ to
strengthen for the ASX-listed company.
Credit Clear has around 2740 sharehold-
ers and among the top 20 are Alex Waislitz’s
Thorney, former Toll Holdings boss Paul
Little, Casey Capital and JM Financial. the enlarged group has a focus on profitabil-
The company was founded by Lewis ity and growth.
Romano and Mark Casey in 2015 with the He says in the September quarter, Credit
aim of delivering a better collections experi- Clear achieved its first cash flow-positive
ence by digitising the industry and improv- quarter, and secured new business. It raised
ing the customer experience. capital in July this year and December last
Around the same time, Andrew Smith year.
and Shane Ashton were establishing ARMA Smith says Credit Clear has a big focus on
Group with a view to providing the collec- data security.
tions industry with a more modern and ‘‘We have always appreciated and respec-
empathetic service. ted the sensitive nature of customer inform- ■ There is more
Credit Clear acquired ARMA late last year ation provided to us, the trust of our clients demand for our services
for $46 million, and Smith became chief and the vulnerable position of their custom-
executive of the enlarged group. ers’’ he says. and less providers able
Smith says the harder economic times, While their names are confidential, the to do the work.
after a string of interest rate rises and soar- group works for some of the largest corpor- Andrew Smith, Credit Clear
ing energy costs and inflation, put Credit ate and government organisations, and their
Clear in a strong position to benefit from demands are for best practice across the
extra work. Companies are paying close board, he says. has an optimistic outlook and takes ESG
attention to every dollar and ensuring out- issues very seriously.
standing invoices are acted upon. Selfwealth sees buying ‘‘Without listing them specifically, there
‘‘The turning economic environment is opportunity are many sectors we would not work with
providing Credit Clear with a significant tail- Cath Whitaker, the chief executive of due to their negative impact on the planet,’’
wind and a clear increase in the volume of Selfwealth, another Fast 100 company, says he says.
work and the average value of debt being the sharemarket trading platform has more The group has an ethos of ‘‘positive
passed onto the company,’’ Smith says. than $8 billion of asset value on its platform, change’’, which Barnes says involves busi-
‘‘We believe that we are still at the begin- and is a credible alternative to the big four nesses and entrepreneurs leaving the world
ning of this economic cycle, with significant banks’ wealth and trading platforms for in a better place than how they found it.
amounts of consumer and commercial debt retail investors. ‘‘While this could be interpreted broadly,
yet to be placed under pressure.’’ Selfwealth charges a flat fee of $9.50 for we do indeed apply this framework rigor-
He says COVID-19 restrictions and regula- trades on the ASX. Top: Credit Clear’s and clear view of where the company is ously when considering partnerships, new
tions dampened debt collection activity Whitaker says the group has 125,000 act- Lewis Romano and headed. business and with our team’’.
while fiscal stimulus through the JobKeeper ive Australian retail investors on its plat- Andrew Smith. ‘‘Selfwealth works hard to communicate TWIYO has a three-pronged approach. It
program added large amounts of cash to the form. Above: TWIYO to our investors our growth vision. There is a has a traditional consulting business that
system. But with those two elements now in She says more investors are keen to invest Capital’s Ryan massive opportunity for an innovative, focuses on early-stage corporate advisory
the rearview mirror, things are getting back offshore, and about 33 per cent of its retail Barnes and Stuart Australian-owned company to lead the way assignments and Virtual CFO programs.
towards normal. investors have US trading accounts. Cook. Below: Cath on retail investment.’’ It also has a private investments vehicle,
‘‘We are seeing a return to more normal ‘‘Australian retail investors are becoming Whitaker, of She says many of its rivals are privately which houses shares in businesses from the
volumes of work, before what we expect to more and more confident with international Selfwealth. owned, and there is no view on financial work it does with start-ups which are part-
be a significant uptick in work with interest exchanges, especially the US, and over a viability, ‘‘which should be a concern if retail paid in equity.
rate rises and cost of living increases.’’ third of our retail investors have US trading investors’ equities and cash are being held’’. It also runs an Active Fund business,
At the same time, less debt is being sold to accounts,’’ she says. Whitaker says cybersecurity has been, where TWIYO opens and operates busi-
debt purchase providers, and the number of She also expects Hong Kong trading, and will continue to be, a big priority for nesses in its own right. The first focus is on
contingent collectors like Credit Clear in the which the group offers, will grow in popular- Selfwealth. ‘‘Any Australian business, big or health and wellness gyms in Sydney.
industry has shrunk through consolidation, ity. small, should be focused on this,’’ Whitaker ‘‘We are flexible in our approach and will
he says. The sharemarket volatility of the past few says. combine traditional fee-for-service models
‘‘There is more demand for our services months has brought about some interesting The 2021-22 annual report shows reven- with potential equity arrangements to suit
and less providers able to do the work.’’ trading patterns. ues were up 10.4 per cent to $20.2 million, the precarious nature of the market we
Credit Clear provides an end-to-end ser- Heavy rises in official interest rates by but there was a bottomline loss of $6 serve,’’ Barnes says.
vice from its white-labelled AI-driven digital central banks around the world trying to million-plus. With the RBA having lifted interest rates
platform, which collects debts in the name curb runaway inflation are traditionally Whitaker says in 2020-21, Selfwealth aggressively, and energy bills and inflation
of its client. Smith says there are also collec- bad for sharemarkets. was cash-flow positive, which proved rising for companies across the spectrum,
tion activities with agents in its Australia ‘‘There has been an industry-wide its underlying business model Barnes says there is extra demand for the
operations centre. slowdown of retail equity volumes,’’ worked. group’s services.
The group also undertakes legal recover- Whitaker says. She says in 2021-22, Selfwealth ‘‘What has become clear is that our clients
ies through Oakbridge Lawyers. ‘‘However, given Selfwealth focused on investing for growth need us more during periods of uncertainty.
Revenue is derived from a variety of services a broad demographic and made an extra $6 million So with so many costs increasing for busi-
sources including software-as-a-service of retail investors including investment to beef up function- ness owners, it is of greater importance to
(SaaS) fees for the digital platform, commis- SMSFs, over the last quarter ality, attract new clients, and have strong governance around your finan-
sion, and fee for service arrangements. our buy-to-sell ratio of value build up education content on cial performance and your internal con-
Smith says the industry is experiencing a of trades is still heavily the platform. trols.’’
wave of digital transformation and Credit skewed to buy, meaning He says it’s often the case ‘‘that it is not just
Clear is on the front foot in onboarding cli- Selfwealth clients do see the The world is your oyster, about increasing your price, or reducing
ents and migrating their business into SaaS current market as a buy says TWIYO your costs in these periods as a way of per-
services with higher engagement and collec- opportunity.’’ TWIYO Capital, a company included severing through this time, there are often
tion rates because of AI-driven technology. The company has a in the Fast Starters list this year, is a larger and more strategic moves that must
Being a company listed on the ASX has its motto of being here for corporate advisory group with an be made’’.
pluses and minuses, and the roller-coaster ‘‘decades, not days’’, and has unusual name – with the letters in the TWIYO has specific skills in advising
ride of 2022 has meant a rethink by many a sustainable business model. acronym spelling out ‘‘the world is earliest-stage businesses, which some firms
investors about valuing tech-related stocks. Selfwealth makes money on your oyster’’. steer clear of.
‘‘Fast growth technology companies that flat fee brokerage, FX on inter- The two founders, Stuart Cook and Barnes says this can ‘‘add immense value
were pursuing revenue growth at all costs national currency to support Ryan Barnes, were consulting separately at this stage and forge long-term relation-
have not been able to access the same capital international trades, and on the same projects in 2018 and 2019 and ships’’. It is aiming to forge deeper links in
at the same valuations as before,’’ Smith interest on cash. set up the business and brand in 2020. three main categories in its corporate advis-
says. ‘‘Profitability and cash flow have again Whitaker says being an Barnes says ‘‘the world is your oyster’’ is ory business – health and wellbeing, sustain-
become paramount.’’ ASX-listed company gives ‘‘an expression that embodies our utopian able food and beverage, and impact
After the acquisition of ARMA, Smith says investors a transparent approach to life and business’’. The group innovation. AFR
AFRGA1 S004
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Data is key in property investing quest
Scott Kuru was once a single parent raising four
children in a rental property in Sydney, driven by
a strong desire to create financial freedom for his
family.
Fast forward almost 10 years and Kuru, who
started Freedom Property Investors from his
living room, is now one of Australia’s most
successful property players. He has built a
community of more than 6500 everyday
Australians, helping them achieve a better
financial future for themselves and their families.
Backed by a data-driven approach, Kuru and the
company’s co-founder, Lianna Pan, and their team
have helped generate $4.5 billion worth of property
transactions for their sophisticated-but-time-poor
property investors. Along the way, Kuru has
amassed 17 properties of his own in seven years.
“I was a busy professional, a single dad with
four kids looking for a way to create financial
freedom,” Kuru says. “I spent about $30,000
going to property boot camps and courses where
I met and created a network of top investors.”
It was at one of these seminars that Kuru met
Pan, an actuary and data scientist who had spent
years predicting outcomes for several of
Australia’s major banking and insurance
institutions. Pan was retired and living off the
cash flow from her properties. Her methodology
for investing in property was driven by data.
“We formed a friendship and Liana helped me
get my first two properties using her successful
data approach to investing,” Kuru says. “I quickly
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realised Liana had a system which could help a lot
of people.”
Kuru and Pan brought together a small buying
group of 15 friends. “We were a community of busy
professionals, hunting down good deals based on
data and then using the group to go to developers
and landowners to get the best deals we could find.”
The business, he adds, grew organically.
“Australians love property, so when we told
people what we were doing our group grew to 50.
We just thought, if we could help 40 or 50 people
get the best deals and we could also get good
deals for our portfolios that would be great. Our
dream wasn’t to run a business, it was sitting on
a beach somewhere owning 50 properties and
living off their rental income.
“We then discovered how much we loved doing
this, how we were making so many friends and
having a positive impact on people’s lives.”
Kuru left his corporate job and he and Pan
became buyer’s agents for the next 10 years.
Annual revenues of between $1 million and $3
million were achieved without any marketing;
rather, success came via referrals, word of mouth
and repeat business. About three years ago, the
partners decided to turn the blossoming, like-
minded community into a proper business, with
Kuru’s three adult sons joining the company.
“We did some advertising and told our
community we wanted to grow and it just took
off,” he says.
Freedom Property Investors now has more
5
Co-founders Scott Kuru
and Lianna Pan lead
Freedom Property
Investors, which has
built a 6500-strong
community of investors.
industry leader. We have serviced the most
“Our members are people, have the most success and the most staff
incredibly savvy and to support our members. And it is because of our
size, history, the strength of our community and
smart and they could the relationships we have that we are able to do
the deals no one else can do.
probably invest on their “I’m very proud to say that over a decade we
own and get a really good have never lost any of our members any money.
We have more than 800 positive Google reviews
outcome, but they don’t from members and not one of them has been
negative.”
have the time to do the Kuru says data is the key when it comes to
extensive research property investing, with the business spending
hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to access
involved – that’s where information not typically available to the public.
This extensive data and the algorithms
we come in.” developed by Pan help the team narrow down
Scott Kuru their property search to 10 to 15 key locations
from about 15,000 suburbs in Australia, finding
low-risk, high-yielding properties with strong
than 200 full-time staff, has serviced more than capital growth for their members.
6500 clients and been responsible for more than A self-described ‘‘one-stop-shop’’ for investors,
$4.5 billion worth of property transactions – $170 their clients are a mix of first-timers, mums and
million of wealth was created in the past two dads, sophisticated investors and those
years alone, during the pandemic. approaching retirement.
Kuru says the secret to their success is loving “A lot of people don’t invest because they hit
people. “It sounds so far away from property and roadblocks and the biggest roadblock is time,”
money but it’s so important to stay humble, look Kuru says. “Our members are incredibly savvy and
to serve and help people and put your members smart and they could probably invest on their own
and staff first. and get a really good outcome, but they don’t have
“We are the biggest and most successful the time to do the extensive research involved –
property investors in Australia. We truly are the that’s where we come in.”
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 S6
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

A podcast on money
begun as a joke is
no laughing matter
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While the surfing gym idea didn’t stick (‘‘It

Wealth doesn’t exist,’’ they say today), another idea
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Lucy Dean did: $4.3 million investment analysis and

news platform, Livewire Markets.
At the moment Glen James may just be the ‘‘We were in our early- to mid-30s, and we
slowest man on the 2022 AFR Fast Starters were intrigued with what was happening to
list. Stuck in a cast and crutches for two the world around us from a media perspect-
weeks, then a boot for four, and no running ive . . . and we spent a lot of time looking at a
allowed until the new year, the founder of lot of other platforms and working out how
the My Millennial Money podcast brand, we could apply that to the investment
James is still in a remarkably good mood. space,’’ says co-founder and former
SYMO Interactive, producer of the My Macquarie Group associate James Marlay.
Millennial Money podcast and associated ‘‘Ultimately, what we were trying to do is
podcasts, entered the Australian Financial solve the problem that we had after leaving
Review Fast Starters 2022 list after posting a investment banks of . . . going from a world
compound annual growth rate of 295.76 per where you had a bountiful source of inform-
cent, and a FY22 revenue of $1.2 million. ation – almost the problem of having too
James doesn’t usually publicise listener much – to having not enough and being
numbers as he doesn’t want to ‘‘get into a locked out of that world.’’
spitting competition’’ with fellow finance The idea worked. In 2022, Livewire Mar-
podcasts, but shares the podcasts will get ‘‘in kets features in the Australian Financial
the hundred of thousands’’ a month in Review’s Fast 100 list, after marking a com-
downloads. pound annual growth rate of 38.42 per cent,
SYMO Interactive makes its money taking its FY22 revenue to $4.3 million.
through running ads on the podcasts, along
with offering paid money courses, ebooks,
webinars and referrals to advisers, mortgage ■ Spend less than they Top: Glen James, founder of My Millennial
brokers and accountants. earned, pay off debt and Money. Left: The team from Livewire
James puts My Millennial Money’s suc- Markets. Below left: Birchal CEO Matt Vitale.
cess down to its positioning as a ‘‘light- just practise good, basic PHOTOS: PETER STOOP, EAMON GALLAGHER
hearted’’ personal finance podcast. financial hygiene.
‘‘We actually started in the comedy sec- Glen James, My Millennial Money.
tion – and I think we’re still in the Spotify
comedy section – because if people are look- surprised by the growth of the industry. In
ing for podcasts on their commute, a lot of Livewire Markets has also seen a 100 per fact, we’re really optimistic about how much
people might not go to business as a direct cent growth in users over the last three more we can do to build early-stage busi-
category, but they might go to comedy for years, to 250,000 unique monthly active nesses.”
some entertainment,’’ he says. users. And they’re generally wealthier Retail investors can invest between $50
‘‘I wanted to create – and we still do create investors: nearly half (46 per cent) say they and $10,000 in companies conducting equity
– infotainment. I want to always do three have $1 million in assets outside their home. crowdfunding raises, but the average parcel
things when I’ve got a microphone, I want to One-fifth of the audience are finance and is $250. Eligible companies can raise up to $5
give practical help, valuable help and it’s got wealth professionals, including 13,000 finan- million per year through equity crowdfund-
to be fun.’’ cial advisers. ing.
James launched My Millennial Money in Marlay and co-founder Tom McKay, who But some do it in hours, notes Vitale: Zero
April 2018 in answer to a trend he’d seen in previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Co hit the $5 million cap within six hours
his former career as a financial adviser. describe their audience as ‘‘confident and and 27 minutes.
‘‘A lot of younger millennials who I was informed’’. Vitale says connecting founders to sup-
helping, they came into my office after finan- Following the new retail investor tidal porters is what makes Birchal work.
cial advice, but they actually didn’t need ‘fin- wave of 2020 and 2021, Marlay says there’s a “Storytelling is key to what we do. Helping
ancial advice’. They just needed to get on a need for continued expert analysis, espe- founders tell their stories and communicate
budget . . . spend less than what they earned, cially during the current market volatility. their message to a community of passionate
pay off their debt and just practise good, ‘‘People that have got higher balance supporters – that’s the unique feature of
basic financial hygiene,’’ he says. accounts tend to be a bit more investor- they’re reading, while also extend beyond what crowdfunding is,” he says.
Today, he sees My Millennial Money as savvy, but they – like many investors when content and market insights with leading “A lot of investors have taken the oppor-
offering a pre-advice service. People needing you have troubling markets – have a desire investors, to also feature quantitative tunity to find purposeful businesses [and] I
to learn about good financial hygiene or exit for information,’’ he says. information. think people are trying to build companies
consumer debt – things that may not imme- ‘‘That’s something we saw over the past ‘‘[The idea is] ‘I’ve read some interesting that improve the world, either in a big way
diately require financial advice – can use the few years.’’ stuff from this markets expert, he has some directly, or in a small way. Those have been
podcast and accompanying Sort Your At the same time, the investment and interesting views, I now want to go and dig the companies that have done really well on
Money Out: And Get Invested book to get in wealth industry is increasingly understand- into that and explore that myself’,’’ says our platform.”
shape, before potentially levelling up with ing the need to speak directly to investors, he Marlay. However, doing well on the platform isn’t
advice as their lives change. adds. Livewire describes its publishing the end of the story. Previous record-holder,
He says taking a DIY approach to some of model as ‘‘user-generated’’. That is, most Birchal’s story women-only ride-share app Shebah raised
the more basic financial concepts such as content comes from its 700 experts includ- An Elon Musk-backed carbon capture pro- $3 million in its 2019 funding round. It went
budgeting can make the financial advice ing fund and portfolio managers, who – once ject. A dating app designed to show users into voluntary administration in October
process ‘‘more rewarding’’ down the track. vetted – can share their insights dir- where all the single people hang out. Or a 2021. Vitale describes Shebah’s collapse as
As of 2023, James plans to bake this idea ectly with customers. Those who refillable household cleaning and personal “unfortunate” and attributes it to the 2020
into his team’s key performance metrics. post on the platform also need to care products company. and 2021 Melbourne lockdowns.
Rather than measuring success by new abide by the rules against publish- According to co-founder of $3.82 million “The majority of that revenue was from
listeners or downloads, they’re planning to ing product promotions and must crowdfunding company Birchal, Matt Melbourne, and as a ride-share business
run regular surveys to find out how many use language that investors can Vitale, the one thing those three compan- through the most locked down city in the
listeners have exited debt, started an emer- access. ies have in common is a strong story at the world, it was always going to be challenging
gency fund or begun investing for the first It’s seeing a ‘‘dramatic’’ growth centre of their brands. for them.
time. It’s pertinent information, he says, as in appetite among investment Birchal has hosted, or is hosting, “But it does highlight the point that this is
his listeners begin to receive inheritances – and fund managers who contrib- crowdfunding raises for those companies, a risky asset class.”
signs the generational transfer of wealth is ute to Livewire to reach investors Southern Green Gas, Ziinkle and Zero Co, The most recent market downturn has
under way and his listeners’ financial situ- directly, compared to pre- among around 240 others since it also seen investor appetite for equity
ations are shifting too. pandemic, says Marlay. launched in 2018. crowdfunding cool, with the average
Those sorts of cash injections, or the deci- ‘‘That was very much the phys- It joins The Australian Financial amount invested now lower.
sion to purchase a home or have a child are ical events and the hand-to-hand Review Fast Starters list this year, post- Vitale says this is to be expected in the cur-
often triggers to seek out financial advice, combat, and now they’ve all experi- ing a compound annual growth rate rent environment, but believes that equity
something James endorses. But he also enced a lot of success and understand of 97.71 per cent, with revenue jump- crowdfunding is resilient.
plans for My Millennial Money to grow with that communicating with investors ing from $978,000 in FY2020 to $3.82 “People are still looking for early-stage
its audience. ‘‘What happens when Millenni- online . . . it’s just now an essential part million in FY2022. opportunities. I think companies are becom-
als grow up? Well, they’ll always be a Millen- of their communication mix.’’ “We’ve always seen that [equity ing more realistic with their valuations as
nial. We’re just adapting.’’ The future for Livewire Markets lies crowdfunding] is a huge opportun- well, which I think is a good thing long-
in becoming a complete offering for ity,” says Vitale. “That’s always term,” he says.
Livewire Markets investors, adds McKay. informed our approach from the outset, “I think everyone accepts that 2021 was a
In 2013, two former investment bankers The platform is working with machine building a scalable, high-volume plat- very buoyant year and that those conditions
walked into a coffee shop and walked out learning algorithms which will serve users form helping as many businesses as pos- probably weren’t sustainable, so we’re back
with the idea of a surfing gym. with suggested articles based on what sible to fill this funding gap. I’m not to normality.” AFR
AFRGA1 S006
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Digital innovation in freight forwarding
Neolink co-founder and director Sean Crook says
much of the pandemic-related disruption in the
global freight and logistics sectors has been
beyond anyone’s control – but that doesn’t mean
that import and export clients should be left to
fend for themselves.
A small but fast-growing player in the freight
forwarding sector, Neolink has combined
digitalisation and automation with human nous
to ensure that its customers have been able to
continue operating their businesses normally.
“There’s certainly a people element as well, to
come up with solutions in an agile way and
navigate the disruption,” Crook says.
In the case of one of the country’s biggest
fashion retailers, Neolink was able to anticipate
lockdowns in Shanghai, where all of the client’s
factories were based.
“There was nothing leaving Shanghai on boats,
but we started moving goods and garments out
of factories to other ports as quickly as possible,”
he says.
“If a vessel is supposed to arrive in Sydney
southbound from China but decides to go to
Korea instead, we’re not in control of that. But
because we’ve got live GPS data of the vessel, we
can instantly notify customers and plan their
stock and inventory accordingly.”
Seeing a gap in the highly fragmented,
$9.9 billion a year market, Crook and Christopher
Makhoul co-founded Neolink in 2017.
Neolink now provides a range of global supply
chain services – including freight forwarding,
customs, brokerage and warehousing – to and
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FEATURE
2022
from more than 800 cities across 200 countries.
Makhoul says the duo was motivated by the
sector’s lack of innovation compared with the
United States and European markets, which were
much further ahead on digitalisation.
The founders set out to create an offering that
had the best of both worlds – the automation and
artificial intelligence applications of the new
world of freight forwarding and the personalised
service and experience of the old.
For the first two years, Crook and Makhoul
reinvested all profits into the business, ensuring
Neolink had the best automation, robotics and
electronic booking systems.
“We were really prepared for the digital
revolution, which is so far behind in our sector,”
Makhoul says.
“Most of the industry was operating with manila
folders passing from department to department.
Even for the multinational operators, to this day it
remains incredibly manual.
“Our digital platforms are probably better than
the number one or number two players in the
market, in terms of far better data and visibility.”
One example is the clients’ ability to track
where their goods are on the high seas or the
highway, by way of GPS. Surprisingly, most of the
company’s bigger rivals don’t offer this service.
Similarly, having direct data feeds on factory
orders sounds like a small thing, but most freight
forwarders only get involved when goods are
ready and shipped accordingly.
“At the same time, we are matching or in some
cases bettering their pricing, because they have
“Our digital platforms are
probably better than the
number one or number
two players in the market,
in terms of far better data
and visibility.”
Christopher Makhoul
higher overheads,” Crook says. “We do the heavy
lifting with one person overlooking the process,
rather than several. By that very nature we are
able to price just as competitively.”
Crook estimates there are more than 700
freight forwarders buying space on ships, trucks
and aircraft and breaking the space up into
smaller allotments for their clients.
Freight giant Toll Holdings accounts for about
20 per cent of the market, but the sector is
completed by smaller operators typically with
fewer than 10 employees.
The plethora of providers has evolved because
of the ‘asset-light’ nature of the business, which
avails of third-party transport, warehousing and
software. But Makhoul says the barriers to entry
are being raised rapidly.
7
Sean Crook, top, and
Christopher Makhoul,
above, co-founded
Neolink in 2017.
“Since COVID, the need for upfront investment
in systems has really increased,” he says.
“Before that, you could probably step in an
office and get somebody to do things manually.
Because the supply chain has become so
disrupted, you are incredibly inefficient if you are
not investing in those things upfront.”
Neolink’s track record speaks for itself. In its
first full year of operation in 2017-18, the
company recorded operating revenue of
$3.8 million.
By 2018-19, this had grown to $6.4 million and last
year’s turnover came in at just over $30 million.
From having fewer than five staff five years
ago Neolink now has 25 – prompting a recent
move to new headquarters at Alexandria in
Sydney’s inner south.
Customer numbers have grown to 220-250 –
compared with 50-70 before the pandemic –
with a 93 per cent retention rate.
These customers range across diverse sectors
including retail, apparel, construction and
agriculture, with the biggest client still only
accounting for 9 per cent of turnover.
Makhoul expects that freight forwarding
activity will abate over the next 18 months, in line
with reduced trade volumes as rising interest
rates impact global trade.
But with a local addressable market of 95,000
customers, it remains a case of ‘glass half-full’
for Neolink.
“Given we have less than 1 per cent market share,
we expect to continue to gain market share,” he
says. “There’s a lot of opportunity to grow.”
AFRGA1 S007
 S8
Special Report
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

2022AFR Fast 100

The fastest growing companies in Australia

CAGR Revenue ($m) CAGR Revenue ($m)

Company name FY20-22 (%) Company name FY20-22 (%)
FY20 FY21 FY22 FY20 FY21 FY22

1 Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits 331.4 0.36 0.97 6.66 51 Coviu Global 59.5 3.75 7.32 9.54

2 Fitstop 287.9 1.85 16.45 27.89 52 Connect Staffing Group 59.3 4.24 7.66 10.77

3 Freedom Property Investors 256.0 3.39 23.46 42.94 53 Babyboo Fashion 59.0 8.58 17.43 21.69

4 Medical Rescue 220.0 2.72 7.09 27.86 54 Tech Force Services 58.1 3.29 4.50 8.23

5 Fundo Loans 218.2 1.16 3.50 11.74 55 Evolt IOH 57.5 5.99 6.59 14.87

6 InDebted 203.5 1.68 7.29 15.49 56 Miss Amara 56.9 8.48 15.45 20.87

7 Wisr 187.9 7.17 27.23 59.39 57 Black Hops Brewing 56.9 6.52 13.51 16.06

8 Quantaco 142.4 3.23 6.28 18.97 58 My Mortgage Freedom 56.2 2.08 3.56 5.07

9 Camplify 137.9 2.89 8.46 16.36 59 Calleo Resourcing 55.7 26.37 43.07 63.91

10 LSKD 135.7 8.92 34.35 49.55 60 MyModular 55.7 3.06 5.09 7.41

11 Taskforce Australia 128.9 1.16 2.06 6.06 61 SustainDigital 55.7 7.16 11.87 17.36

12 DIY Blinds 122.1 8.32 20.35 41.03 62 EGM Partners 54.9 2.94 3.75 7.06

13 JD Refrigerated Transport 117.9 3.14 9.93 14.92 63 Bellwether 53.0 11.29 17.34 26.43

14 Raw & Fresh Pet Food 116.1 1.34 3.81 6.25 64 ADAPTOVATE 51.7 14.80 20.64 34.06

15 Heaps Good Services (Solar Reviews) 115.1 15.38 40.81 71.12 65 O2 Marine 50.4 3.21 4.29 7.26

16 CIMET 114.1 2.48 5.07 11.36 66 Interparcel 50.4 13.14 22.59 29.70

17 B dynamic Logistics 108.9 3.04 6.27 13.27 67 Cloudstaff Holdings 50.2 54.38 77.57 122.67

18 Neolink 106.9 7.06 23.47 30.24 68 Cleaning Melbourne 49.8 6.24 10.84 14.00

19 Good Pair Days 106.6 5.46 10.43 23.32 69 Envirosuite 49.7 23.86 48.57 53.46

20 Argon & Co 106.5 3.95 9.02 16.83 70 Quad Lock 49.5 47.52 88.56 106.16

21 Catalpa Group 100.6 13.13 19.64 52.82 71 Mane Consulting 46.5 4.58 5.31 9.82

22 Allura Partners 98.5 6.00 9.26 23.64 72 CIZZY Bridal Australia 46.4 3.94 5.37 8.45

23 AllSquares 97.5 2.04 2.42 7.96 73 Half Dome 45.7 17.90 17.70 38.01

24 evse.com.au 95.0 1.94 3.23 7.38 74 Shippit 45.4 9.17 16.84 19.39

25 Pentanet 83.5 5.00 10.92 16.83 75 Gourmet Basket 44.4 7.54 14.23 15.71

26 Cevo 83.2 7.72 10.96 25.91 76 LocalAgentFinder 41.9 9.14 11.81 18.39

27 Credit Clear 82.1 6.47 10.98 21.46 77 Kaimera 41.4 2.70 3.90 5.40

28 Novigi 80.5 2.03 3.02 6.63 78 Occom 40.8 8.18 11.77 16.23

29 Archistar 77.0 2.31 4.38 7.24 79 TechConnect IT Solutions 39.8 10.80 12.18 21.11

30 Away Digital 76.4 7.25 13.04 22.58 80 Riff Raff Baby 38.5 3.06 3.88 5.86

31 Cube Online 75.0 4.28 8.34 13.11 81 Trikon 38.5 3.99 5.44 7.66

32 Buildxact 74.8 3.54 6.78 10.82 82 Livewire Markets 38.4 2.26 3.30 4.33

33 Awaken 74.0 2.48 4.55 7.52 83 Box of Books 38.3 9.44 13.87 18.05

34 Association of Professional Builders 73.1 1.72 3.25 5.15 84 Precision Sourcing Australia 37.5 23.31 30.89 44.08

35 Signifi Media 73.0 3.51 7.30 10.52 85 Appetiser 36.9 4.29 6.90 8.04

36 Informatech 71.3 7.18 9.71 21.06 86 Dementia Caring Australia 36.2 45.36 66.39 84.18

37 DroneShield 71.2 3.62 5.56 10.60 87 Amstelveen 36.0 3.08 4.05 5.70

38 Zipline.io 70.2 2.24 4.83 6.50 88 ASF Audits 35.9 6.74 7.97 12.46

39 Zone IT Solutions 69.5 2.22 3.52 6.38 89 Lauxes Grates 35.4 6.87 10.16 12.59

40 MCoBeauty 69.0 10.92 18.11 31.18 90 Aero PM 35.3 9.55 11.65 17.49

41 Outback Equipment 68.1 13.04 19.45 36.82 91 Beardwood 35.2 10.54 16.19 19.28

42 Forefront Events 68.0 3.47 5.59 9.78 92 ELMO Software 35.1 50.05 69.11 91.39

43 Grow Finance 66.8 11.98 21.79 33.33 93 MindArc 35.0 4.02 5.09 7.32

44 InQuik Bridging Systems 64.5 5.14 6.59 13.90 94 Carbon Group 34.3 12.47 17.71 22.49

45 Publift 63.9 18.38 30.87 49.34 95 Olympus Technology Services 33.9 11.41 13.02 20.46

46 Hydralyte North America 63.2 4.21 6.06 11.21 96 Essence Project Management 33.9 7.43 7.54 13.32

47 Yo-Chi 62.4 4.23 5.86 11.16 97 Vinify Wine Company 33.6 3.19 4.19 5.70

48 Selfwealth 61.0 7.82 18.36 20.26 98 “ACES" Aust Construction Equip Sales 33.5 8.42 11.88 15.00

49 SOCO Australia 60.8 5.19 7.86 13.43 99 Sparx Solutions 33.3 6.02 6.46 10.69

50 Smart WFM 59.6 2.34 4.10 5.96 100 Easy Signs 33.3 17.83 22.62 31.68

SOURCE: FINANCIAL REVIEW

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 Special Report 0
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review
9

E-commerce boom
finds creative side
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Design studios
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Alexandra Cain
Although, so far, its attentions have been on
developing its local business, interactive
video firm Vudoo, which is part of this year’s
AFR Fast Starters list, has global aspira-
tions.
It is currently bedding down the infra-
structure to take its offering to the world.
Founder and CEO Nick Morgan attributes
the business’s success to concentrating on
its core offering and avoiding distraction.
‘‘We have kept our heads down, we’ve
shut out the noise and we’ve stuck to our
guns. We also have great people around us
and we trust and listen to them,’’ he says.
After opening its doors in 2018, Vudoo
now has 32 staff and a presence in Mel-
bourne, Sydney, Indonesia and Vietnam. It
is presently scaling up its operations.
‘‘If we want to build a global software
business we need to have engine rooms out-
side Australia,’’ he says.
This is especially important given how
hard it is to find trained tech staff who are
based locally. ‘‘We have really great partners
in Indonesia and Vietnam. They’re not huge
teams, but it will allow us to grow and
scale,’’ Morgan explains. growth. Says Morgan: ‘‘There’s a velocity Philippe Hong,
Vudoo already has customers in the US, and cohesiveness in the business and it feels above, founder and
UK and throughout Asia-Pacific, although like we’re riding on air.’’ CEO of Raw.Studio;
until now, the emphasis has been on doing Interactive video
business in the region. It is also in the pro- Organic growth for Raw.Studio company Vudoo
cess of raising capital, building its sales and Design and branding firm Raw.Studio’s founder and CEO
marketing team and cementing revenues. point-of-difference is the way it uses data Nick Morgan, below,
‘‘We will look to step into Europe and UK and the insights from it to support client and company staff.
once we have a bit more traction. We want ambitions. ‘‘We’re not all about the visual.
to be cautious when we go into those mar- It’s more about the data we can access and
kets and we are preparing for that,’’ says insights we can give our clients to help them
Morgan. ‘‘We’re not a growth-for-growth’s- grow.’’ The business, which has made this
year’s AFR Fast Starters list, was founded
only a few months before the pandemic
■ We have kept our started. CEO and founder Philippe Hong
heads down, we’ve shut says this has not held it back.
‘‘We signed many clients during that
out the noise and we’ve period and took the opportunity to expand
stuck to our guns. our team. Our growth has been organic and
Nick Morgan, Vudoo we have not needed to do any marketing.
The good work we do and our results for cli-
ents sells our work.’’
sake business. Profitability and sustainabil- The 10-strong team works from an office
ity are first and foremost. Our success in Chippendale in Sydney. Its clients include
comes down to the team and how hard they Snappr, the self-styled Uber of photography,
have worked,’’ he adds. as well as co-working space, Tank Stream
This year, a highlight for Vudoo has been Labs.
launching video checkouts with clients, Its sweet spot is tech start-ups and scale
including News Corporation and Moët & ups. ‘‘They come to us because we have the
Chandon. Video checkouts allow customers experience to help them grow and improve
to buy goods within a video. their metrics. Our core business is research,
‘‘This has been extraordinarily well strategy and branding and positioning. We
received by the market and is really exciting are all about product execution and how to
for our future. We see shoppable video and push your product to market.’’
e-commerce as a really big opportunity,’’ Hong says 2022 has been about develop-
Morgan says. Securing Fisher & Paykel ing the business in a steady
Healthcare, which makes respiratory and way and implementing
acute care medical products, as a customer internal processes. ‘‘We
has been another win this year. But hitting hired a sales person
commercial goals is only part of Vudoo’s recently and want to put
success and Morgan has been sensible in our name out there, now
chasing growth. everything is sorted
‘‘The business didn’t explode in the first internally. Next year,
few years. We took some time to develop we’re really pushing the
our offering, but we have hit our straps in company’s growth.’’
the last 12 months and it just feels we’re Originally from France,
aloft,’’ he says. Hong came to Aus-
At the moment, the Vudoo team is con- tralia to start his
centrating on ensuring it delivers excep- entrepreneurial
tional customer support and managing its journey. AFR

AFRGA1 S009
 S10
Special Report
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

2022 AFR Fast Starters

The fastest growing start-ups in Australia

CAGR Revenue ($m) CAGR Revenue ($m)

Company name FY20-22 (%) Company name FY20-22 (%)
FY20 FY21 FY22 FY20 FY21 FY22

1 FELLR 1863.1 0.01 1.38 4.51 51 Dashdot 200.4 0.69 1.32 6.21

2 Razorback4x4 1657.9 0.01 1.11 2.49 52 Cars4us 198.3 19.54 89.14 173.88

3 Bidcrete 1453.5 0.02 0.79 4.03 53 Arinco 198.2 2.09 7.37 18.54

4 Islashboutique 1364.2 0.01 0.87 1.31 54 Division 5 195.2 0.23 0.86 1.97

5 Montu Group 1343.2 0.10 1.01 21.65 55 ConnectOS 194.1 1.34 3.85 11.56

6 Crossbet 1084.4 0.12 1.40 16.29 56 MF & Associates 193.5 0.47 1.58 4.03

7 Maali Group 1077.6 0.18 3.77 25.04 57 NDE Solutions 186.5 1.36 7.17 11.15

8 Blitz Group 1001.7 0.01 0.36 1.80 58 OurMoneyMarket 183.0 2.75 7.91 22.04

9 ShiloPeople 855.1 0.04 2.45 4.07 59 XPON 178.5 1.72 5.44 13.31

10 Jaaims Technologies 853.4 0.01 0.56 0.99 60 Vudoo 176.9 0.21 0.39 1.59

11 Alex Bank 717.2 0.02 0.23 1.50 61 Mighty Craft 172.7 9.22 28.28 68.57

12 Odin Business Lending 710.6 0.06 0.98 3.62 62 iPartners 170.1 1.30 1.16 9.52

13 ZondaPeople 627.9 0.41 2.34 21.61 63 Akcelo 166.5 2.65 9.82 18.85

14 BourkeHood 620.7 0.10 1.10 5.10 64 Peeplcoach 161.3 0.21 0.56 1.43

15 Sure Insurance 619.4 0.39 5.22 20.16 65 Areal Property 159.1 0.79 3.32 5.30

16 Settle Easy 613.8 0.01 0.21 0.63 66 Getmycourse 157.5 0.39 1.42 2.57

17 Contour Education 595.4 0.02 0.22 0.88 67 Bodhitree W Property Mgmt Services 156.0 0.17 0.30 1.09

18 Driva 556.6 0.11 0.95 4.78 68 CLOUTA.CO 152.2 0.31 1.73 1.97

19 Eleventh Dimension Solutions 535.5 0.02 0.40 0.85 69 Motor Scout Australia 149.7 0.39 1.37 2.46

20 Kings Of Neon 532.8 0.09 0.71 3.46 70 Muval 148.9 3.06 8.92 18.93

21 Yellow Canary Holdings 515.8 0.19 1.99 7.17 71 Henderson Healthcare 144.2 6.73 14.72 40.10

22 Sales Sniper Consulting 465.9 0.39 3.70 12.49 72 Saltire Capital Partners 141.5 0.24 0.74 1.40

23 Cannatrek Medical 455.9 1.36 9.00 41.91 73 Complete Home Filtration 140.4 3.44 10.70 19.90

24 UrbanX 431.7 0.26 2.95 7.27 74 Concept Care Disability Solutions 136.7 1.21 4.00 6.80

25 GOVCONNEX 429.5 0.03 0.25 0.84 75 The Nudge Group 135.1 0.48 1.96 2.63

26 Ab Initio Pharma 408.5 0.04 1.61 0.98 76 Two Palms Media 133.0 1.24 3.22 6.75

27 The LAB Group 392.0 0.02 0.11 0.53 77 Milk Chocolate Property 130.4 0.86 1.86 4.57

28 Sententia Consulting 373.7 0.22 2.54 4.90 78 ZEN 129.9 0.65 2.12 3.45

29 Evrima Technologies 372.9 0.12 0.69 2.72 79 Inspiring Vacations 129.4 7.14 11.47 37.56

30 CareMonitor 359.3 0.21 0.71 4.35 80 Woods & Co Recruitment 127.5 0.88 1.67 4.54

31 Fore Group 354.0 2.51 14.93 51.64 81 Baidam Solutions 126.9 3.80 9.28 19.55

32 Clarrow 338.9 0.62 2.80 11.95 82 Studio Payne 123.8 1.33 1.59 6.68

33 Australian Property Scout 306.6 0.24 1.37 3.97 83 Trust The Process 121.5 0.31 0.84 1.52

34 SYMO interactive 295.8 0.08 0.58 1.21 84 Wealthi 120.7 0.55 0.92 2.69

35 Loopit 295.1 0.09 0.53 1.46 85 Farsiight 119.7 0.49 1.20 2.38

36 Oho 294.2 0.03 0.11 0.51 86 Leadify 114.3 1.44 3.89 6.61

37 Finspo 291.1 0.15 0.49 2.33 87 1 Medical 113.4 5.24 13.93 23.86

38 Qld Hot Property 284.0 0.14 0.96 2.12 88 Platserv 111.4 0.19 0.59 0.85

39 Eucalyptus 263.9 2.70 11.19 35.81 89 InstantScripts 110.8 3.67 7.15 16.32

40 TWIYO Capital & Advisory 250.6 0.24 1.46 2.98 90 Simplfi 109.7 0.34 0.80 1.50

41 Nexar Group 245.6 0.61 3.74 7.25 91 Solar Thermal Australia 104.1 2.27 6.10 9.46

42 Hyphen Health 241.0 0.05 0.17 0.56 92 8Squad 103.3 4.12 8.77 17.02

43 Bare Funeral Group 236.8 1.02 5.67 11.53 93 Bridgeford Group 102.0 0.31 0.47 1.26

44 Online Courses Australia 235.0 0.21 1.11 2.36 94 Raw.Studio 101.7 0.42 1.20 1.71

45 Sonar Consulting 219.3 0.93 2.26 9.48 95 Maqro Investment Group 101.0 0.50 0.97 2.01

46 Untangld 217.6 0.19 0.96 1.91 96 POP Holdings 99.9 6.89 6.85 27.54

47 Mindset Health 209.9 0.51 1.77 4.85 97 Birchal 97.7 0.98 2.08 3.82

48 Boots Civil 209.8 0.71 2.94 6.86 98 Champion Web 97.3 0.24 0.48 0.95

49 July 205.3 2.32 2.84 21.59 99 Little Fish Property Developments 95.8 0.39 0.99 1.50

50 Iterate Recruitment 201.6 1.00 4.74 9.07 100 Gawk 95.4 0.61 1.28 2.31

SOURCE: FINANCIAL REVIEW

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 Special Report 0
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review
11

How offline strategies

are paying off online
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Blended business
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Alexandra Cain
When his events company was effectively
shelved at the start of COVID-19, Steve Pas-
tor knew he needed a new business. The res-
ult was Kings of Neon, which started life as
an online shop for neon signs.
The business moniker is a pun on the
name of rock band Kings of Leon and the
company is part of this year’s AFR Fast
Starters list.
Pastor has a whatever-it-takes approach
to doing business. For instance, the Kings of
Neon team made a neon sign of
e-commerce influencer Gary Vaynerchuk’s
NFT – The Very, Very Very, Very Lucky
Black Cat – to present to him at an event in
Chicago. ‘‘I took it over on the plane with me, suing an offline strategy in tandem with its Kings of Neon staff
carried it through customs, hijacked the online business. with examples of
event, got it into his hands and got a photo of The company was founded as Loose Kid the signage they
it. Over-delivering is the essence of what we Industries in 2002 as a wholesale outfit from produce to order
do,’’ he says. CEO Jason Daniel’s mum’s bedroom. (top); The LSKD
Similarly, when the Kings of Neon team Daniel moved into the company full time team outside one of
won work to produce signs for the Indiana- in 2010 after he finished his carpentry the company’s
polis 500 car racing event, they snuck into apprenticeship. The business was growing number of
one of the exclusive parties held to coincide rebranded to LSKD in September 2018 and stores (above).
with the event. the wholesale business was closed in 2020.
‘‘We got to rub shoulders with billionaires ‘‘We then started developing functional
and were somewhat the star of the show, sportswear with a street aesthetic. Every
with our signage plastered around,’’ he says. decision we make goes back to our mission
Pastor is now positioning Kings of Neon of inspiring people to chase the vibe through
as the leading provider of neon signs in sport, fitness and adventure. We want to
seven English-speaking markets, including create something bigger than ourselves and
the UK, US, New Zealand and Australia. stand for something more than just selling a
‘‘At the moment 80 per cent of our busi- product,’’ he says.
ness is in Australia and 20 per cent is in the LSKD develops its own raw materials for
US, but the US will very quickly take over the its proprietary Rep and Zephyr fabrics, out
local business,’’ he says. of which its women’s leggings are made.
This year has been seminal for Kings of ‘‘Our Rep tight has more than 4000 five-star
Neon, thanks to successfully breaking into reviews,’’ says Daniel.
the US market. It made signs for the NFL He explains the company is now pursu-
draft and also for the events company Live ing a blended commerce strategy that com-
Nation. ‘‘We did a six-figure order for [US bines online and offline.
festival] Lollapalooza as well. We did the ‘‘We’re moving into the retail space at a
main installation where everyone walks rapid pace,’’ he says. ‘‘We have opened two
through the entry. That was definitely a stores so far, and we aim to open a total of
highlight,’’ says Pastor. five stores across major Australian cities, as
While its bread-and-butter is making well as a shop in New Zealand, over the next
signs for small businesses, it also works for 12 months. Our next store will be opened in
big names such as Adidas and Twitter. It Chermside Westfield Shopping Centre on
also makes signs for engagement parties December 3.’’
and private homes, and even produces Aside from developing its local opera-
naughty signs for the adult industry. tions, LSKD is also exploring growth oppor-
The website incorporates a tool through tunities in international markets such as
which people can design custom signs, New Zealand, the US and UK. This year, it
which cost upwards of $300. also opened a 4000 square metre ware-
Although the business model was initially house, office and retail store in its
e-commerce-based, its B2B side is run in a hometown of Loganholme, Queensland.
more traditional way. Next year there are plans to continue with
‘‘As a society, we’re obsessed with not its retail store roll-out and explore new
talking to people. But we push through that international markets. Says Daniel: ‘‘Our
awkwardness, because everyone still wants aim is to build a global brand presence and
to chat,’’ says Pastor. Developing talent is a become a household name.’’ The business
priority. ‘‘We’re a big believer in growing the will also continue to hire team members,
team from the bottom up. We bring on a lot and Daniel says the goal is to develop staff
of trainees and they will lead new markets capable of being CEOs in the future.
in the future,’’ he says. ‘‘We will also continue to improve our in-
Like Kings of Neon, online activewear and house commitments to sustainability as a
streetwear site LSKD, which is also part of clothing brand and explore new collabora-
this year’s AFR Fast Starter’s list, is also pur- tions,’’ he adds. AFR
AFRGA1 S011
 12
No-alcohol brand zeroes in on growth
For Naked Life Spirits, one of Australia’s fastest-
growing better-for-you lifestyle beverage
companies, innovation means not just embracing
the low and no-alcohol beverage trend. It also
means harnessing a partnership and shared
benefit model with suppliers, to best meet the
rapidly shifting demands of a growing market.
“People are reducing their alcohol
consumption, that’s the obvious trend up front,”
explains David Andrew, founder and managing
director of Naked Life Spirits and the No Nasties
Project. “But how does that then play out,
concretely? The category is changing and
adapting every day as consumers learn how non-
alc beverages can fit into their lives. To ensure
there’s a great consumer outcome, we need to
keep innovating and ensuring we’re still out in
front, giving customers the choice they want as
the market matures.”
Australian alcohol consumption is at an all-time
low, as consumers increasingly embrace a ‘sober-
curious’ lifestyle or look to cut down on drinking.
According to drinks market analysts IWSR, the
market for no- and low-alcohol beverages has
reached almost $US10 billion, with volume
growing by an 8 per cent compound annual
growth rate through to 2025, compared with
0.7 per cent for alcoholic beverages.
“We know that in the next three years, there
will be a non-alcoholic offering on every single
menu,” Andrew says. “We are approaching that
tipping point. There’s a lot of demand there and
it will only grow as it becomes normalised.”
AFRGA1 S012
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
Naked Life Spirits has developed a range of non-
alcoholic cocktails and spirits. To help drive the
normalisation of non-alcoholic consumption in the
social scene, the company is also embarking on
sponsorships and integrations with festivals,
outdoor cinemas, major hotel groups and even a
soon-to-be-announced major stadium deal,
showing drinkers and non-drinkers how non-alc
options can enhance their socialising experience.
While consumer interest is rapidly growing,
early adopters can still be hesitant to try new
products, and Andrew notes the company has
spent a lot of time and effort ensuring their
offering excels where it counts – taste.
“Whatever we produce needs to taste
absolutely bang-on. If it doesn’t taste great, and
provide a fantastic experience, consumers make a
single purchase, and then that’s it,’’ he says.
‘‘There’s no point in that, you’ve lost them and it’s
a waste of money. That’s the biggest hurdle to
overcome, and we spend a lot of energy ensuring
we’re getting that right.”
To help meet consumer expectations, Naked
Life Spirits has also developed a familiarity in its
offering, matching non-alcoholic products to
existing alcoholic beverages. The range includes
everything from non-alcoholic margaritas to
negronis and espresso martinis.
“We have 15 RTDs, seven spirits and more to
come, and some people have said that’s crazy. But
if you’re looking to have a non-alcoholic drink, and
there’s only a gin and tonic available but you don’t
drink gin and tonic, then you won’t try it. So, we
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“Whatever we produce
needs to taste
absolutely bang-on. If it
doesn’t taste great, and
provide a fantastic
experience, consumers
make a single purchase,
and then that’s it.’’
David Andrew
had to ensure we could have products matched to
those key favourites, enabling customers to
reduce the risk involved in trying something new,”
Andrew says.
Another key consideration is ensuring the
products are authentic in both flavour and
experience to an alcoholic beverage, and not a
soft drink. Naked Life develops its drinks using
distilled botanicals, lending a complexity and
depth of flavour familiar to spirits drinkers.
“If you’re standing in a bar drinking a soft drink,
you finish it in two minutes while everybody else
takes another half-hour to finish theirs. You need
to have a complexity in there.”
David Andrew is the
founder and managing
director of Naked Life
Spirits and the No
Nasties Project.
Developing sophisticated no-alcohol drinks at
an accessible price point has required a wholesale
shift from transactional approaches to business,
Andrew says. Before founding Naked Life, he
managed large-scale innovation programs in the
mining industry, and he says to compete with
major players, identifying areas for value creation
in every element of the supply chain is critical.
“The common thread in everything we do
across our businesses is the need to bring
together our partners, investors and all aspects of
the supply chain, in a creative way, to create a
good outcome for consumers. So, how do you get
the agility to bring new ideas to market at scale?
You need to have everybody on the same page,
wanting to achieve the same outcome.”
The unique innovation model, which is used
across Naked Life Spirits and the No Nasties
Project, helps keep costs down while also
identifying commercial opportunities for
partners. Andrew notes that rather than simple
transactional relationships, which can risk
creating products that are simply too expensive
for most consumers, Naked Life Spirits prefers a
partnerships and shared benefits model.
“You really need to go beyond thinking about
dollars and understand what’s important to your
partners as a company,’’ Andrew says. ‘‘How and
where are they trying to grow? If you do that –
at every part of the value chain – you end up with
a better outcome for far less. The value is higher,
even though the dollar’s lower for the end
consumer.”
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Enabling
PE growth
leads to
recruiters’
success
Some businesses thrive amid disruption – and if
the current pandemic was the ultimate test for
service firms, executive recruiters Allura Partners
passed with flying colours, with their annual
revenue jumping from $6 million to $23.5 million
between 2020 and 2022, while headcount
doubled from 12 to 24 staff.
Allura Partners co-founders Adrian Belle and
Andrew Smith, each experienced recruiters with
more than a decade under their belts, set up shop
in 2017 to deliver a better, more complete service
to companies recruiting C-suite leaders.
Recruiting at the executive level is often
complex and time consuming, says Belle, and for
private equity (PE)-backed investments this
generally happens when boards and owners are
immersed in making a whole range of critical,
high-level decisions about a newly acquired,
fast-growing business.
“In the early days, our team focused on placing
C-suite executives to lead, transform and scale PE
companies,” says Belle. “It wasn’t long before we
had gained the attention of large corporates
seeking PE-style talent at the leadership level
and below.”
Belle says in addition to its PE offering, Allura
has recently established a reputation with some of
Australia’s largest ASX-listed enterprises, for
helping organisations rapidly build winning teams.
“Executives at this level have to move fast to
get stuff done, so they looked to us to put their
top teams together – and then, those teams
asked us to build out their supporting functions,”
he says.
Allura works with private equity firms and is
often called in at the pre-deal advisory stage in
merger and acquisition negotiations.
“For example, a common scenario might
involve a private equity firm looking to buy a
founder-led business that’s grown from zero to
$50 million in annual revenue,” Belle says.
The process for the step change in growing a
business – for example, from $50 million to
$200 million annually – will be very different.
It could involve building a strong team
underneath the founder, says Belle – or finding a
CEO so the founder can step into a board position.
“Our executive search service began by finding
CEOs and their direct leadership teams for
Get the job you want.
Build the team you need.
We connect companies to leaders who are willing to roll up their sleeves to
get the job done, so that they can transform and scale a business.
Executive recruitment & search: private equity, transformation, technology & finance. Call +61 2 9000 5400 or allurapartners.com.au
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
organisations that were going through rapid
transformation and change and who needed
executives and supporting teams with the
particular skill set to fast-track growth,” Belle says.
Technology and digital often underpins the
investment thesis for private equity firms, he adds
– so Allura is often charged with also finding these
teams.
“We appoint executive leadership teams, as
well as going deep building out teams across
technology, digital, transformation and finance,
because companies undergoing this kind of
massive change rely on the people with these skill
sets to implement their new ideas.”
One of Allura’s clients is Sydney-based mid-
market multibillion-dollar investment firm
Quadrant Private Equity, established more than
25 years ago, which has led dozens of investments
across retail, healthcare, media, consumer foods,
financial services and e-commerce among other
sectors.
Quadrant is clearly happy with the results.
“When I need an executive to lead and scale a
Quadrant Private Equity backed investment, I can
rely on Allura Partners,” says Marcus Darville,
managing partner at Quadrant Private Equity.
“Over the years, the team has consistently
found me the right talent,” he adds.
“Executives at this level
have to move fast to get
stuff done, so they looked
to us to put their top
teams together – and
then, those teams asked
us to build out their
supporting functions.”
Adrian Belle
Smith – who worked in recruitment in Britain
before moving to Australia nearly 10 years ago –
says the Australian business scene is very
relationship-oriented, which suits the Allura
Partners service ethos of quality-driven rather
than high-volume placement.
“We know that when people leave an
organisation, it’s usually the leaders they are
leaving – and in the same way, when they join an
organisation, they want to work with great
management and leadership, [and] follow people
13
Executive
recruiters Adrian
Belle, left, and
Andrew Smith
are the
co-founders of
Allura Partners.
who are progressive and who drive better
business and better outcomes,” says Smith.
One recent executive placement that illustrates
matching an inspiring leader to a purposeful and
growing business is Allura’s recruitment of new
CEO Joe Taylor with healthcare logistics company
Smartways, which supplies critical medical
devices to surgeons and hospitals, within an hour,
within any capital city in Australia or New
Zealand.
Taylor joined Smartways in September
following its recent private equity partnership,
enthused by the opportunity to work in a
company with a powerful purpose focused on
patient outcomes.
CEO negotiations in private equity are complex
and nuanced, Taylor says, involving psychometric
testing, board assessment, share and equity
agreements, dealing with multiple shareholders
and much more.
“Allura spent a lot of time understanding the
founder, the CEO, the private equity firm and the
business,” Taylor says – adding that when Allura
explained the people, the purpose and the
long-term future of the business, it sealed the
deal for him.
“If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be in this company
today – and I’m glad they did it.”
AFRGA1 S013
 S14
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

ment. The real estate and construction

Electricity grids industries deserve a shake-up, says Cleary.

‘‘They’re steeped in tradition and, next to
other fields, have been comparatively slow
in adopting new technologies.’’

power up Catalpa Milk Chocolate puts a strong emphasis on

data and artificial intelligence to drive prop-
erty decisions, tapping into over 1500 data
points for every suburb, region and city back
to 1980.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
‘‘We call on roughly 35 key indicators and
have carefully set the thresholds to ensure
Property the suburbs we select will provide long-term
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Robert Harley stable capital growth,’’ Cleary says.

‘‘The industry is cottoning on to the
Fergus and Barry O’Neill, two farmers from advantages of incorporating AI and
the west coast of Ireland, have become lead- machine learning into the traditional busi-
ing players in the fast-growing roll-out of ness model; using big data to analyse eco-
electricity transmission lines in Australia. nomic and property trends; automating
Their company, Catalpa Group, is work- once menial and labour-intensive tasks; and
ing on lines linking the MacIntyre optimising property purchase, sale and
Windfarm Precinct to the Queensland elec- build decisions.’’
tricity grid; on the Eyre Peninsula Link in The group has 20 full-time staff and
South Australia; and on Australia’s largest another 14 contractors.
electricity grid project, the 900 km intercon- ‘‘Our in-house product team – consisting
nector – known as Project Energy Connect – of design, software engineering and
between South Australia and NSW. machine learning – have built a custom soft-
The work has turbocharged the growth at ware platform to streamline and automate
Catalpa, which started in 2009 as civil, con- your property experience,’’ says Cleary.
crete and ground works company for the The business growth has been funded by a
mining industry. number of raisings, a seed round in 2019,
Catalpa’s revenue for the 2020 financial and a bridging round in 2020. A further
year 2020, was $13.1 million; in the latest fin- round, for a major technology investment, is
ancial year, 2022, the figure soared by over ‘‘The entire planning and development in the works. Investors now hold 10 per cent
300 per cent to top $52.8 million. process is on a single digital platform,’’ says of Milk Chocolate, alongside Cleary and
Catalpa expects the figure to double in the Dr Coorey. Ragel, with 45 per cent each.
next 12 months. A second capability is the capacity to Cleary acknowledges that the real estate
And unlike some of the other companies upload development proposals for a ‘‘real- market has turned; buying activity has
in the Fast 100 list, whose revenue growth is time check’’ against the planning regula- slowed and FOMO (fear of missing out) has
yet to turn into profit, Catalpa delivers an tions. Most recently the group has used its dissipated.
average profit per project of 22 per cent. skills, and those of its new acquisition, ‘‘However, as we have multiple, compli-
The key is Catalpa’s can-do approach. Snaploader, to create 3D models, flythrough mentary verticals, we have weathered the
‘‘Our success has been built on our videos and 360 degree tours to help with res- storm,’’ he says. ‘‘Our construction vertical
emphasis on client focus,’’ reports the com- idential and commercial marketing. has gone from strength to strength and
pany. ‘‘We believe a collaborative approach Clients include some of the biggest names property management never stops.’’
is the only way to successfully deliver large in property, such as Brookfield, Frasers
multi-discipline projects on time and within Property, Mirvac and JLL. Irrigation works wonders
budget.’’ Today the group has 60 staff in Australia Boots Civil, based in the NSW regional
The approach has enabled Catalpa to and another 40 in the Philippines. centres of Griffith and Leeton, is riding a
work with head contractors such as Downer ‘‘The challenge is to keep the growth rate surge of investment in water-efficient irriga-
EDI and UGL on major projects for resource going and keep the start-up culture,’’ says Dr tion infrastructure.
giants like BHP, Rio Tinto and Chevron. Coorey. ‘‘We have a huge focus on maintain- Revenue has risen from just over $714,000
The founders cut their teeth in construc- ing staff and making sure the employees in the 2020 financial year to $6.8 million in
tion on London’s high-rise towers and tun- have a good experience.’’ the 2022 financial year.
nels – Fergus as a plumber and Barry as an Archistar also has a very well-connected Further growth, up to $35 million in rev-
electrician – before being lured to the West board, headed by Prabhat Sethi, the chair of enue, is expected for the 2023 financial year.
Australian resources boom. Global Blue, and including Tom Southern, a Much of growth is helped by increased
Their can-do approach was noted, first by former CEO of CBRE Pacific; Graham NSW government investment in the
Citic Pacific for the Sino Iron Project, for Mirabito, a former CEO of CoreLogic Austra- Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, ironically
whom Catalpa has undertaken concrete lia; and Craig Blair, the co-founder and man- driven by the last drought.
works for over a decade. Today Catalpa’s aging partner of Airtree Ventures. The government involvement requires
revenue comes from both the civil work and Looking to the future, demand has so far strong quality control, reporting and com-
the transmission line work. defied the slowing property market. ‘‘In a pliance, with Boots holding ISO Quality
The scale of transmission line work is yet declining market, you need to assess more Top left: Milk cial year to over $4.5 million in the 2022 year. Assurance for its quality, environment and
to be widely understood. The South Austra- sites,’’ says Dr Coorey. Chocolate app. Top: Milk Chocolate offers a full range of prop- safety management systems.
lian component of Project Energy Connect Catalpa co-founders erty services, from the initial planning, to The work is not only linked to government
will require 380 new transmission towers Milk Chocolate revolution Fergus O’Neill (left) purchase, construction and management. investment in the MIA – Boots also services
and 2500 kilometres of new conductor, Two advertising executives, Michael Cleary and Barry O’Neill. At the moment, much of the revenue the large JBS feedlots in the region.
15,000 cubic metres of concrete, and and Richard Ragel, formed Milk Chocolate Above: Boots Civil comes from construction management, The group started as Watertek, a Griffith-
600,000 hours of labour to put it all in place. Property to revolutionise the real estate irrigation work. which includes cosmetic works to invest- based private company designing, supplying
Catalpa has a team of around 160 working experience in Australia. Above right: Dr ment properties, the knock-down and and installing irrigation products and ser-
in civil contracting and another 160 on the ‘‘We saw a need for a different consumer Benjamin Coorey, of rebuild of homes, and even full subdivisions. vices. As the investment in large-scale irriga-
transmission work and a strong focus on experience to help people plan, buy, build Archistar. To date, 75 per cent of the clients have tion infrastructure increased, the group
loyalty to the staff. and manage Australian property,’’ says been expat Australians, working in the needed large-scale equipment to transport
The brothers, who still own farms in Ire- Cleary. Middle East, Singapore or Hong Kong, who the piping and gravel, excavate the channels
land, have not forgotten their Irish origins. So far they have helped 200 consumers on have turned to Milk Chocolate for advice, and compact the work. (Some of these pipes
Catalpa was the name of the US ship that res- their Australian property journey. then moved to an investment purchase, then are 2.5 metres in diameter and need to be
cued six Irish political prisoners from Perth In the process, Milk Chocolate’s revenue a second home purchase followed by some butt-welded under pressure and heat.)
in 1876 and the firm sponsors the WA Ladies has soared, from $860,000 in the 2020 finan- construction work and ongoing manage- So the group bought the Leeton-based
State Gaelic Football Team. David Boots Sand & Gravel civil contracting
and earth-moving business, and boosted its
Tech and architecture heavy machinery capability from about 20
Archistar, formed in 2018 by brothers Ben- pieces to 200 pieces in the past year.
jamin and Robert Coorey, melds architec- The acquisition cost around $20 million
ture and computer programming with an and the group has spent a further $10 million
ambition to become a one-stop digital shop upgrading its equipment.
for real estate agents, property developers, The funding is old school, through family
architects and home builders. equity and a debt facility based on a long-
It has proven to be a winning formula. standing relationship with St George Bank.
Revenue has surged from $2.3 million in And that is paid for out of profits. ‘‘We
2020 to over $7.2 million in 2022. make a lot of money, you have to, to pay for
Earlier this year, despite a slowing market this,’’ says director, Jim Knox.
for both tech and real estate, the group ‘‘We can’t take a pipe dream to a bunch of
raised $11 million, in part to finance expan- investors.’’
sion into the US, in a funding round backed Knox is more widely known for his pub
by NAB Ventures, Skip Capital and Airtree. investments in NSW regional centres.
Chief executive Dr Benjamin Coorey, who At Boots, he has four partners with com-
has a PhD in architecture and an interest in plementary skills.
artificial intelligence, first created the Archi- Knox says the ability to help with design,
star Academy to teach digital design. reporting and compliance has been critical
Then he saw the opportunity help prop- to the growth of a business that is ‘‘less price
erty professionals ‘‘find, assess and design sensitive and more process sensitive’’.
profitable property development sites’’. The group has about 90 staff and makes
For any site, initially in Australia, Archi- extensive use of contractors.
star can quickly assess the planning rules Yes, the availability of skilled labour is an
and restrictions, create design concepts and issue but, says Knox, there is ‘‘opportunity in
run feasibilities, saving hours of work. the problem to be overcome’’. AFR
AFRGA1 S014
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com 15
ADVERTISING FEATURE

AFR Fast Lists 2022

A fresh
recipe for
success:
bone
appétit!
When former police officer Adam Guest was
helping to rehabilitate rescue dogs, he was
impressed by the health benefits of a raw diet, and
soon found himself explaining and helping others
in the rescue community adopt the practice.
Preparing raw pet food can be fiddly – and
when Guest and some friends realised they could
turn their passion into a business opportunity, he
set up Raw & Fresh in 2015 as a home-kitchen
based service preparing pet meals for delivery to
a small but eager customer base.
The service bloomed into a dedicated kitchen,
which Guest built in a shipping container in his
parents’ backyard. Fast-forward to 2022, and the
thriving business is now on its fourth factory and
employs 30 staff.
Things had hotted up by 2020, with revenue
hitting $1.3 million. The business grew rapidly
through the pandemic puppy boom to hit $6.25 The Raw & Fresh
million in revenue during the 2022 financial year team: (from left)
and annualised sales are forecast to be in the David Elliott,
$9-10 million range for 2022-23. Adam Guest and
Guest credits a chance encounter with an old Bodog Olah.
schoolmate (now Raw & Fresh CEO) David Elliott,
with changing the course of the business forever. Elliott’s background lies in using forecasting and breed, age, weight and activity level of the pet.
“We ran into each other in 2018 and for about cash flow management to guide mining companies “We have several Orders are then made up in the company’s
the next year, I was giving Adam casual ad-hoc
advice about Raw & Fresh,” says Elliott, who later
through both boom and downturn cycles, and he
also has experience across legal, finance,
projects we want to roll factory near Parramatta, NSW and delivered via
refrigerated truck to customers across Australia’s
introduced Guest to e-commerce expert Bodog manufacturing and HR aspects of business. out into new product eastern states.
Olah – and the trio realised that together they had “We stay in our own lanes for speed but get All customers have either dogs or cats, or both
the skills to fast-track Guest’s pet food start-up together weekly – a bit like a board meeting but lines, and to continue to – and the company has so far tapped into a tiny
into an even bigger enterprise.
“Our balanced and diverse blend of skills
not as formal as that,” Elliott says.
While the pandemic (and the accompanying
scale the business and fraction of Australia’s $13.1 billion a year dog and
cat food market.
complement each other, which has been the recipe pet boom) delivered a welcome boost to the diversify our offering.” “We have introduced healthy meals to over
for our success,” says Elliott. business, Raw & Fresh was already tapping into a David Elliott 50,000 pets. In the pandemic alone, we prepared
In 2019, the three teamed up to invest a further growing trend where many pet owners were around 2 million meals,” says Elliott.
$300,000 into Raw & Fresh, and they have since turning to raw and less-processed food. This month, after assessing their environmental
funded the company’s growth off the back of fast- Shelf-based pet food all contains preservatives impact, the company committed $200,000
multiplying profits. and additives to address the nutritional gaps of towards halving soft plastics in their packaging
Guest is now the Raw & Fresh chief operations intensively processed foods, says Elliott. and production facilities by next January.
officer, developing and implementing processes As Australia lacks its own pet food standard, “Since the investment in 2019 we have
and systems in logistics and production – skills Raw & Fresh adopted the nutritional guidelines guidance from nutritionists, to develop delivered a [compound annual growth rate] of 116
honed during his years with the NSW Police developed for pets by the AAFCO (Association of scientifically formulated, ‘complete and balanced per cent and we are on track to continue this
Tactical Operations Unit. American Feed Control Officials). meals’ that don’t use artificial vitamins, minerals strong growth over coming years,” says Elliott.
Chief marketing officer Olah – who owned and “We benchmark against the internationally or fillers,” Elliott says. “We have several projects we want to roll out
ran a digital agency for 11 years – built and runs the recognised AAFCO standard, which we exceed, so Raw & Fresh meals all combine assorted into new product lines, and to continue to scale
Raw & Fresh e-commerce platform, including that allows us to use the registered term uncooked ingredients tailor-made for each pet, the business and diversify our offering.” To fund
online store, bespoke production software and ‘complete and balanced’ in our products,” he says. with customers ordering via the website, guided this growth, the company plans to investigate an
customer service processes. “We’ve invested a lot of time, and sought by trained customer service staff who assess the external capital raising for the first time.

AFRGA1 S015
 16
Outback journey conjures testing vision
Long-haul drives are perfect for catching up with
podcasts, audio books or your latest music
playlist. But in 2018, when contract engineers
Kimal Singh and Josh Cleary found themselves in
a Toyota Hilux touring the South Australian
outback inspecting oil and gas pipelines for
corrosion, they did something different.
“We would drive sometimes up to three hours
to get to the job location,” recalls Singh, who with
Cleary was working for a major inspection
services company at the time. “Instead of playing
music, we were talking about our dreams.”
Singh and Cleary had a shared vision: to form a
state-of-the-art, non-destructive testing and
inspection technology company that would
research and develop new technologies and
methods in the fight against corrosion, disrupting
competitors and offering clients value for money
and what they coined “an incident-free future”.
“What I saw in my work back then was a lot of
box-ticking exercises, but the real problem – and
potential solution – was often right in front of us,”
says Singh.
A year later and their business, NDE Solutions,
was born in Singh’s backyard shed in Adelaide.
Over the past three years, the two-man operation
has grown to become a significant player in the
industrial asset testing industry, with an annual
turnover of just over $10 million.
It employs 80 people in locations across
AFRGA1 S016
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
Australia including Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and
Brisbane, servicing mining giants Rio Tinto and
BHP, oil and gas explorers Chevron, Mobil and
Santos, and power company Origin Energy. The
company estimates it has prevented over a
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent from entering
the atmosphere, through early detection.
Singh, the company’s CEO, says the business is
divided into two parts: services and technology.
“The services side performs inspection and testing
on major assets and provides solutions and advice
on assessing the health of those major assets.”
As well as testing oil, gas and mining
infrastructure to prevent leaks that could cause
environmental disasters and even loss of life, NDE
Solutions tests the integrity of critical assets such
as Australia’s ageing fleet of Collins-class
submarines, ensuring sailors are safe and able to
defend the country effectively.
“We don’t do a lot of aviation at the moment,”
adds Singh, “but we’re working on rocket engines
in the space field. That’s going to be a huge field
for us in the future: being able to reuse booster
rockets is critical to the commercial viability of
space travel. It’s going to need a lot of testing with
the extreme environments they operate in.
‘‘Any major asset that operates in an
environment where it can corrode or is under
pressure, vibration and thermal cycles will need
inspection to run safely. These assets are
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“We want our technology
all across the world. We
want to be global.”
Kimal Singh
normally critical to operations and very expensive,
so you need to inspect it without damaging it.’’
The other side of NDE Solution’s business
model is about innovation through its dedicated
research and development division.
“The way I see it is we own the whole value
chain,” explains Singh. “Because we have the
services side of the business, that gives us unique
information on the challenges and problems in
the industry. And those then become product
ideas. Those product ideas then turn into
prototypes, and the prototypes go back into the
field so we can stress-test them and improve
them. And that’s the cycle that we’re now going
to keep rinsing and repeating.”
So far, the cycle has produced an innovative
ultrasound inspection technique for small-bore
Kimal Singh
(top) and Josh
Cleary envisaged
their testing and
inspection tech
company, NDE
Solutions, while
driving to
remote sites in
outback South
Australia.
piping at risk of microbial induced corrosion (MIC)
that Singh says saves clients more than 40 per
cent in costs compared to industry-standard
digital radiography methods. And, more recently,
at its headquarters in Hindmarsh, Adelaide, the
company teamed up with Brewed Engagement
Extended Reality Labs (BEER Labs) to build an
augmented reality software platform that allows
remote robotic inspections of assets thousands of
kilometres away.
The collaboration has already resulted in a
successful international remote inspection trial in
Fiji. The benefits, Singh says, are “massive” on the
local engagement front.
Although there are no plans to service overseas
clients with boots on the ground in future, Singh
is keen to grow the technology side of their
business internationally, so they can export their
innovative products and platforms everywhere.
“We want our technology all across the world. We
want to be global.”
So, what is the tech innovation Singh is most
excited about right now? “The one I can’t even
mention,” he laughs. “It’s so exciting that it will
change our industry. And it will scale to almost
every single other industry in the world.”
Dubbed “Project Pi” due to the “endless”
number of possible applications it promises,
further probing reveals Singh may be in a position
to talk more about it in mid-2023.
 The Fast Lists 2022 Special Report
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review
Digital surge
awakens online
marketing push
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
and retention of staff, which sets us apart
Media and marketing from others in our space.’’
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Nina Hendy
Signifi focuses on remarketing
The return of online strategy as an essential The digital marketing shift over the last
part of marketing for many businesses has couple of years has also proven a boon for
been a bonus for Cube Online, which has Perth-based Signifi Media, which has also
made the 2022 AFR Fast 100. made the AFR Fast 100.
The five-year-old software company The six-year-old online marketing and
provides local marketing, customer experi- digital solutions agency offers remarketing
ence and reputation management to small and retargeting technology. It now has a
businesses and retailers. presence in 11 countries and plans to partner Above: Offsite
Founder Tony Van-Eyk set out to help with a range of European countries in the reflection days work
businesses communicate with customers near future. for Cube Online staff,
via SMS and manage their entire online foot- ‘‘We partner with large online market- says founder Tony
print in one place. The software enables places around the world. In each country, Van-Eyk (below).
businesses to generate local leads and there’s usually a number one real estate, Right: Matt Cahill
reviews and automate repetitive tasks. automotive or recruitment portal, for exam- (left) and Nick Sertis,
‘‘Our software gives businesses the tools ple, which allows listings to be booked,’’ dir- of Signifi Media
they need to grow in one place,’’ Van-Eyk ector and co-founder Matt Cahill says.
says. ‘‘We take a listing of someone’s house and
While marketing costs were initially cut amplify that listing by sending it across a
when COVID hit, a quick pivot to offer a new range of different platforms automatically,
‘‘Bricks 2 Clicks’’ service that helped business which can reduce marketing costs. We
promote e-commerce stores proved a huge provide all the sophistication for a few hun-
success. dred dollars.’’
As time marched on and the pandemic Signifi Media also white labels its digital
remained a challenge for businesses, many marketing services to online retailers. It has
businesses returned to digital marketing in also secured a partnership deal with a large
droves to bolster their online presence. bank in United Arab Emirates and Central
‘‘Businesses that weren’t perhaps as America and has trials under way with a
focused on digital or didn’t feel that digital large real estate portal, which represents
was important to them suddenly realised further growth over the coming years.
they were being left behind. Every business Signifi Media employs 22 staff.
can now see the importance of having a ‘‘We back ourselves by offering no lock-in
digital strategy in place to reach customers.’’ contracts, and the majority of our clients
Opening a second office in London has have stayed with us for a number of years,’’
seen the team grow to 116 people. Further he says.
expansion into Europe is also on the hori- ‘‘We’ve clients start out on a $1000 a
zon. He attributes his growth to having great month and absolutely rocketed on the back
product-market fit. of that, and then turn around and spend sev-
Like most companies in the digital space, eral hundreds and thousands of dollars with
finding skilled workers remains a challenge. us,’’ he says.
A financial reward for referrals and offering While its international pipeline shrank
flexibility has been crucial in the war for tal- during the initial COVID phase, overall rev-
ent. He’s in the process of hiring for 25 new enues grew. As soon as the international
roles over the coming months. borders opened again, Cahill had flights
‘‘We’ve mainly focused on the SME mar- booked into key international markets in a
ket, but we’re moving upmarket into the bid to shore up further growth.
enterprise sector next year. We’re also mak- ‘‘Now that we’ve been able to travel
ing a move into channel partners to handle again, we’ve attended several international
trade shows and expos, among other initiat- conferences to promote our software,
ives,’’ he says. attracting a number of partnership oppor-
Taking a selection of the team away for a tunities with our software on the back of
few days to an off-site meeting for a think- those trips,’’ Cahill says.
tank on how to improve the business this ‘‘We’ve been all over the place, so
year saw a number of staff members chosen we’re quite used to the 17-hour
for a trip to the Whitsundays for three days. flight from Perth to London. It’s
‘‘This allows time for reflection and we just a quick little bus trip for
also ask people proactively to career plan,’’ us now,’’ he says. ‘‘But it’s
he says. not instantaneous. Part-
‘‘We’ve done a lot of work on our nerships can take a year
employee proposition over the past 12 to come to fruition.’’
months which has helped us with attraction Travel is essential for
Competitive pressures building up in craft drinks market
Mighty Craft, a Fast Starter business behind with family and friends, whether it’s a beau-
14 craft brands such as Better Beer, is navig- tiful gin and tonic or Negroni or whatever it
ating a particularly competitive sector. might be – that really helped,’’ Haysman
Mark Haysman, CEO and managing dir- says.
ector for Mighty Craft, says they were well According to Haysman, the high-growth
positioned to support Australians looking to spirits category is a most likely $5 billion
experiment at home with new and local market in Australia.
brands. ‘‘But locally made spirits is only a small
‘‘We were able to significantly outper- part of the category. In fact, around 8 per
form the growth of the category and grow cent of spirits consumed in Australia are
our share during COVID,’’ Haysman says. made here.’’ Mark Haysman, of
When people hear ‘‘craft drinks’’, they There’s opportunity for expansion both Mighty Craft.
immediately think of beer – and while there in Australia and abroad, particularly into
has been strong growth in the craft beer cat- Asia – and specifically China, Haysman says.
egory, that upward momentum has been The trend towards ‘‘better for you’’ bever-
seen right across the craft drinks spectrum. ages – less sugar, less carbs, less alcohol – is
‘‘I think the experience with ‘cocktail cul- another real opportunity for Mighty Craft,
ture’ at home – mixing drinks and sharing it Haysman says.
growth. ‘‘You can only do so much from
behind the computer when you’re in growth
phase. When you meet someone in person,
you get to form relationships and get to
know the executive team you’re going to
partner with.’’ He adds that research and
development is a continual part of doing
business in the digital world.
Awaken’s resurgence
Creative media agency Awaken was
launched eight years ago by Chris Parker.
‘‘I started off on the kitchen table after we
had twins, and the business has grown to 20
staff now, along with a production team that
scales up or down depending on the work-
load,’’ he explains at a mile a minute.
Parker is clearly quick-thinking, too. As
founder and CEO, his world moves faster
than most. AFR Fast 100 lister Awaken
designs creative for TikTok, Twitter,
Instagram, television, Spotify, podcasts and
everything in between. The team also writes
the creative strategy and handles media
placement.
It is one of the lucky businesses that
thrived during COVID lockdowns as brands
sought assistance to reach locked-down con-
sumers.
‘‘Once the worst of the lockdowns
was over, we had a strong resur-
gence across electronics, alcohol
and other consumer goods cat-
egories, which have also been
strong this year,’’ he says. ‘‘This
has led to larger budgets and
more strategic ways to help our
clients grow.’’
Is the crafts drink sector is a little
oversaturated? Despite the fierce competi-
tion in the sector, there’s still room to take
market share from the big international
brands.
However, Haysman says the sector can be
a difficult one to operate in and there’s likely
to be more consolidation across the board.
Moving forward, Mighty Craft has a sim-
plification agenda.
‘‘One of the learnings out of the last
couple of years is this is a difficult market,
and we need to simplify and prioritise our
portfolio,’’ he says.
“You’ll see Mighty Craft dialling up our
focus on priority brands,” he says.
Having weathered the economic effects
of the pandemic, Mighty Craft is now staring
S17
Bringing strategy, design and media
placement under one umbrella isn’t stand-
ard practice in the marketing space. But
Parker doesn’t see why they need to be sep-
arate.
‘‘It’s not the norm, but it creates a more
cohesive strategy and allows better results,’’
Parker says. ‘‘Having media planners and
creatives in the same room allows us to cre-
ate individual assets that work across each
medium.’’
He says the agency has maintained strong
growth, particularly over the past five years
since adding a creative arm to the business.
The addition has made Awaken a one-stop-
shop for clients seeking creative design such
as television ads, strategy and media place-
ment.
‘‘That’s been our niche and it’s helped us
grow quite considerably,’’ he says.
In the early days, he handled a lot of the
creative himself.
‘‘It was grinding. It wasn’t easy. In the
beginning, I was doing every type of Face-
book ad and website, and calling all my con-
tacts and working through LinkedIn in any
way we could to build our client base.’’
But it’s paid off. Awaken has expanded
into the US, creating a virtual 24-hour creat-
ive shop. Next year, Parker is planning to add
a direct-to-consumer arm to handle distri-
bution for clients, including packing sub-
scription boxes for clients.
Parker attributes a lot of Awaken’s suc-
cess to its team. Flexible work arrangements
have enabled him to attract and retain top
talent. ‘‘I’ve always been focused on the fact
that family comes first, and people can take
time off if and when they need to. We all
work to live, not live to work, and we don’t
want work to be the main focus for our peo-
ple, because that’s not healthy.’’
Productivity is measured on output,
which is roughly mapped out with team
members on a daily and weekly basis. Work-
ers are encouraged to get along to a yoga
class or help out in their child’s reading class
at school in the middle of the day if they
would like to. ‘‘You have to treat people like
adults. We all know what we need to get
done to achieve our KPIs and as long as
everyone is hitting those, that’s great,’’
Parker says. AFR
down the barrel of cost-of-living challenges
and the threat of recession.
‘‘One of the things that we know from
many years in the industry is that booze is
relatively recession-proof. So that’s a good
thing.
‘‘But I think for us, what we’ve had to do is
to make sure that we are able to meet the
needs of consumers across most, if not all,
occasions when they want have a beverage
and also – importantly – across the different
price points,’’ Haysman says.
Haysman says there’s a great team
behind Mighty Craft and he’s optimistic
about the future.
‘‘FY23 promises to be an amazing year of
achievements for Mighty Craft,’’ Haysman
says. AFR
AFRGA1 S017
 18
Platform’s growth is beyond compare
As consumers become increasingly comfortable
with selecting and purchasing products or
services online, comparison portals have
emerged as a crucial intermediary in the
decision-making process.
Of course buyers need to be confident that as
well as being seamless and easy to use, the
comparison functions are guided by true
independence and transparency.
From its origins in the energy retail sector a
decade or so ago, the comparison sector has fast
matured from the days when bemused users
would engage with a site, only to see a passive
listing of energy plans.
There was no visibility on what they could
subscribe to and the plans were often out of date
or sponsored by a provider.
“There’s a definite shift in behaviour to
consumers wanting to do things independently,”
says CIMET’s founder and chief executive, Ankit
Jain. “We built our business to change the mindset
of the comparison industry.”
While consumers would be familiar with the
likes of Compare the Market’s ‘meerkats’, they
would probably draw a blank with CIMET. But
behind the scenes, CIMET is a leading
‘comparison-as-a-service’ platform, providing
white-labelled or co-branded services to other
comparison sites, including iSelect’s Energy
Watch and Finder.
“CIMET handles all the heavy lifting by building
and maintaining the comparison technology
platforms and managing the daily hassles, so the
brands can focus on providing value to their
customers,” Jain says.
AFRGA1 S018
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
He adds that CIMET is “completely unbiased”,
which means it doesn’t sponsor retailers or plans
and provides true comparisons based on
customer requirements.
“You are getting a genuine like-for-like choice in
terms of what is being shown to you as a
consumer,” Jain says. “It’s not a brand pushing
something onto you.”
These days, Jain says, users should not be
getting an intrusive phone call moments after
logging on. While some consumers may prefer the
human service – and CIMET has a call centre to
facilitate it – many will prefer to complete the
journey process online with a simple click-through.
CIMET’s nimble approach has been reflected in
its inclusion in this year’s AFR Fast 100 list, as well
as last year’s Fast 100 list ranking.
Jain and co-founders Raj Jain, Rubal Jain and
Tim Shepherd have grown the company from less
than $1 million in 2018-19 to about $11 million in
2021-22 (a compound annual growth rate of
131 per cent). Based in Sydney, the business
employs more than 100 people across Australia,
India and the Philippines.
In March this year, CIMET’s growth was spurred
further with a strategic investment from iSelect,
for a 49 per cent stake in the company. This fully
funded CIMET to launch multiple products
covering credit cards, solar panels, insurances and
loans and mortgages.
In 2021, the company launched a broadband
offering – the first end-to-end white label
comparison in the Australian market – with a
mobile phone portal due to be launched soon.
“We span across brands from traditional
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“We span across brands
from traditional
comparison sites to
rewards and loyalty, real
estate and financial
services.”
Ankit Jain
comparison sites to rewards and loyalty, real
estate and financial services,” Jain says.
“We have built our platform in a way that
allows tailored solutions for brands, from quick
and easy implementations to full customisation.”
From the outset, CIMET has worked with real
estate agents – including boutique Sydney agency
Laing+Simmons – to offer energy comparisons to
tenants on the move. Now, the offering is being
extended to the other services a house mover might
need, such as broadband, mobile and removalists.
“In general, the real estate industry is moving
that way in terms of offering a fully integrated
experience to tenants, who don’t want to have to
think of all these things when they are moving,”
Jain says.
Driving CIMET’s growth is its investment in the
‘pure’ underlying technology, which the company
monetises in different ways.
CIMET founder
and CEO Ankit
Jain (above) who
built the
business ‘‘to
change the
mindset of the
comparison
industry’’.
For example, clients can sign on with CIMET for
a quick and easy co-branded arrangement, or as
a white-labelled product using only their brand.
Alternatively, other parties can build their own
portal but avail of CIMET’s platforms and systems
via an application programming interface, or API.
While mainly a business-to-business (B2B)
service, CIMET also has a business-to-consumer
(B2C) arm called Econnex. Econnex serves
consumers directly and is often co-branded with
a partner that has a consumer base.
This approach enables additional revenue for
the co-branded partners, without any significant
extra investment or resources. One example is
Raiz Rewards, which sells energy plans to its
consumer base in what Jain describes as “a clear
win-win partnership for both Raiz and CIMET.”
Jain says the iSelect transaction was a “huge
milestone” and a vote of confidence in CIMET as
it expands into other product segments.
“As well as providing growth capital, the
investment gives us a significant advantage, which
we lacked as a start-up,” he says. “This includes
bolstering our governance framework and
management bandwidth and instilling financial
and other disciplines of a larger organisation.
“iSelect has seen the value in our technology
and diversification strategy and they want to help
us to accelerate that plan.”
CIMET has also enhanced its management team
with the appointment of Addie Saxena as chief
financial officer and Pravin Mahajan as chief
technology officer. Saxena was CIMET’s adviser in
the iSelect deal, while Mahajan was CTO at Ratecity
(a brand of CANSTAR).
 The Fast Lists 2022 Special Report S19
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review

Medical services
take a leap into
remote areas
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Health
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Sian Powell
The worldwide convulsions of the COVID-19
pandemic focused attention on health man-
agement and health logistics – particularly
on the knotty problems of providing for
those unable or unwilling to visit health pro-
fessionals in person.
Expanding fast into this field is Glenn
McKay’s Medical Rescue Group, which
provides a range of medical and evacuation
services to Australians (and others) in
remote locations, from providing fully
staffed air ambulances to more routine med-
ical services such as vaccinations.
The company was launched in 2010 when
McKay, a doctor, perceived a gap in remote
area medical services provided by the
private sector.
‘‘There were a lot of companies expanding
into remote places and they were missing
that high-level medical care that’s available
to everybody in the city,’’ he says, adding that
it was unreasonable for large construction
or mining projects in regional areas to rely
on a single general practice in a nearby town
for their medical needs. at the beginning of the COVID meltdown, Coviu for a virtual triage point; people can ‘‘When hypnotherapy is performed, par-
Now employing a fluctuating number of the Coviu platform managed about 400 call up that virtual emergency department to ticularly in randomised research settings,
staff, up to as many as 500 depending on medical consultations a day. Within two to work out whether they should go into emer- the hypnotherapist is just reading from a
requirements, Medical Rescue began by three weeks, after Medicare introduced gency department,’’ she says. ‘‘Seventy-five script,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s transferable – through
providing medical services with about 60 telehealth rebates, numbers had shot up to per cent of people who call that hotline don’t an app. The outcomes and the effectiveness
staff to ski-fields in New Zealand. about 25,000 consultations a day. have to go to hospital, they are redirected to of hypnotherapy done by an audio recording
‘‘We were providing acute medical ser- ‘‘It was a massive, massive increase; it was a GP or elsewhere. It provides peace of mind: is very similar to that of in-person hypno-
vices to four ski-fields over there and treated insane,’’ she says. ‘‘We’ve done eight million ‘this can wait’.’’ therapy.’’
several thousand trauma patients a season,’’ consultations since the beginning of the pan- Demand has fallen since the peak of the Mindset’s primary product is an app
McKay says, adding that his company can demic.’’ pandemic, but Pfeiffer says the platform called Nerva, designed to assist people with
mitigate in-house medical care risks by Coviu grew from a plan in 2012 to improve continues to manage up to 14,000 consulta- irritable bowel syndrome to manage their
providing a complete service. access to specific aspects of healthcare in Top: Medical Rescue tions every day, and the numbers are slowly condition without using drugs or staying on
Specialising in the provision of medical rural and remote parts of Australia. It was staff in action. Top increasing. a rigid diet. A scientist with a doctorate in
services in austere environments, Medical inspired by news of a speech pathologist left: Mindset Health Coviu has a staff of about 55 people, and gut-directed hypnotherapy and psycho-
Rescue leases two jet aircraft based in south- group having difficulty providing services to co-founders Alex the organisation is expanding from digital physiology from Monash University,
east Queensland to repatriate injured or rural and remote parts of far west NSW, par- Naoumidis (right) health into phone telehealth, helping doc- Simone Peters, ran a randomised controlled
unwell Australians and other nationals from ticularly schools. and his brother Chris tors build SMS conversations with their trial to compare the effectiveness of gut-
Pacific nations. The speech pathologists had been using Naoumidis. Above patients. directed hypnotherapy with the often-
Essentially flying intensive-care units, various products, such as Adobe Connect left: Coviu caller As well as expanding into the US, Coviu is recommended low FODMAP diet (which
these jets can keep patients alive until they and Teams, and they were unhappy with the interface. Above: also focused on Canada and New Zealand. limits certain types of carbohydrates –
can be transferred to a city hospital. quality of the video and audio – so important Glenn McKay. Below: ‘‘We want to transform the industry,’’ Pfeif- FODMAP stands for a class of carbohydrates
Customers include travel insurers and for connecting with children. Silvia Pfeiffer fer says. ‘‘We want to give clinicians a chance and the expansion of the acronym is Fer-
governments – the Japanese government CSIRO scientists hoped to smooth the to embrace technology, to really embrace mentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides,
uses Medical Rescue to assist with evacu- way. ‘‘That was the motivation to build the future of healthcare, which will abso- Monosaccharides and Polyols).
ations of injured or ill diplomats. Coviu originally,’’ Pfeiffer says. lutely include virtual care. So, that’s why She found the hypnotherapy and the diet
Within Australia, Medical Rescue part- In 2018, Pfeiffer and her colleagues spun we’re building Coviu the way we’re building were equally effective. Her hypnotherapy
ners with Toll to provide helicopter rescue Coviu out of CSIRO and, as an independent it. Healthcare practitioners overall are protocol is now central to the Nerva app,
services. On the ground, the company has its entity, it began to provide a platform for aware that it is the future and they can’t res- which earns 95 per cent of Mindset’s rev-
own resources. other types of health professionals, includ- ist it much longer.’’ enue. More than 300 million people around
‘‘We have a fleet of about 50 response ing dieticians and mental health practition- the world have irritable bowel syndrome
vehicles,’’ McKay says. ‘‘We’ve also ers – psychologists and psychiatrists. Hypnosis as a therapeutic tool and speak English, so there is a large poten-
developed deployable health units – big In 2019, Coviu signed up on a massive The COVID-era boom in demand for remote tial customer base.
trucks, effectively mobile hospitals, which digital health collaboration with HealthDi- treatment has also boosted Mindset Health, Naoumidis says Mindset was ‘‘global from
can cater for ICU patients for 24 hours.’’ rect, a company co-owned by multiple Aus- a rapidly growing company which markets a day one’’, and most of Nerva’s 27,000 paying
For the past two years, the company has tralian state health departments and the range of hypnosis-based digital therapeutics members are in the US. ‘‘We get a lot of refer-
provided ground medical services, including federal health department. to patients around the world. rals and recommendations from doctors,
ambulances, paramedics, doctors and The Coviu experts began building a big- Founded by Melbourne-based brothers dieticians, and gastro-enterologists who
nurses, to the Australian defence forces to ger platform to support hospitals’ outpa- Alex and Chris Naoumidis, aged 27 and 25, recommend Nerva to their patients,’’ he
support defence training around Australia. tient clinics and six months later the Mindset Health currently offers three digital says, adding that rather than treatment, the
McKay says there has been an increased pandemic hit. ‘‘So, in March 2020, we were therapeutic apps – to treat irritable bowel company’s apps were self-help tools.
demand for the services Medical Rescue can there at just the right time in the right place syndrome and menopausal hot flushes and Mindset Health now employs 28 people
provide as public health services consider with our platform, providing all these clini- to help users quit smoking. and expansion is on the agenda.
how best to staff the hospitals and clinical cians across hospitals, specialists, GPs, ‘‘In 2017, my brother and I were in Monash
outreach programs used by remote com- allied health providers, anybody in University, both commerce-finance stu- Digital health monitoring
munities. The COVID pandemic has healthcare, with the possibility to dents, and we taught ourselves to code,’’ Another fast-growing company has capital-
stretched health services thin, and hospital deliver virtual care successfully,’’ Alex Naoumidis says. Their first ised on the still burgeoning need for digital
staff are tired, he adds. Pfeiffer says. endeavour was a peer-to-peer dress health monitoring and management.
This exploding demand has pushed the While certain ailments and con- rental start-up, but they wound it Developed to link healthcare teams with
company to expand at speed. ditions, such as appendicitis or a up, abandoning fashion to focus patients to better manage chronic disease
‘‘Prior to the pandemic it was like sitting in broken elbow, cannot be on psychology, mental health and prevent unnecessary hospitalisations,
a tube, floating down a river in Thailand examined or treated via video and behavioural science. CareMonitor is the face of healthcare in the
drinking a cocktail and watching the busi- links, many illnesses can be The potential of hypnotherapy future, says founder and chief executive
ness steadily grow,’’ McKay says. ‘‘Over the assessed. caught their attention. ‘‘Our dad officer Deepak Biswal.
last couple years, it’s swimming against the ‘‘Plenty of things are possible – rated it and has used it in the past,’’ ‘‘You can do a lot of things at home to
current. We’re growing rapidly, but there’s a lot more than people actually Naoumidis says. ‘‘We thought it was a bit manage and monitor vital signs,’’ he says,
been no cocktails or tubes in sight.’’ thought before the pandemic,’’ weird, but we decided to look into the sci- pointing out that this sort of health monitor-
Pfeiffer says, noting that Coviu ence and we found there’s a huge amount of ing can cover long periods of time in the
Telehealth services in demand builds clinical tools into the plat- clinical evidence supporting hypnosis as a home. ‘‘That’s where a patient spends most
The pandemic also drove rocketing demand form to provide health profes- therapeutic tool.’’ of the time during the year, rather than in
for Australian telehealth company Coviu, sionals with expanded The focused attention and absorption the hospital setting.’’
which finalised an expanded platform just assessment options. engendered improved therapy, he adds, Twenty per cent of patients account for
months before the illness swept the world. ‘‘Now a lot of virtual emer- and hypnotherapy works even via a almost 80 per cent of healthcare costs, and
Chief executive officer Silvia Pfeiffer says gency departments are using recording heard on a device. Continued S36
AFRGA1 S019
 S20
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Box of Books fills

requirements to be able to adjust the text to forever. Chavan found himself sitting next
meet their specific needs.’’ to Rajan. Both were motivated and search-
From a start-up with one employee in ing for some inspiration to build a new
2018, Box of Books now has nearly 40 career direction. They began chatting dur-

gap in the market

employees. Retention rates among schools
are high, with 98 per cent retaining the ser-
vice the following year.
Despite demonstrable growth, like every-
one in tech, it’s been tough to secure talent,
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
which remains a challenge, Dobinson
Left: Schools admits.
Education, training benefit from using More than 250 secondary schools will be
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
ing the breaks, and realised they had similar
career goals.
‘‘Training companies are great at train-
ing, but they need some assistance in mar-
keting and enrolling students, which is
where we come in. We fill that gap for them.
There are a lot of people in the community
sector who need to upskill, and we help

Nina Hendy Box of Books, says using the platform in 2023, but the size of them navigate their career path through
Brad Dobinson, the market is gigantic. There are 2700 sec- upskilling,’’ Chavan says.
Box of Books, an Australian-owned edtech below. ondary schools and 1.6 million students in ‘‘A key challenge out there is helping stu-
provider, sits in a small pocket of the market Australia alone. dents get into courses. We also help people
that offers a complete school resources Box of Books has been on an educational with skills in childcare, aged care or the dis-
solution via a platform that offers a central- journey of its own, realising that it needed to ability sector get certified for those skills,
ised procurement and e-commerce solution firstly educate schools on the benefits it without the need to study for years. And
for all learning resources, such as textbooks offered. Getting a foot in the principal’s door these students see the value that we provide
and stationery. hasn’t always been easy. and they come back looking for other ser-
Its strategy of cleverly straddling techno- ‘‘We’ve effectively had to push the educa- vices.’’
logy and procurement has earned it a place tion of what our service can do and demon- A big focus for the pair is working with
in the Fast 100 list. went to six different classes and had six dif- strate that to schools to ensure they can people who are part of the National Disabil-
CEO Brad Dobinson says the company ferent usernames and six different pass- clearly see the benefits that we offer,’’ he ity Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
was launched in 2018, responding to a gap words and managing that across 25 says. ‘‘Some people working with the NDIS
that existed in the operation of Australian students in a class . . . the potential fail- need further training to bring in more value,
schools by co-ordinating the procurement ure points were mind-boggling.’’ Courses for careers so we’re trying to bridge that gap and look at
of textbooks, school supplies and digital Box of Books sought to resolve this Launching four years ago, Get My how to build their skills.
resources. issue once and for all, enabling stu- Course, which has hit the AFR Fast ‘‘The more skilled and knowledgeable
For schools, the ability to cut down on dents to seamlessly access digital Starters list, helps people working they are, the better the scheme works,’’
administration and operate more efficiently resources in a range of formats in the community sector to map Chavan says.
offers an appeal, given that most school with a single sign-in. their career goals and gain the qual- It’s a simple idea that has enabled them to
resources are purchased from up to a dozen ‘‘We now supply all aspects of ifications needed to reach those build a profitable business, thriving during
suppliers. what a student needs to learn, goals. the pandemic, given it became a period of
‘‘It’s been a game-changer for the schools whether it’s a physical textbook, They have partnered with a career and life reflection for many. They
from an administration perspective,’’ stationery or a resource pack,’’ dozen training companies across now employ 52 staff, who have themselves
Dobinson says. Dobinson says. Australia, funnelling students into undertaken intensive training to under-
‘‘Just within the digital portion of what ‘‘We improve the learning these courses. stand the industry.
students use in classrooms today, there was lives of students, with techno- The co-founders, Darshan But there are, of course, challenges. Man-
historically a number of roadblocks that logy that allows students to read Chavan and Rejin Rajan, met when they aging a scaling business isn’t for the faint-
meant that the digital tools teachers wanted a textbook in more than 80 dif- were international students, forking hearted, Chavan says. ‘‘We have three ment-
to use were problematic and cumbersome ferent languages, which provides over $2000 to attend a Tony Robbins ors who are experts in sales, leadership and
to procure for the classroom. for learning diversity support for conference. Neither of them expected scaling who are guiding us in the right direc-
‘‘The concept of having a student who students that have specific learning the direction of their lives would change tion.’’ AFR

G12989239AA-241122

AFRGA1 S020
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Agile recruiters deliver top tech talent
The recruitment industry continues to grow in a
hotly contested job market where employees can
almost pick and choose at will.
Well-sourced recruitment firms with a slew of
talent on their books are eagerly sought by
employers looking to fill senior roles.
“Iterate have a really strong network of clients
and partners in the market and we’re able to offer
candidates introductions to many of Melbourne’s
leading tech teams and organisations,” says Ryan
Lynch, director and principal at Iterate.
“We also invest back into the candidates that we
place, offering $500 towards online training
courses, resulting in a lot of referrals from our
network as a true, trusted partner.
‘‘We’re heavily engaged in the community,
having recently sponsored the NO/BS Conference
in Melbourne and we have an upcoming meet-up
sponsorship with BeerOps – Australia’s largest
Dev Ops and Cloud Meet-up. We like to think that
Iterate are not only a recruiter for the tech
community, but that we’re a part of the tech
community in Melbourne.”
The IBISWorld report Employment Placement
and Recruitment Services in Australia, published
in March 2022, predicts the industry will grow to
$18.4 billion in revenue by 2027, as industry
operators are projected to offer a wider range of
online employment placements and other
employment services over the period, supporting
revenue growth.
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The report authors believe established
recruitment firms will develop their own
complementary and additional services and
processes.
“We certainly feel there’s a genuine place for
true specialist recruiters out there to add value to
their clients and partners, beyond putting bums
on seats,” Michael Boyd, Iterate director and
principal, says.
“The highly specialised nature of what we do
often sees us competing with more traditional
consulting firms and we’ve been engaged to build
out whole ‘squads’ for teams, which has lead us to
launch a new service offering for our business,
with ‘Iterate Squads’ coming out soon.
“Nowadays everything is on Zoom or Teams, so
it’s become easy for everyone to slip into a more
transactional way of doing business. We see the
obvious risks here given we’re all about being able
to identify and create that cultural and team fit
for a business.
‘‘That’s where it’s particularly important for
Iterate to ensure we find the right candidate for the
job by meeting the initial brief, and ensuring the
candidate is fitting into the role for the long term.”
Iterate launched in May 2019 with the vision of
creating a recruitment business and brand that
would be boutique, and highly specialised with a
real emphasis on premium candidate and
partner care.
“A key drawcard was the opportunity to control
“Iterate have a really
strong network of clients
and partners in the
market and we’re able to
offer candidates
introductions to many of
Melbourne’s leading tech
teams and organisations.”
Ryan Lynch
outcomes better,” Boyd says. “In our previous
agency, we often encountered a lot of red tape,
which hindered our ability to deliver to our
customers. By setting up Iterate, we are more agile
and faster in delivering outcomes for our partners.
“We faced the usual hurdles for any service-
based/recruitment industry start-up in that
there’s a restraint of trade clauses preventing you
from working with any existing customers. We
saw this as a great opportunity to build
partnerships with those companies and teams
21
The Iterate
team includes
co-founders
Ryan Lynch,
fourth from left,
and Michael
Boyd, far right.
that valued what we had to offer. Then a little
thing called COVID hit in 2020. We had only been
trading less than a year but it also meant we had
minimal overheads – we didn’t have any rent or
staff to pay at that stage of our business’s
journey, so we were super lean.
‘‘Luckily, for our business and industry, hiring in
the tech space resumed pretty quickly even
during lockdown, as tech workforces adapted
quickly to remote working.”
Despite record low unemployment figures,
there are still hurdles for overseas workers to
obtain the right visas. It is often a slow process
that can frustrate everyone involved.
“There’s a lag in visa processing times and a
clunky system in bringing in specialised tech
talent from overseas,” Lynch says.
“For as long as I’ve been in recruitment there’s
been a supply issue getting more grassroots and
home-grown talent coming through.
“It’s also been a pretty turbulent few years, with
extreme growth for tech teams and recruitment
teams followed by redundancy rounds and
uncertainty in the market, so it’s been a bit of a
roller coaster.
‘‘This has fed into remuneration trends in the
market with a ‘highest bidder wins’ for talent
being the prevailing theme over the last 12
months. Thankfully, this has stabilised in the
market with salaries and contract rates
correcting recently.”
AFRGA1 S021
 22 Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com

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AFRGA1 S022
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Growth puts IT group on path to ASX
National IT consultancy SOCO has been profitable
every year since its incorporation in 2013, but in
the last three has recorded impressive compound
annual revenue growth of more than 60 per cent.
“This has been achieved without taking on any
debt, with the only funding injection coming from
the five original founders,’’ explains CEO Simon
Forth. ‘‘SOCO started with a mission to create a
values-driven business that makes our clients,
partners and staff the hero.”
The five founders – Arnie Raju, Carlo Liviani,
Sebastian Rizzo, Stevan Simovic and Tom Rock –
worked together on many technology projects at
multinational organisations and for Australian
government departments. That experience led
them to realise many projects failed because of how
they were conceived and executed.
The desire to keep their high performing team
together drove the founders to create SOCO. Their
desire to build and retain top performers was at the
core of the company’s own ethos, reflected in its
recent certification by Great Place to Work, which
maps workplace culture. Ninety-four per cent of
SOCO workers gave the company a thumbs-up in
the confidential survey, versus a national average of
56 per cent. Staff retention, meanwhile, sits at 98
per cent at a time when many people are looking to
change roles as they chase new opportunities,
higher salaries and greater workplace flexibility.
Forth says the original team has grown to over
80 staff located across Australia. The company has
a work-from-home policy and offers two weeks of
additional paid leave over the Christmas/New Year
period in addition to other leave entitlements.
SOCO embraces a 4D methodology which,
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according to Forth, underpins its success. The
approach begins with ‘‘discovery’’ by engaging
with clients to understand what success would
look like. This involves understanding current
circumstances, conducting interviews and
surveys, undertaking a review of industry best
practice, and thoroughly analysing and
documenting business requirements and what
results the client needs to achieve.
A solution is then designed that gives the client
a vision of the future. This includes a high-level
architecture backed with maps of future
processes as well as a project timeline with
detailed costings.
“These initial stages are critical,” says Forth. “A
solid project foundation that is clearly articulated
to everyone on the project team and other
stakeholders maximises the opportunity for
success and delighting client expectations.”
Client engagements then move to delivery, the
third of the four “Ds”. The broad skills in SOCO’s
team ensures that everything from the technical
build through to project management, data
migration and testing is carried out by experienced
professionals. Importantly, significant focus is
placed on change management.
“While change is an inevitable part of business,
we all react and adapt at different paces and in
different ways. While we work with technology,
we never forget that people are the beating heart
and soul of every organisation. We work hard to
help everyone on the change journey.’’
While many technology projects end at solution
delivery, SOCO follows through after the discovery,
design and delivery phases have been completed.
“While we work with
technology, we never
forget that people are the
beating heart and soul of
every organisation.”
Simon Forth
Ongoing support for users, scheduled updates,
continuous improvement and ensuring there is a
road map for the future help SOCO’s customers
drive maximum value from their investment.
The SOCO team is confident of continued
success. Nineteen of the company’s top 20 clients
from 2020-21 remained clients in 2021-22. . The
23
SOCO’s
founding five:
(from left) Arnie
Raju, Tom Rock,
Carlo Liviani,
Sebastian Rizzo
and Stevan
Simovic.
team has delivered work for more than 120 clients
across Australia last financial year , with 59 per
cent of revenue coming from the federal
government, 29 per cent corporations and 7 per
cent state and local governments. Revenue
growth for the current year is tracking at 37 per
cent.
Buoyed by that success, the company is
planning an ASX listing, which Forth says will
underpin organic growth. ‘‘We’ll also consider
strategic acquisitions that align with our strong
culture and values which can offer SOCO both
new technical expertise and increased geographic
expansion across Australia,’’ he says.
A significant element defining the company’s
long-term future is ensuring it has the right
leadership in place. The recent appointments of
non-executive directors Khatiza Brown and Tom
Stianos, who is chair, add considerable
experience.
Stianos was the non-executive chair of ASX-
listed Empired and the CEO and managing director
of the well-regarded IT consultancy SMS
Management and Technology (ASX:SMX) for more
than a decade, while Brown’s finance and
corporate governance experience will be a valuable
asset as SOCO continues its growth trajectory.
“At our core, we are a values-driven
organisation,’’ Forth says. ‘‘The experience of the
founders, the staff we have recruited and recent
additions to our board are all about ensuring we
deliver exceptional value to our clients.
‘‘Everything we do is about people. That’s
reflected in our staff and client retention rates.
This is what will underpin our ongoing success.”
AFRGA1 S023
 24
Tech experts tap into expanding market
Back in 2000, less than 7 per cent of the world’s
population was online. Today, at least half of the
global population uses the internet.
At the start of 2002, there were about
740 million worldwide mobile phone
subscriptions. Now, that figure has passed
8 billion.
No business can survive without the hardware
infrastructure combined with the software to
function on a daily basis.
Businesses, however, can be overwhelmed
trying to figure out what technology they need
and how best to operate it.
That’s where companies like Olympus
Technology Services come to the fore.
“Technology often seems to be inherently
complex, but it needn’t be,” says Paulo Mpliokas,
director at Olympus Technology Services. “So, we
try to demystify things and make the technology
the enabler for whatever is core to our clients’
business.”
Olympus Technology Services is an Australian
IT services company providing consulting advice,
professional and managed services, along with an
array of technology solutions for medium and
large commercial clients, as well as local and state
government agencies and large global
enterprises.
It specialises in helping organisations of all sizes
understand how to simplify complex processes
and realise tangible benefits when using
technology.
“We are fiercely customer-focused and have
AFRGA1 S024
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AFR Fast Lists 2022
built our business around understanding their
needs,” Mpliokas says. “Our team of project and
technical delivery resources spend time to get to
know our clients and we focus on the outcomes
they need to keep their businesses successful.
“We help modernise and migrate many
customers’ technology platforms to give their
teams back some time or to reduce risks to their
business.”
The ongoing global pandemic – now into its
third year – caused many businesses to grind to a
halt, but not technology services. As more
companies were required to allow their
employees to work from home – a trend that is
expected to continue into the future – technology
services expanded, as businesses had to learn to
work online.
“Our customers fell into two camps here, as a
result of COVID,” Mpliokas says. “Either they
reduced their contractors and workforce due to a
reduction in business and revenues, they were in
retail or transport or other affected verticals, or
they had to maintain or increase their operations
as they were in industries such as healthcare or
government services and were swamped.
‘‘Both customer types needed more from us so
our business grew and we had to recruit
additional staff to keep up.”
Formed in 2016, Olympus Technology Services
has now grown to employ 32 staff and has no
signs of slowing down. Every business needs help
with technology to some degree.
“With the onset of digital transformation, every
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“With the onset of digital
transformation, every
business in Australia,
large or small, have a
requirement for
technology and services
providers like us.”
Paulo Mpliokas
business in Australia, large or small, have a
requirement for technology and services
providers like us,” Mpliokas says.
One of the big tech issues in Australia and
around the world is cybersecurity breaches.
The recent breaches of Medibank and Optus
have severely compromised individuals’ personal
data and caused many companies to reassess
their security systems.
In fact, the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s
(ACSC) annual report for 2021-22 states that the
Paulo Mpliokas
(above) is
director at IT
services group
Olympus
Technology
Services.
centre received more than 76,000 cybercrime
reports, an increase of nearly 13 per cent from the
previous financial year.
This equates to one report every seven minutes,
compared with every eight minutes the previous
financial year.
The ACSC saw a rise in the average cost per
cybercrime report to more than $39,000 for small
business, $88,000 for medium business, and
more than $62,000 for large business, resulting in
an average increase of 14 per cent.
“Cybersecurity is the main issue on everyone’s
mind,” Mpliokas says. “Where is your data? How
is it being secured? Can you get your data back if
you are faced with a cyber incident?
“We can answer all of those questions and set up
our customers so that they have peace of mind.”
Olympus Technology Services has experience in
designing, deploying and replacing ageing
datacentre infrastructure, campus and wireless
networks. Whether a business needs to manage
many sites or one, OlympusTech can modernise
networks to help keep them secure and realise
the benefits of SD-WAN, SASE and hybrid-cloud.
“Our as-a-service infrastructure and on-
demand resources help maintain modern
workloads and scale when and where you need
them,” Mpliokas says.
OlympusTech is a 100 per cent Australian
owned and operated private business with
offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that
provide technological support 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
 The Fast Lists 2022 Special Report S25
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review

needs to be broken to accelerate the decar-

Marine science in bonisation movement. ‘‘There is a massive

education piece,’’ he says.
Solar Thermal aspires to capture roughly
3 per cent market share domestically, which

right environment equates to around 20,000 out of the 700,000

hot-water systems installed annually.
Right now, Taylor says dealers are seeing
so much demand, they are ordering

to expand footprint container-loads of product.

But inflationary pressures are biting. Solar
Thermal’s profit margins have been hit by
rising fuel prices and the removal of diesel
rebates.
A former lecturer in organisational beha-
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
viour and leadership at the University of
operations to meet sustainability goals,’’ Western Australia, Taylor was engaged as a
Energy Wheeler says. consultant five years ago to write the busi-
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Agnes King ‘‘Margins will be squeezed as it gets more ness case for Thermal Solar by his now
competitive and there are more options, but Japanese supply partners.
At an industry networking event years ago, the volume coming through is huge. He had previously dabbled in reselling
O2 Marine founder Chris Lane heard a com- ‘‘Between 2 and 3 per cent of new car sales imported solar hot-water units but recog-
petitor from a larger firm disparagingly refer are EV now – which equates to about 30,000 nised this technology was being superseded
to his start-up as an ‘‘angry poodle nipping at cars a year out of a couple of million. We’ve by cheaper photovoltaic rooftop solar.
the heels of a great Dane’’. got a long way to go.’’ Instead, he and engineer Dr Saeed Tehrani
Four years later, his so-called poodle has This demand has seen AFR 2022 Fast 100 designed a hot-water system that would
outgrown the great Dane in size and scale. company EVSE’s revenue increase by 95 per complement PV solar systems rather than
O2 Marine, included in The Australian Fin- cent, to $7.5 million, for the year to June 30, compete for roof space.
ancial Review’s 2022 Fast 100 list, now boasts with 30 staff spread between offices in Taylor was engaged as caretaker chief
one of the biggest marine science teams Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane. executive for four months while a suitable
nationally, having doubled its workforce to Wheeler says the new Labor’s govern- candidate was found. He never vacated it
45 over the past 12 months on the back of ment’s national EV strategy is a step in the and now manages a team of 13 staff based in
major port expansions by miners scram- right direction. But EV car makers will con- Byron Bay, Melbourne and Sydney. Taylor’s
bling to meet the world’s appetite for Austra- tinue to overlook the Australian market advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: enjoy
lian commodities. unless the government imposes a fuel effi- what you do. ‘‘If you’re going to run a busi-
Rising demand for iron ore exports out of ciency standard. ness going through fast growth it’s got to be
Western Australia has created a flurry of ‘‘Australia is one of just two developed fun because it’s pretty stressful,’’ he says.
work in environmental impact assessments. economies without fuel efficiency stand-
This boosted O2 Marine’s revenue by 50 per ards, the other being Russia,’’ Wheeler says. Decarbonisation boosts
cent, to $7.3 million, for the year ended June It will become a dumping ground for the Bridgeford Group
30. least efficient petrol-powered cars that can’t Banks must offer better green finance
O2 Marine will spend the next 18 months be offloaded elsewhere, he warns. options for asset owners trying to retrofit
consolidating before hitting the acquisition ‘‘Europe, China, the United States, their Above: EVSE’s including a raft of micro reforms in con- and decarbonise existing building stock if
trail to expand interstate. fuel emission standards ratchet up over Brendan Wheeler. struction codes that hold valuable lessons Australia is to meet its carbon emissions
Lane says about 15 per cent of its sales over time, increasing pressure on automakers to Below: Bridgeford for Australian legislators. reduction targets, Bridgeford Group man-
the past two years have been derived from send EVs there. Australia is at the bottom of Group’s Nick The global energy crisis, soaring domestic aging director Nick Tassigiannakis warns.
renewable energy generation projects, the list and risks falling even further behind Tassigiannakis (left) power prices, and generous government The net-zero consulting and engineering
including hydrogen and offshore wind. This without a fuel emissions standard.’’ and O2 Marine’s rebates have supercharged Solar Thermal’s house started out three years ago working
is off a base of virtually zero. An eye-watering amount of EV infrastruc- Chris Lane. sales. Included in the 2022 AFR Fast Starters with clients such as the City of Melbourne to
Looking ahead, he anticipates defence ture must be built over the next 20 years. list, its revenue increased 104 per cent to $9.5 electrify their 40 largest gas consuming
contracts will account for a big chunk of And EVSE is positioning to capture the lion’s million for the year to June 30. buildings in a feasible way from a capital and
income. An Australian Defence Force white share of integration work. Based on year-to-date orders, Taylor says operational expenditure perspective.
paper due next month is expected to unlock ‘‘All the hardware and software we the 2022-23 financial year will be even bet- Having assessed more than 200 facilities
new investments in defence infrastructure, provide is agnostic to brands, it gives the cus- ter, provided it can secure critical compon- since, across state government, local coun-
including port facilities upgrades and subsea tomer maximum flexibility, which is essen- ents and overcome supply chain issues that cils, universities and for large property
technologies. tial for these infrastructure assets to get have resulted in ships bound for Australia groups, Tassigiannakis says a lot of this
‘‘We’re pretty much fully booked for the greater utilisation and better return on being rerouted to Europe at the last minute. activity is bankable.
next two years,’’ Lane says. investment,’’ Wheeler says. Taylor travelled to Japan this month to ‘‘The challenge is that banks don’t have
O2 Marine has formed a new subsidiary He says EV infrastructure networks must shore up the supply of critical components the necessary level of sophistication in their
focused on developing subsea technologies be interoperable and convenient to achieve and formalise international expansion loan assessment process and product offer-
for military application in collaboration mass market adoption. agreements. ings,’’ he says.
with the defence force and university EVSE is closely watching the emergence He says Australia’s ability to secure suffi- The decarbonisation movement has seen
researchers. It represents a completely new of ‘‘vehicle to grid’’ technology, which uses cient product to meet forecast demand in Bridgeford Group’s revenue surge by 102 per
revenue stream for the business. the car’s battery to power homes or feed the niche where Solar Thermal plays is cent, to $1.3 million, for the year to June 30,
O2 Marine has a history of innovation in back into the grid. vastly diminished by lagging legislation. earning it a place in the 2022 AFR Fast
marine technology, having previously ‘‘That technology is very exciting, but ‘‘At the moment, consumers are doing the Starters list. Its team has swollen from four
developed a low-cost wave buoy with fund- there is a lot of work to be done before it heavy lifting and the pace of change is sty- to 12.
ing assistance from a state research and becomes practical and viable, and realistic- mied,’’ Taylor says. ‘‘We saw a gap in the market relating to
development grant. ally it’s a while off yet,’’ Wheeler says. Australia is also at risk of becoming a upgrade pathways at a portfolio level. For
Lane is also seeing growth in hard-to- dumping ground for inferior heat pump example, when, how, and why you prioritise
abate sectors, such as gas, turning to marine- Solar Thermal eyes export products if governments don’t resist certain facilities and projects, and the
based carbon sequestration, including man- opportunities pushback from incumbent technology sup- unique challenges at each site,’’ Tassigian-
grove regeneration, to reduce their CO2 Energy-efficient hot-water pump-maker pliers and impose energy efficiency ratings nakis says.
emissions footprint and meet net-zero com- Solar Thermal expects exports to overtake on hot water systems for residential and He feels the National Construction Code
mitments. The biggest threat to capturing domestic sales within three years as the commercial use, he warns. ‘‘Most builders 2022 is a missed opportunity to incentivise
these growth opportunities is a lack of Russia-Ukraine conflict accelerates the shift will look at the legislation and do the min- property developers and asset owners to
skilled staff and rocketing salaries. from gas to electrification in Europe and the imum to meet it as cheaply as possible,’’ Tay- move beyond ‘‘the easy stuff’’ and tackle
Despite its expansion plans, O2 Marine United States. lor says. more challenging elements such as heating
won’t be straying from its bread-and-butter ‘‘Europe will be one of our biggest mar- Plumbers are the other key influencer in and cooling. These have a long way to go.
environmental compliance work. kets,’’ Solar Thermal chief executive Chris the green building value chain. Taylor says ‘‘The National Construction Code 2022 is
‘‘Our core business is built around being Taylor says. mechanisms to break the cycle of replacing lacking in a number of areas,’’ Tassigian-
really good at the ongoing compliance. We He points to Europe’s progressive clean old systems with conventional technology nakis says. ‘‘Definitely for new facilities you
secured some of the fastest approvals for energy policies as a key driver of growth, without exploring low-emission alternatives need to raise that bar on energy efficiency
marine projects in Australia ever this year. If standards.’’
we do a good job at each stage in a project This would reduce the overall cost of
lifecycle, a client is a client for life,’’ Lane decarbonising the economy, he explains.
says. Things like upgrading from double-glazing
to triple-glazing pose a margin cost in new
EVSE rides rising EV tide builds compared to retrofitting it in an old
Electric vehicle technology reseller and solu- one. But focusing on new developments
tions provider EVSE has implemented out- alone won’t move the dial fast or far enough.
of-cycle pay rises and biannual salary The volume of existing building stock far
reviews to combat acute skills shortages exceeds new construction and it is in this
amid a surge in demand from large property space that assertive decarbonisation solu-
developers and fleet operators shifting to tions are needed.
EVs. Inflationary pressures are being felt
Electrical engineers and project managers across Bridgeford Group’s business. It has
are currently commanding 30 to 40 per cent created an additional impetus to automate
salary bumps, EVSE co-founder Brendan repeatable functions using software, some-
Wheeler says. thing that was already on the firm’s strategic
At the same time, inflation is driving up road map.
the cost of materials and transportation. The firm is also investing in unique intel-
This has been offset by a huge increase in lectual property, including a tool that allows
volume which has helped to preserve profit clients to reset their decarbonisation road
margins over the last 12 months. map, based on changes in upgrades,
‘‘There’s a big shift from government and advancements in technology or changes in
corporates to electrify and decarbonise their energy and cost structures. AFR
AFRGA1 S025
 26
Zen and
the art of
pursuing
creative
passions
Transforming practical household features into
luxurious functioning artwork has turned John
Terziovski’s passion into a bespoke business.
Unable to find the perfect items to fit out his
own development projects, Melbourne creative
and business owner Terziovski decided to design
and source them himself.
“I was looking for custom entry doors for my
own projects and had always been interested in
steel doors and windows,’’ he explains. “I saw a
gap in the local market for products that were
competitively priced but still of high quality. When
I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I thought
with my background in design I could just design
them myself.
“The saying ‘do something you are passionate
about’ really rings true for me,” he adds.
In 2019, Zen Doors was born out of Terziovski’s
love for design and his product knowledge.
Terziovski, who studied design at university, had
a vision to create the most exciting, unique and
memorable architectural iron entry doors and
steel glass doors in the world.
Extensive market research followed with
Terziovski designing high-end luxurious entrance
and internal doors as well as windows, before
branching out into elegant wood and bioethanol-
burning suspended fireplaces and custom-made
marble bathtubs and basins.
“Being high-ticket items, I wanted to make sure
there was enough demand there to sustain this
business model,” he says.
Terziovski’s research paid off. The demand was
there, with clients eager to get their hands on the
custom-made products that are breathing new
life into everyday household objects and helping
to make luxurious items more accessible.
Most Zen products are manufactured overseas,
with a small number of the steel doors made by a
local Melbourne manufacturer when a customer
has a tight deadline.
“All the products are designed by me and
custom-made. We hold minimal stock; instead we
work closely with the customer to tailor the
product and the design to their individual needs,”
Terziovski says.
“Each item, whether it is a wood-burning
suspended fireplace, a custom-made entry door
or a bathtub, is very much a standalone
statement piece, like artwork.”
AFRGA1 S026
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
While traditionally entrance doors to homes
have been plain, practical necessities, Zen’s
offerings are grand, luxurious, individualised, a
statement piece at the front of a house.
“We really are flipping the front door on its
head,” he says. “These items really are an
emotional purchase – much like buying a high-end
car or a luxury watch.”
Since launching three years ago, Zen’s growth
has been scalable and sustainable, with clients
Australia-wide, the majority on the eastern
seaboard, as well as in New Zealand, United
States and Britain.
“Over the past couple of years, we have really
noticed how our homes have become a sanctuary
and I saw that first-hand during the pandemic.
Instead of looking out, people started looking
within. Confined to a space, they were focused on
how they could improve their homes and make
them more enjoyable.”
Despite the industry-wide supply chain woes,
Terziovski made the most of the pandemic with a
captivated audience at home and online.
“It meant we had more eyeballs on our
products, which turned into inquiries, which led to
sales and the momentum has continued,” he says.
Zen’s clients range from luxury builders and
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“Our focus is really on
ensuring the customer
has a fantastic experience,
they are getting a high-
quality product and
responsive service.”
John Terziovski
property developers to affluent home owners and
renovators. Despite a focus on residential, Zen
products are also being sought after for premium
commercial properties.
Zen baths have been snapped up for the uber-
luxurious GURNER Saint Moritz development in St
Kilda and the brand’s doors and fireplaces have
been used in numerous top-notch hotel projects
across Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
“Our focus is really on ensuring the customer
has a fantastic experience, they are getting a
high-quality product and responsive service.
From start to finish we want the customer
John Terziovski
is a Melbourne
designer and
entrepreneur,
and the founder
of Zen, which
makes high-end
architectural
products. PHOTO:
DAVE KULESZA
journey to be one people rave on about,”
Terziovski says.
Luxury does come with a higher price tag, but the
products really are an investment and will probably
outlast many other household items, he adds.
“The steel glass doors and windows are available
in single, double and triple-glazed options so you
can really improve the energy rating of the house
based on the thickness of the glazing.”
In late 2021, Terziovski opened the company’s
Melbourne showroom in Cremorne, offering a
bespoke, by-appointment-only service.
He now has his sights set on replicating the
Victorian showroom with a similar space
expected to open in Sydney in the coming
months. Other sites in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth
and Auckland could soon follow.
“I am sure in the next five years there will be a
lot of other Zen products coming to market. I am
constantly looking at different offerings but it’s
not a blanket approach. Any new product has to
fit in with the Zen brand and complement the
existing products,” he says.
“I would also love to get into the US market and
set up shop in Los Angeles, Miami or New York –
I know there is a big appetite for these products
over there.”
Architectural Products
9 Gwynne St, Cremorne VIC
03 7068 7667 | zenbg.com.au
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
SME lender credits its bespoke approach
In contrast to the ‘cookie cutter’ mentality
pervading the credit assessment of the larger
financiers, Odin Business Lending believes that
every enterprise needs to be assessed on its
individual merits.
With this ethos in mind, the specialist broker to
small to medium enterprises (SMEs) is not afraid
to take on clients classed as subprime, or with an
otherwise spotty credit history.
Odin’s book has grown at a spectacular clip
since the business was founded virtually from
scratch in 2020, by industry veteran Norman
Vancuylenberg.
One of the original franchisees to the RAMS
Home Loans business, Vancuylenberg says there
was widespread defaulting during the pandemic
period when Odin hung out its ‘open for business’
shingle.
He says that many of these businesses were
“put through the wringer and had adverse events”
through no fault of their own, such as
tradespeople affected by the problems of large
construction companies.
“We understand better than most that Aussie
businesses need a fair go,” he says.
Vancuylenberg says Australian lenders have
relied “far too heavily” on the credit scores kept by
the oligopoly agencies Experian, Equifax and Illion
(formerly Dun and Bradstreet).
“It can be very restrictive and based on
subjective measures,” he says.
“For example, a consumer looking for a credit
card might shop around and make multiple
applications – and negatively affect their credit
score. There’s a need for a more intuitive look.”
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
While so-called ‘positive’ (comprehensive)
credit reporting gives lenders a better view of the
positive traits of a potential borrower, it’s still a
crude and backward-looking device.
“Other lenders and originators might not have
touched these businesses, but we have the
processes and spend the time to get to know the
clients better, so we can present their proposals
to lenders in the best possible light,”
Vancuylenberg says.
“Ultimately, we understand where an SME has
been and – most importantly – where it wants to
go. It’s not a case of ‘your credit score is under a
certain number so we can’t help you’.”
Currently, Odin is an intermediary for more
than 80 lenders covering more than 900
products. These include well-known names such
as Prospa, Bizcap and OnDeck.
“We are extremely fortunate to be dealing with
funders who are open-minded and very genuine
about wanting to help businesses,”
Vancuylenberg says.
In its short life to date, Odin has arranged
$85 million of financing – often tailored
arrangements – for more than 2400 clients.
While some lenders require collateral – typically
property – Odin specialises in non-secured
funding for purposes including business
expansion, equipment purchases, working capital,
promotional activity or an expansion opportunity.
The loans are for anywhere between $5000 and
$1 million, with an average amount of $35,000
and an 18-month duration.
“Our approvals are usually within 24 hours,”
Vancuylenberg says. “We have had clients in a
“We are extremely
fortunate to be dealing
with funders who are
open-minded and very
genuine about wanting to
help businesses.”
Norman Vancuylenberg
difficult position who say they need half a million
dollars today and at 10am we have made it
happen.”
Vancuylenberg adds that the type of client will
vary from sector to sector, depending on the point
of the economic cycle.
“During COVID we were doing a lot for the food
and retail industry, especially grocery suppliers
who couldn’t keep up with stock demand and
payment terms,” he says.
“We’re also proud that we were able to support
the smaller end of the construction sector
through a time of upheaval.”
From a three-person office in 2020, Odin has
grown to a complement of 34 full-time staff
across four divisions. Over that period, Odin’s
turnover grew from $100,000 at inception to
$5 million last financial year.
Business Lending Made Simple
- Loans from $5k to $1M
- Minimum 6 months time in business
- Same day funding
- No asset backing
- No minimum credit requirement
- Defaults accepted
- Easy application process
  
27
Norman
Vancuylenberg,
above, founded
Odin Business
Lending in 2020.
“At our current trajectory we are on track to
more than double our gross revenue for the ’22-23
financial year,” Vancuylenberg says.
Named after the immensely wise god of Norse
mythology, Odin recently opened a New Zealand
office and Vancuylenberg says the business is
“going great guns” there.
“Where we are bespoke is that the lending
decisions are rarely made with security, it’s
generally done with experienced analysts working
through guidelines,” Vancuylenberg says.
“Much of the knowledge is industry-specific. A
retail butchery will have considerably different
cash flow, opportunities, strengths and
weaknesses than a carpenter.
“We don’t put all businesses in the one basket;
we look far deeper to understand the industry
needs and how the sector fits in the economy.”
Vancuylenberg says Odin operates on four core
values: family, respect, integrity and ensuring
prosperity for SMEs.
Reflecting this, in the September quarter
defaults and delinquencies across Odin’s book
were 50 per cent lower than expected.
“Even at the anticipated rate we were still
under the market and that comes down to
helping customers achieve their goals,” he says.
Vancuylenberg adds that Odin is not a “set and
forget” originator but remains in contact with
clients throughout the life of their loan.
“No one client ever remains where they started
out,” he says. “Over the time they are likely to
have bitten the bullet and repaid their debt, so we
will look at better solutions to help them to
continue to move forward.”
  

 

AFRGA1 S027
 S28
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Innovative ideas shake up freight movement

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Transport, logistics
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Mark Eggleton
With the end-of-the-year season fast
approaching, Australians are being told to
get their shopping done fast if they want
their purchases delivered before Christmas
by retailers and freight services.
And while online shopping numbers have
declined by 28 per cent year-on-year accord-
ing to Australia Post’s September update, the
same survey predicts a 3 per cent spike year-
on-year in online shopping in the five weeks
leading into Christmas.
The key to getting everything delivered
before Christmas lies with the freight com-
panies and for many businesses and con-
sumers, it’s that final journey from retailer to
consumer which causes some of the biggest
headaches. This is where discount parcel
service and Fast 100 company Interparcel
steps into the chain.
The company partners with many of the
world’s best parcel delivery firms and is
integrated with the top shopping cart plat-
forms.
All users need to do at checkout is choose
the delivery service that suits them best time I was off the plane I thought I could take JD Refrigerated Morell, who has a background in web and we’re driving more convenience to the
whether it be based on price or delivery time. all my Aussie Farmers Direct trucks and rep- Transport MD and development, was approached by Chardi, customer and helping them get everything
It also works for smaller online retailers licate that 50 times. founder Joe Joseph who was keen to create something online they need for their move in one seamless
because rather than have a relationship with ‘‘It was a solid move as today the company (above left) and the where he was able to list the space he had experience in one location,’’ Morrell says.
one courier firm, Interparcel’s service allows owns 43 trucks ranging from six-pallet trucks company’s trucks. available on backloads and offer it to people
them to use a range of providers that best all the way up to B-doubles,’’ Joseph says. at a discounted price. Car subscriptions rev up
suit their clients. Based out of Brisbane’s markets, the com- By 2018, Muval was born but Morell and Another Fast Starter shaking up an industry
According to the company’s Australia and pany provides a cold chain solution for fresh Chardi realised early the removals industry is automotive subscription service Loopit.
New Zealand managing director Steve produce producers and major retailers right as an entire field was quite untouched by The company’s head of marketing and
Zammit, the multi-courier solution works across south-east Queensland. technology. customer experience, George Skentzos, says
for retailers as it reduces ‘‘cart abandon- It provides cold transport logistics for all There were huge opportunities to roll out Loopit grew out of the founders’ first busi-
ment’’ at the checkout if a consumer can’t get the major supermarket chains and carries technology right across the removals space ness HelloCars, which was an online car
a delivery option. everything from fresh produce to chicken, from booking a truck to packing, unpacking dealership, but they saw an opportunity in
‘‘We’re always talking to our courier part- red meat and frozen goods. and even signing up to utility providers. the emerging car subscription model.
ners about the importance of offering the In the beginning, Joseph drove a truck ‘‘We can help move your car in an inter- Co-founders Michael and Paul Higgins
end consumer choice because if you don’t around himself and really got to know the state move, get your pets moved, pre-pack, saw the potential of consumers signing up to
have the option, you could end up with a lost business from the ground up and because Steve Zammit, MD unpack, get rid of the boxes, as well as organ- a month-to-month subscription service for
sale. the company began with just a few clients he of Interparcel. ise your energy and internet connections,’’ their vehicles rather than going through the
‘‘It’s all very well to offer free delivery as a had the time to build a fully integrated trans- Morrell says. rigmarole of financing or leasing the whole
retailer but consumers also want flexibility port management system from day one. The company utilises a range of vendors vehicle outright.
around when they receive that delivery,’’ ‘‘We now own our entire fleet and our in the removals industry and conducts The result is a software-as-a-service
Zammit says. equipment looks impeccable because we detailed quality assurance in terms of the model where consumers can subscribe to a
Launched locally in 2009, Zammit says invest heavily in it – and not just by main- people it uses on the Muval platform. particular make of car or model and they
the company has really ramped up its opera- taining it from a safety and a compliance ‘‘Not just anyone can join although any- can change their vehicle at more regular
tions in the last three years as the online perspective,’’ Joseph says. one can apply before we go through a verific- intervals.
retail boom has gone gangbusters. For Joseph, owning the fleet and employ- ation and qualification process where we According to Skentzos, the company was
For retailers, it’s super handy as they’re ing every driver and person in the company check out the company to ensure they’re up already talking to dealers about people buy-
able to log on to Interparcel and gain access means everyone in the business exudes a to the standards we advocate for in terms of ing online and Loopit presented them with a
to the largest choice of couriers in Australia. certain pride in their work and perform- giving great service to customers,’’ Morrell new revenue stream for new and used cars.
‘‘For example, if you’ve sold 10 items ance. He says the company could have the says. He says it works particularly well for trav-
through your web store, you would go to greatest equipment and technology in the ‘‘And once we complete the verification ellers on extended holidays as well as people
Interparcel and look where every parcel is world ‘‘but if people don’t care enough, then process, the company or individuals can be who don’t want to commit long-term to a
being delivered and you might go with it means nothing’’. on the platform and be booked online.’’ car. Subscription terms vary, with some peo-
Aramex for one, StarTrack for another or ‘‘The real difference is the time and effort Below, left: Loopit Morrell says the company has seen a huge ple looking for a month while others prefer
UPS. that we invest in our people. co-founders Paul spike in growth over the past year, especially something much longer.
‘‘Once you’ve fulfilled your orders, our sys- ‘‘If there’s anything that makes me proud Higgins and Michael as more people move interstate with the Loopit deals directly with manufacturers
tem literally connects via API to the relevant or sleep well at night, it’s our team are proud Higgins. Below right: latest Australian Bureau of Statistics census as well as car dealerships and the company’s
courier company, and we’ll get the relevant to wear the JD logo on their chest and that Muval co-founders data indicating Queensland has seen a net data highlights the top vehicles utilised on
compliance shipping label for each separate translates into customer satisfaction and James Morrell and gain of over 105,000 people in recent years subscription ‘‘largely match the vehicles or
parcel which is sent as a PDF to the retailer success. We don’t have five or six values on a Mahdi Chardi. while NSW has seen a net loss of 102,000 the top sales models’’ across the nation.
who then prints it out and attaches it to the wall, we have one – it’s about being proud of people. ‘‘There’s broad mix of models but ulti-
item needing to be shipped. every decision you make, He sees this growth continuing especially mately the cars people subscribe to
‘‘We can save businesses up to 70 per cent every piece of equipment as cost-of-living pressures hit families more resemble the cars that people would want to
off courier rates as well as reducing handling you see and the way you act, in metropolitan areas and people go in buy. Furthermore, unlike car rental, which
and fulfillment times and we offer our and that’s our guiding search of cheaper lifestyle options. In the is typically limited to a pool of a few plain
shipping solutions for free, without extra light,’’ Joseph says. meantime, he says Muval will continue to models we range from small cars right up to
fees or subscriptions,’’ Zammit says. build out their end-to-end booking platform Aston Martins and other luxury marques as
Removalists for everything to do with moving. well,’’ Skentzos says.
A cold chain solution disrupted ‘‘What we’re doing is unique in the space ‘‘What we are saying to dealerships is this
Another Fast 100 company in the logistics For Fast Starter is a new market, and you can offer subscrip-
space is Queensland’s JD Refrigerated Muval, the big tions. What’s more is we say there’s a good
Transport, which has enjoyed nearly 118 per idea designed to progression from subscribers to car buyers.’’
cent year-on-year growth. make a difference Loopit’s own research indicates the aver-
Managing director, Joe Joseph, spent 20 in the logistics age subscription lasts for over 150 days while
years in consumer goods logistics with the space was to the most popular make is MG followed by
likes of Mars Confectionary and Simplot reimagine moving Toyota and Kia. Utes prove popular with
Australia but never in the trucking business. by creating the Mazda’s BT-50’s average subscription
Looking for a lifestyle change, he bought into nation’s largest net- period being 180 days and the Toyota Hilux
the former Aussie Farmers Direct business work of verified 141 days on average. The longest subscrip-
as a franchisee only to see it go to the wall removalists. According tion by make is Jeep with subscribers choos-
back in 2018. to co-founder James ing on average 188 days.
Unsure of his next move, Joseph was on a Morell, Muval began as ‘‘Our clients are welcome to set whatever
flight back from Japan just after Aussie a conversation between parameters they want, but on average the
Farmers went bust and recalled a review he him and fellow founder shortest duration is around 30 days, where
had done with the company where he had Mahdi Chardi back in you get a car under conditions similar to a
suggested the company move into inbound 2016 as they discussed lease. As for the cost, it’s very comparable to
freight rather than just doing the outbound how to optimise a lease,’’ Skentzos says.
deliveries to consumers. backloading after a Whether subscriptions are the future of
At the time he offered to consolidate all removalist had moved automotive sales is a moot point, but
the company’s freight and provide a better a family and their Skentzos says ‘‘we’re already seeing surging
service for less cost. belongings interstate demand for subscription services in many
‘‘To me it was a profitable model so by the for example. global markets’’. AFR
AFRGA1 S028
 The Fast Lists 2022 Special Report S29
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review

Offshoring is galloping to outrun talent shortage

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lennial managers are three times more likely come up with solutions to solve a client’s
Recruiting to consider offshoring than Baby Boomers,’’ specific issues.’’
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Nina Hendy McDonald says. Today, Shilo People has 120 HR consult-
He is working to overcome what he calls a ants ranging from junior to senior consult-
The Australian talent shortage has forced a blind spot when it comes to solving the chal- ants on its books, along with a small
significant rethink among companies: lenges of talent shortages and rising infla- permanent team.
offshoring, but with a modern twist. tion, saying the perceptions of offshoring Charles says: ‘‘We didn’t go into this to be a
This conundrum has pushed recruitment haven’t caught up with reality, he says. small business and stay a small business.
companies offering out-of-the-box solutions HR talent firm Shilo People, which has We’re looking to scale and grow our market
into the AFR Fast 100 list. entered the AFR Fast Starters list, is also share across Australia, and we’ll be looking
The trend has been a huge win for keen on scaling up. at ways to do that over the next 12 months.’’
Australian-headquartered remote staffing Ilona Charles and Sharna Peters were run- Most clients are mid-market players such
company Cloudstaff, which employs more ning their own independent consulting busi- as start-ups, fast-growth companies, not-for-
than 5000 staff and contractors, providing Accounting firms such as William Buck, Above left: nesses before setting out to join forces to profits and global organisations.
remote staff to clients in 17 countries. Nexia Australia and Bentleys Network Cloudstaff team. disrupt how HR is delivered, building an on- Recruitment is just a small part of their
‘‘The last two years have been the greatest revealed they are saving between 25 per cent Above: Ilona Charles demand human resources talent hub. service offering. Their consultants are also
training exercise ever in how to manage and 50 per cent on salaries by offshoring. and Sharna Peters of The Melbourne businesswomen had dis- bought in to handle change management,
remote teams, and we’re just an extension of The travel and real estate sectors are also Shilo People. Below: cussed the state of HR and had recognised company restructures, transformation, cre-
what companies are already doing,’’ says turning to offshoring. Chris McDonald of some gaps in service delivery in their own ating job descriptions, remuneration con-
Chris McDonald, vice-president of growth. Cloudstaff is undertaking a major recruit- Cloudstaff. consulting work. They decided to tackle versations, recruitment onboarding,
‘‘We were already growing at 50 per cent a ment drive to build its staff numbers by 70 these to offer the mid-tier sector HR services employee relations, industrial relations and
year coming into the pandemic period, but per cent over the next few months. Looking they could switch on and off as needed. health and safety. ‘‘We haven’t put all of our
the talent shortage increased substantial beyond Australian borders opens the doors Shilo People has found its sweet spot amid eggs in one basket. We’ve gone into this with
tailwinds,’’ he says. to talent seeking the flexibility and freedom the economic fluctuations of the past three a very entrepreneurial mindset and we’re
Companies have been forced to change to undertake more work for a global com- years. ‘‘We felt the industry was ripe for dis- not stopping now,’’ Peters says.
their perception and let go of the old model pany, he says. ruption and decided to just go for it. We had The pair attribute their growth thus far to
where people had to come to them into the Cloudstaff hires staff who then become nothing to lose. At the time, there were a lot staying within their own lanes at work, each
office every day. That is gone forever and is part of their client’s team. ‘‘It’s not a hire- of lay-offs, enabling us to onboard some playing to their individual strengths.
being replaced by a technology-led offshor- and-forget model. You naturally build a amazing HR consultants, so the timing ‘‘We’re very much focused on scaling our
ing model that puts the employer in the relationship and trust with the team couldn’t have been better,’’ Charles says. business and looking at automation and
driver’s seat and builds trust in a way not member because you’re managing The business model is aligned to an tech as well,’’ Peters says.
seen before, he says. them in the same way as other team operating model more often seen in the The pair predict a challenging operating
‘‘We’ve pioneered the model of hiring members sitting in an office in legal services sector, she explains. period ahead as tougher economic condi-
where the talent lives. If you can’t find the Sydney, for example. ‘‘We help HR people find work, which tions impacts business confidence for the
talent where you are, then you’ve got to go ‘‘There’s still a degree of stigma and means they don’t have to go and find it next year. ‘‘One of the key challenges is the
where the talent is and where they choose to secrecy around offshoring, but we’re themselves. And we also don’t just go external market. It’s constantly changing,
live. That’s just the reality these days,’’ he seeing a generational shift taking in with preconceived ideas on how which has meant the type of work that
says. place. Our research shows that Mil- we think things should be done, but comes to us fluctuates,’’ Charles says. AFR

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AFRGA1 S029
 30
Tech innovators in the financial sector
Australia’s personal financial assets sit at
$10.62 trillion, according to Roy Morgan’s most
recent Banking and Finance Report and within
that segment wealth management is one of the
largest parts of the financial services industry. It
plays an integral role in assessing the nation’s
wealth, individual priorities and the feel of the
overall direction of the economy.
“We see the wealth management sector as a
series of connected ecosystems,” says Ash Priest,
CEO of technology advisory and data services firm
Novigi. “This includes superannuation funds,
wealth managers, insurers, asset managers,
custodians and financial advice organisations.
“Each faces a more open-architecture
environment with increased competition across
multiple fronts, from customer acquisition to
retention challenges and data-driven innovation.
We work with each of our clients to implement
data and technology platforms that operate in an
ecosystem, along with other ecosystems, that are
genuinely fit for purpose.”
Since the Royal Commission into Misconduct in
the Banking, Superannuation and Financial
Services Industry, there have been significant
changes in the sector resulting in higher levels of
compliance.
“Today’s higher compliance and regulatory
barriers for financial services brands means they
must implement data and technology solutions
that secure their operations but also deliver a
seamless, enriched customer experience,” Priest
AFRGA1 S030
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
explains. “When our founders commenced
working in the industry, data was siloed and
operated in discrete ‘stacks’; however, the
combination of advancement in data
management and digital technologies, the rise of
the focus on better quality consumer outcomes
and online access, and the pivotal moment of the
Hayne royal commission is placing an even
greater emphasis on governance, compliance,
data security and consumer-focused outcomes –
creating the catalyst for the greatest change.
“That change is the formation of today’s
operating environment, which is measurably
leaner, customer-centric, highly regulated and
competitive.”
Combined, Novigi’s leadership team has more
than 100 years’ experience in the wealth
management sector.
“Our team recognised that Australian financial
services organisations have been late to evolve,
lagging behind the broader business community
in updating their data and technology platforms,”
Priest says.
“Additionally, industry regulation is placing a
strong focus on ensuring financial services
providers secure their operations to protect their
members or customers. We could see a real need
to provide innovative and tailored advisory and
technical services across the full data and
technology life cycle.”
Novigi translates to ‘innovation’ in the universal
language Esperanto, created in the late 1800s to
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Ash Priest, chief
executive of
technology
advisory and
data services
firm Novigi.
innovation and collaboration,” Priest says. “Our
“Data is the key for this leadership team had all experienced late nights
sector, and in the future, and unhealthy cultures in their past corporate
Australia experience.
machine learning will ‘‘They wanted to draw a line in the sand by
creating a workplace that people could call home,
play an increasing role in be themselves and excel.”
automating the financial Novigi’s growth has seen the company work
with a variety of clients including Rest Super,
services customer Mercer and MetLife.
The business specialises in implementing data
experience but only if and technology solutions by building platforms
platforms are built, today, that are fit for purpose.
“The new platforms we build create efficiencies
for that future purpose.” that drive down costs, support innovation in
Ash Priest products and services, allow radical
personalisation of customer experiences, enhance
business decision making and make it easier for
organisations to merge data sets and change
systems,” Priest says.
“We recently worked with one of the largest
brands in the wealth management sector to write
facilitate collaboration across Europe. This a data strategy, which we are now implementing.
supports two of Novigi’s core values: ‘innovation’ This is enabling them to evolve their service
and ‘collaboration’. offerings, gain efficiencies in their operating
The company was founded in 2016, and now model and successfully scale, including a
employs 75 people with operations in Australia significant recent acquisition.
and Sri Lanka, with an internal rating among “Data is the key for this sector, and in the
employees of 90 per cent that say the company future, machine learning will play an increasing
is a great place to work. role in automating the financial services customer
“Novigi was created to be a fantastic place to experience but only if platforms are built, today,
work, with a healthy culture underpinned by for that future purpose.”
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Clear
vision
powers
global
ambition
The global pandemic has motivated many
Australians – faced with tough times – to return
to the gym and prioritise their physical and
mental health, bringing expansive growth for
Australia’s fitness industry.
An IBISWorld report, Gyms and Fitness Centres
in Australia, released in March 2022, reveals that
an increased health awareness across the
population has correlated positively with
spending on gyms and fitness centres, with
Australia’s fitness industry projected to reach
$2.3 billion by 2026-27.
Among the various players in the industry is
Fitstop, which has become a dominant force that
continues to go from strength to strength, with
its unique approach to functional fitness training.
According to the IBISWorld report, the
increasing demand for premium, functional
training gyms such as Fitstop is likely due to the
over-saturation of budget 24-hour gyms in the
current market.
This is where Fitstop and its franchise model
has been able to capitalise – by focusing on people
who want to train seriously, who want to progress
their fitness and who want to be part of a like-
minded community of gym-goers.
‘‘Fitstop attracts the ‘everyday athlete’, those
people who are looking to level up their
performance, get back to their sporting roots or
feel part of a game-changing team environment,’’
Peter Hull, Fitstop’s founder and managing
director, says.
‘‘More than this, Fitstop’s brand commitment is
to move more to live more; training at Fitstop
helps improve your life outside of Fitstop, too.’’
Fitstop was born from a pure focus on athletic
performance that Hull gained through working
with professional athletes. With a clear vision,
Hull and his wife, Rebecca, decided to stop at
nothing by selling her car to fund the first Fitstop
location in Brisbane.
This sacrifice brought their dream to life and
set the foundation for the Fitstop franchise. Now,
Fitstop is the home of functional fitness, a group
fitness model that provides strength and
conditioning training to more than 21,000 people
across Australia and New Zealand.
According to a 2022 Wellness Index report by
MindBody Inc, since the pandemic people’s
approach to fitness has shifted from a physical
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
focus with goals such as weight control to a
mental and wellness focus, with exercise now
widely acknowledged as one of the key drivers of
stress reduction and improved mental health.
With a strong emphasis and holistic approach
to positively impacting its members’ lives, Fitstop
is at the forefront of this shift and is poised to
take its product to a global level.
‘‘At Fitstop, we move more to live more,’’ Hull
says. ‘‘By attracting ‘Fitstoppers’ all over the
world, we’re able to make a genuine impact in our
business owners’, members’ and our wider
communities’ lives.’’
According to Hull, cementing Fitstop’s position
as the home of functional fitness requires more
than just a great product – it requires innovation.
‘‘Our performance-based product is
strengthened by our one-of-a-kind technology, an
innovation which has made Fitstop competitive
on a global scale,’’ Hull says.
‘‘It all starts with the custom-built Fitstop App,
which controls the entire member journey while
linking to an ecosystem of performance tools for
franchise owners to grow their businesses.
‘‘Being custom-built and not owned by third
parties has allowed Fitstop to be adaptive,
strategic and will elevate their member
experience, education, performance and
gamification to be industry-leading.’’
Alongside its product is its franchise business; a
business that has a track record of locations
opening cash flow positive from day one.
With close to 100 locations across Australia and
New Zealand, the success of this values-driven
model has been proven and is ready to be launched
‘‘With close to 100
locations, our brand is
loved, our mission is
known and our systems
and processes will
support us to 1000
locations and well
beyond.’’
Peter Hull
in the United States and Singapore in 2023. ‘‘Since
launching Fitstop in 2017, we’ve had a clear mission
to create a world-class business,’’ Hull says.
‘‘By doubling down on systems, processes,
execution, building world-class systems and
keeping our brand DNA in the process, we’ve
earned the right to play on a global scale.’’
With a further 90-plus businesses in the
pipeline, Fitstop’s pre-launch strategy places
emphasis on local partnerships, getting to know
the community, a strong social presence and
opening with about 150 paying members,
providing significant and long-lasting boosts to
the local area.
Yet, as with all of Fitstop’s points of difference,
31
Inset: Peter Hull,
Fitstop’s founder
and managing
director, with his
wife, Rebecca,
who oversees
franchise
recruitment.
the franchises are brought to life by passionate,
purpose-driven teams that exist to change lives in
their local communities.
‘‘Fitstop invests in getting the brilliant basics
right before deep-diving into expansion, which
goes against what’s often communicated in
franchising,’’ says Hull.
‘‘Yet for us, it’s all about knowing our systems
and processes are industry-leading and scalable,
and that our tech stack could excel with us. That’s
why, with close to 100 locations, our brand is
loved, our mission is known and our systems and
processes will support us to 1000 locations and
well beyond.’’
Outside of its global expansion in 2023, Fitstop
is focused on creating new, long-term
relationships with leasing entities and developers
across Australia.
‘‘We have a strong pipeline of 90-plus locations
to open for 2023, and now we’re looking to create
long-term and genuine partnerships with
landlords that can help us bring our communities
to life,’’ says Hull.
‘‘Fitstop is a strong brand that maintains a
professional standard and upgrades tenancies
through modern renovations that stems from
research and aligns with consumer demands.
‘‘Our business owners are passionate and
positioned to thrive and create a social impact
with committed, long lease terms.
‘‘It all starts with strong agreements with our
landlords to share the positive impact in each of
our growing communities, and we’re excited for
the opportunity to bring more people into our
community.’’
AFRGA1 S031
 S32
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Camplify also has government contracts

Travel’s return and has helped provide temporary accom-

modation to families in flood-affected areas.
‘‘We’ve been able to accommodate people
who are sleeping in cars or garden sheds or

drives success of who were not able to return to their proper-

ties after the floods. Because they have
secure accommodation, they have been able
to start the rebuild process and, at the same

holiday business
time, vehicle owners have been able to earn
rental income,’’ says Hales.
July, which launched in late 2018 and has
made this year’s AFR Fast Starters list, has
quickly become one of the largest
Australian-owned luggage brands.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
‘‘Everything our business has done in the
past few years has been fast,’’ says co-
Leisure founder Richard Li. ‘‘We launched with a
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Alexandra Cain single product, the July Carry On, and we

now have 32 different product types, nine of
Few start-up founders can say they received which we’ve launched in the past year.’’
a $10 million offer to buy their company a Product development is at the centre of
mere 80 days after launch. But that’s what July’s operations.
happened at Inspiring Vacations, which ‘‘When we were in development back in
appears in this year’s AFR Fast Starters list. 2018, we spent more than half our initial
The business sells small and large organised budget developing wheels, because we knew
group tours. from our research these were a huge pain
Managing director Paul Ryan, who is one point for travellers. Throughout COVID,
of three co-founders, alongside Brendon even when our revenue was down 95 per
Cooper and James Cathie, says the business cent, we were still focused on product devel-
was turning over $100 million dollars within opment, because having a good product is
21 months of starting in March 2018. ‘‘We the core of our business,’’ says Li.
were successful because we were first, ■ Our plan is to expand Global expansion is an important part of
aggressive and rapid in our approach to vertically, or July’s strategy and it launched in the US in
market.’’ 2021. It has its sights set on entering the
Then the pandemic hit, which required geographically, as well European and UK markets next year, in
drastic actions. ‘‘Revenue disappeared and as horizontally. addition to local expansion plans.
the government removed the chance to earn Paul Ryan, Inspiring Vacations ‘‘The US was back travelling so much
any revenue in the short term. faster than us here in Australia, as we still
‘‘So, in March 2020, very regrettably but, dealt with lockdowns and travel restrictions.
in hindsight, very fortuitously, we reduced New Zealand, the UK, US and India, with Pretty quickly, we sold 10 times more cases
our staff count by more than 90 per cent. We plans to add more markets over the next six than we had predicted thanks to going into
rolled forward from there and we brought months. the US, with that growth only accelerating
people back into the business very quickly.’’ The business is also launching a market- over the past year,’’ he adds.
At the same time, Ryan and his team place concept. July’s four retail stores play a role in its
switched business models from being an ‘‘We already create and curate all our success, and one in 10 customers will meet
exclusive outbound tour operator servicing trips. But we’re building a marketplace cap- either Li or his co-founder Athan Didas-
customers in Australia, New Zealand and ability so, if you don’t like one of our trips, kalou when they go into a store.
the UK to offering domestic travel tours. you can choose from another 100 trips on ‘‘Being in store allows us to stay in the loop
Today, headcount is 15 per cent higher our marketplace,’’ he adds. with our customers. We opened our first
than it was in March 2020. ‘‘Our staff mix Camplify is another post-COVID travel Sydney store in September and we are open-
now is much more tilted towards highly success story and is included in this year’s ing a new Melbourne pop-up shop in a
skilled, high-tech, high-value-add roles, AFR Fast 100 list. couple of weeks.
compared to half the company being in dir- The Airbnb of campervans, people list ‘‘Our bricks and mortar stores have been
ect customer service roles back in 2020.’’ their RVs, caravans, campervans and sim- Top left: Justin Hales, platform globally,’’ says CEO and founder extremely profitable and we plan to open
Looking to the future, the goal, set before ilar vehicles on the Camplify site so travellers of Camplify. Top: Justin Hales, who is part of Australia’s cara- more across Australia and internationally in
the pandemic, is to build a billion-dollar can pay to borrow them. Inspiring Vacations van royalty. ‘‘We’re making sure we have the the future.’’
company by 2025. Its success has been built on the ‘van life’ co-founders Paul biggest, most distributed, best available, best Li says a highlight this year has been a
‘‘Our plan is to expand vertically, or geo- trend sweeping the world, which has seen Ryan, Brendon price fleet in these markets. partnership with the Olympics and Com-
graphically, as well as horizontally.’’ thousands of people live and also work from Cooper and James ‘‘Our family’s go-to holiday is caravan- monwealth Games.
This means introducing new products caravans. This is also a popular social media Cathie. Above: July ning. When I was a kid, all my aunties, ‘‘It’s been a huge achievement and honour
beyond its existing travel tour products. trend. founders Athan uncles, cousins and grandparents would for our business to provide July cases to Aus-
Ryan wants to target older travellers who This year, it acquired peer-to-peer Didaskalou and caravan together every holidays. My great sie athletes representing our country across
need a bit of assistance going to exotic des- campervan rental platforms in Germany Richard Li. grandparents were the first people to drive the globe,’’ he adds.
tinations, as well as families. and New Zealand. the entire way around Australia. So it’s in my ‘‘We’re just four years old, so this partner-
Tours are presently offered to Australia, ‘‘We want to become the leading RV rental blood,’’ he says. ship felt like a real coming of age.’’ AFR

Cost-conscious consumers spell caution for luxury lifestyle

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

quite unique and they stand out in a reimagining their homes in lieu of nights out regular and granular demand forecasting.
Home decor crowded marketplace.’’ on the town or days travelling overseas. ”The unique thing about Miss Amara is
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Therese Raft As with any business dependent on inter-
national supply chains, Zen’s growth has
Standing the test of time, Zen Building been tempered by international sea freight
Group, a luxury provider for architecturally delays and port congestion.
memorable doors, baths and fireplaces, Terziovski says the key was to be upfront
makes an appearance on the Fast Starters with customers about extended lead times John
list this year. throughout that period. ‘‘We bore the brunt Terziovski, of
John Terziovski, the director and founder of very steep sea freight price increases, Zen Building
of Zen Building Group, kicked off the com- which saw container prices go up by more Group.
pany as a side hustle in 2019 to complement than 500 per cent. We did our best to absorb
his day job. some of these increases, but like most other
Zen saw significant growth over the building materials we needed to adjust pri-
COVID-19 period. Little wonder, with the cing along the way.’’
Australian Bureau of Statistics revealing that There’s more turbulence ahead with most
renovators spent $9.2 billion on their homes Australian consumers reining in costs, at
in 2020 – up 10 per cent on the year before. In least in the near term.
2021, Australians spent a massive $12.3 bil- ‘‘I believe living costs and rates may be
lion on renovations – an increase of 33 per influencing some customers, where certain
cent on 2020. luxuries are removed from a building pro-
Zen offers ready-made and custom solu- ject to bring overall costs down. The cost of
tions to homeowners, builders, property building in general has gone up consider-
developers, architects and interior designers. ably, so our items tend to be the first ones to
‘‘There has been a trend for customisation go if things are tight,’’ Terviovski says. ‘‘But
in general. Whether it’s a custom entry door overall, our demographic is quite affluent
design or a unique marble bath or basin, and tends to be very well-placed financially
customers are always looking for a way to so as not be affected by outside forces.’’
set their project apart,’’ Terziovski says.
While all product lines have seen success, Rug retail success
Terziovski attributes Zen’s range of high-
end doors as the primary driver of growth Staring at the same four walls over success-
over the last three years. ‘‘Our designs are ive lockdowns saw many people invest in
AFRGA1 S032
When scouring the web for beautiful and
functional pieces, consumers turned to Miss
Amara, an online rug retailer run out of Mel-
bourne, to help transform their spaces. This
is the second time Miss Amara has made an
appearance on the Fast 100, which co-
founder and CEO Andrew Weller attributes,
in part, to their ability to surf the peaks and
troughs of demand.
‘‘Pre-COVID we were growing at more
than 100 per cent per year. What COVID
brought on was some fairly big spikes in
demand over short periods,’’ Weller says.
Doubling down on brand, value proposi-
tion and marketing at the very beginning of
COVID resulted in significant growth during
this period, with Weller saying at one
point Miss Amara grew 400 per cent
over the course of two months.
However, Weller concedes it was
harder to maintain the growth rate
due to supply chain challenges.
‘‘Our manufacturers were dealing
with local lockdowns, challenges
sourcing raw materials, and then we
had disruptions at ports due to
COVID, port congestion, shipping
route congestion – you name it, we
experienced all of it.’’
To combat these challenges, Miss
Amara leaned on pre-orders, as well as
that we are constantly evolving with interior
trends – no rug is made just for one area.
This is why we have our stylists and virtual
room technology, so that customers can find
the right rug for their space and see how this
can adapt to their particular style,’’ Miss
Amara’s co-founder and creative director
Alexandra Tanya says.
More than 1000 customers use the styling
service every month, with customers more
than 20 times more likely to buy after receiv-
ing styling advice. In the last 12 months the
service has grown to contribute 10 per cent
of Miss Amara’s global income.
As an online brand, Miss Amara makes
the most of social media networks to engage
customers.
Staying ahead of design trends is key to
success. Future designs are informed by cus-
tomer search demand, travels around the
world, industry events and Instagram
trends. ‘‘We also love listening to our cus-
tomers and what they would like to see more
of – this really influences our designs and
how we can meet their expectations. We
work closely with our manufacturing part-
ners in Turkey, China and India to craft
unique rugs, and our range of products are
sourced responsibly and beautifully curated
to the highest quality standards,’’ Tanya
says. AFR
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Digital tracker delivers mortgage edge
The broking house My Mortgage Freedom was
formed more than a decade ago with the specific
aim of ensuring that borrowers never overpaid on
their mortgage, a service that it now expects to
bring to thousands more clients.
The mortgage industry has been roiled by the
evolution of technology and the introduction of
open banking in recent years; as a result, My
Mortgage Freedom now finds itself in a
leadership position thanks to the introduction of
its purpose-built, in-house software platform,
RateTracker.
The platform has helped volume grow 50 per
cent or more in each of the last two years. Now
that interest rates have started to climb, directors
Anthony Alabakov and Sean Murphy expect
another growth spurt as thousands of fixed rate
mortgages expire.
“Since 2020, we have saved new customers
around $2.6 million in interest payments by
refinancing their loans with other banks,” Murphy
says. “In addition, just in the last 10 months, we
have saved existing customers around $460,000
in interest payments by asking their current
lenders to review their current pricing.
‘‘The customers have not had to do any of the
usual paperwork because it’s the same loan at a
lower rate.”
The key to My Mortgage Freedom’s success is its
ability to stay in touch with customers – and also
willing non-customers – while monitoring their
loans against the market average. Staying in touch
with borrowers is key, says Alabakov. Just like
energy suppliers and telcos, banks tend to “set and
Your home loan
on autopilot.
ADVERTISING FEATURE
AFR Fast Lists 2022
forget” customers while they chase new business.
There are two issues, says Alabakov. First,
surveys show that mortgage holders tend to be
back in the borrowing market around 3.5 years
after taking out the original mortgage, whether
it’s for an extension, review or a second property.
Without regular contact from their current
bank or broker, borrowers are just as likely to go
to another institution for the next loan.
Second, he says the “set and forget” approach
can leave people on their existing rate while the
bank offers lower rates to win new business.
Consequently, existing borrowers can be left
behind.
However, staying in touch can absorb many
man hours, too, many even for the banks let alone
for independent brokers. Which is where
RateTracker comes in.
RateTracker constantly compares customers’
interest rates to the average rate currently
available on the market from the big four banks.
Whenever a customer’s rate is in breach
compared with the market – usually when the
rate is 50 basis points higher than the market –
My Mortgage Freedom gets in touch and asks
whether the customer wants to do something
about it.
The introduction of RateTracker and a redesign
of the My Mortgage Freedom workforce has
achieved an impressive improvement in
efficiency, Murphy says.
“Our volume doubled two years in a row, but we
did it with the same number of brokers. The
brokers were getting bogged down in paperwork
“The reality is the banks
don’t offer this service,
and there are some great
mortgage brokers out
there. But, having this
technology that we built is
what has given us and our
clients a competitive
advantage in these
market conditions.”
Anthony Alabakov
as volumes rose, but we didn’t hire more brokers.
We increased our support staff instead, and
digitised the application process.
“So, the brokers are now focusing all their
energy on customer solutions and delivering
recommendations – coupled with a really strong
support team that can move quickly.”
Murphy says it seems the customers like it, too.
The company has more than 250 Google 5-star
reviews.
“We’re big on providing a really good experience
because these days you don’t get to see the client
33
Directors Anthony
Alabakov (top) and Sean
Murphy of My Mortgage
Freedom, which developed
RateTracker, a software
platform that helps
consumers source the best
mortgage rates.
face to face very much – if ever – so you really
need to have a compelling proposition.”
Although it’s only 18 months old, RateTracker is
connected to around half of all new My Mortgage
Freedom’s clients. My Mortgage Freedom gets its
clients from referrers in the financial services
sector, particularly accountants, but also real
estate groups and financial advisers.
“Accountants are more conscious of their
clients’ needs and will often approach us and ask
whether we can check the client’s rate and make
contact,’’ Alabakov says. ‘‘They are now also asking
us to come and give their staff a presentation on
RateTracker.
“Afterwards, the staff will contact the client and
say, ‘Hey, I’ve just checked your mortgage and it
looks a little high. Connect to RateTracker and
they’ll let you know if it needs work’.’’
RateTracker is available to everybody –
regardless of whether they are a client of My
Mortgage Freedom – and with no obligation.
When a loan breaches, the customer care team
at RateTracker contact the borrower and suggest
a course of action, but there is no compulsion to
hire My Mortgage Freedom for their review.
“Brokers are now handling around 70 per cent of
mortgage loans because customers realise brokers
understand the differences between policies and
products from bank to bank.
“The reality is the banks don’t offer this service,
and there are some great mortgage brokers out
there. But, having this technology that we built is
what has given us and our clients a competitive
advantage in these market conditions.”
AFRGA1 S033
 34
People-first ethos drives agency success
In the world of professional recruitment, where
agencies play matchmaker with jobs and job
seekers, people’s values take priority. That is the
ethos that recruitment agency Woods & Co not
only embraces as it works for its clients but also
within its own four walls.
Even during the pandemic – when the
Australian permanent recruitment industry
shrank, international borders closed and whole
industries shut down – the Melbourne-based
agency recognised the importance of its people
and refused to carry out redundancies.
Managing director Tom Woods says trust,
accountability, positivity and integrity are
important for successful working relationships,
and that must start from within.
“Look after your people, and good people will
take you a long way,” he says. “Our business
trajectory has been a direct reflection of the
growth we’ve brought to people – both internally
and to those we’ve placed in other organisations.
“This is measured by a low turnover rate, low
attrition and general sentiment despite the
difficulty of COVID.”
Woods & Co launched in 2018 when three
friends, who met through the hospitality industry,
decided to become business partners. “If you want
to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go
together,” is Woods’ mantra, and the partnership
felt like a natural progression of their friendship.
Hospitality is one of several industries in which
the agency focuses its operations, with other main
pillars being construction; property, sales, support
Recruiting the
right people,
for the right job
AFRGA1 S034
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and service; digital and IT; financial services; legal;
executive; and temporary and contract roles.
Five years later, Woods & Co has 35 staff, who
are flexibly based out of its new South Yarra
office, in Melbourne.
“Woods & Co prides itself on its network, and
we hang our hat on following a really detailed
process,” Woods says. “We don’t leave any stone
unturned as we capture the best match on the
market for each individual role.
‘‘Whether we do or don’t find that match, we
always provide feedback and advice on positions
if necessary.”
Their recruitment method has led to a reported
satisfaction rating of 98 per cent and a fill rate of
87 per cent. It means employers and job seekers
who approach Woods & Co are more than likely to
receive a match that ticks their boxes.
“We are a relationship-driven organisation,”
Woods says. “We’re not here for the one-hit
wonders – we’re here to build longstanding
relationships and partnerships with the
businesses and clients that we work with.”
So much so that Woods says the agency aims
to be an extension of its clients, providing
personalised expertise rather than another
contracted service.
“We become one with our clients, understanding
their business, and having them understand ours,”
he says. “This allows us to sell, promote and push
the business into the marketplace as they would if
it was their own. We can also do it more frequently,
which is key to recruitment.
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“We’re not here for the
one-hit wonders – we’re
here to build
longstanding
relationships ... with the
businesses and clients
that we work with.”
Tom Woods
“We have more people on deck who can
become an extension of our clients if they don’t
have that internal talent acquisition or HR
specialist. We have our finger on the pulse – day-
in, day-out – and can communicate with
candidates frequently to keep up with a fast-
paced candidate market.”
Woods & Co primarily recruits in Melbourne,
Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide but it also
regularly fills roles in the US, Canada, Hong Kong
and New Zealand.
In 2022, the agency opened an office in New
York. Its long-term goal is to employ 100 people in
the US as well as building a 100-strong workforce
at home in Australia.
When hiring its own staff, Woods & Co looks for
Managing director
Tom Woods launched
Woods & Co in 2018
with two friends; the
recruitment agency
now has 35 staff and
ambitions to expand
dramatically overseas.
employees with a high level of attitude, aptitude,
motivation and determination.
Prior agency experience is not a prerequisite, as
its training, coaching, onboarding and upskilling
programs help all employees to continually grow.
“I love watching individuals – who may not have
had much previous experience in the recruitment
process – having wins,” Woods says. “That might
be putting together a well-rounded shortlist, or it
could be as big as leading a fantastic placement
that pleases both candidate and client.
“We believe in personal brands; businesses
within businesses; and letting everyone’s
entrepreneurial flair shine through. We find that
drives productivity and purpose and drives the
business as a whole.”
A good day also is when a former candidate
returns to them in search of their own
recruitment services.
“Watching candidates become clients is
another fantastic string to the bow and another
thing we hang our hat on,” Woods says. “It shows
that candidates are sticking around and doing
some great things.”
Woods says the industry is almost cupid-like,
and not every single arrow can be expected to hit
its target, but the agency’s rise to recognition
proves that putting people first is key to success
in recruitment.
“I love watching and hearing from clients when
we have done a great job. When we hit that bullseye
and both client and candidate are rapt, we know
we’ve found another match made in heaven.”
woodsco.com.au
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Positive
culture,
attention
to detail
underpin
success
When your biggest client goes belly-up it is
generally not welcomed as a growth opportunity,
but Queensland’s JD Refrigerated Transport has
proved it can be.
Having faced such a life-threatening event in
2018, the company has managed to rebound in
amazing fashion, expanding its fleet from one
truck to 43 in less than five years.
Previously the business had been solely
focused on doing overnight milk and bread
deliveries for a company that went into
liquidation quite suddenly.
“Thankfully I had put a 14-pallet truck on six
months earlier to focus on a totally different area
of the market and this had proven there was an
opportunity in freight that was untapped,” says
founder and managing director Joe Joseph.
“So, I said the only way I would be disappointed
after all that – losing the business overnight – is
if I didn’t take that one truck and replicate it 50
times. I am proud to say we put our 43rd truck on
the road this week.
“They range from six-pallet trucks all the way to
34-pallet B-double road trains.”
Joseph has a background in accounting with a
Big Four firm and 20 years’ experience in
consumer goods, so he knew what his target
market expected. But he’s also clear on what JD
Refrigerated can and can’t do.
“We can’t be everything to everyone, and it’s
more important what we say ‘no’ to than what we
say ‘yes’ to,’’ he says. ‘‘Growth for the sake of
growth is not what we are about. Building
sustainably strong and mutually beneficial
relationships is what drives us.”
JD Refrigerated will only take on work it knows
it can do well, and that means sustainably well
over the long term. This straightforward and
honest approach runs through the company’s
culture.
“We play with a straight bat. It’s transparent.
We pay people the right way, we do things the
right way, we are compliant, we manage fatigue,
we address all the elements in logistics that
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AFR Fast Lists 2022
present risk to not only us as a business but also
to the client.”
This focus on risk comes at a cost, but Joseph
says the sort of blue-chip companies JD
Refrigerated wants to deal with often look more
at the balanced equation, not just price.
“Companies with big brands, they can’t afford
to be associated with non-compliance,” he says.
Joseph says when people look at the business,
the first thing they notice is the trucks and how
well-maintained and good-looking they are.
“I am very proud of that. But I’ll tell you this
now, the secret to success is, you can have the
greatest equipment, the greatest technology in
the world, but if your people don’t care enough to
get it right, it means nothing.”
This approach paid off during the COVID
lockdowns, a crucial period where volume grew
20 per cent thanks to the surge in eating at home
and the rise in volume for the company’s
supermarket clients.
“Others had distancing protocols at one metre
distance, we were doing four metres. We
implemented paperless handovers and restricted
drivers from hopping out of the truck at
distribution centres. Our management team led
from the front and were available at the coalface
to the driver team when required,’’ Joseph says.
“Some might call it overkill – but it was this that
gave everyone the confidence that we were going
to get through it.
“We are not a business that has five or six
values on the wall, we just have one – to be proud
of all we do. If you see a piece of equipment and
The strongest link in the Cold Chain
At JD Transport, we know that your business is only
as strong as its weakest link. We provide premium
end-to-end Refrigerated Transport solutions to help
your business grow from strength to strength.
jdtransportgroup.com.au
35
Joe Joseph is
founder and
managing
director of
Queensland’s
JD Refrigerated
Transport.
“The world today is a
much more dynamic
environment. Size and
profitability don’t
predicate success. Your
agility and ability to adapt
is more important.”
Joe Joseph
you’re not proud of it, then do something about
it. Make choices and act only in a way that you can
be proud of. It really resonates.
“Customers notice it. They say, ‘Joe, I get drivers
from other trucking companies come in and they’re
kicking the cat. Your drivers are always happy,
always positive, they pick up bits of rubbish in the
yard.’ I love hearing stuff like that. It says that our
culture is resonating through the business.’’
Joseph says that 10 years ago the chief financial
officer was always considered the next CEO.
“Today, the chief risk officer is the new CEO and
what that says is you have to be focused as much
on the various risks to your business and brand as
you do on your profitability,” he explains.
“The world today is a much more dynamic
environment. Size and profitability don’t
predicate success. Your agility and ability to adapt
is more important.”
When asked about what the future holds,
Joseph says: “There is a big push from our existing
clients for us to move interstate. They all say that
when we are ready to clone ourselves in other
states to let them know.
“I am not prepared to make that move until I
can guarantee the same service excellence we
deliver in South East Queensland. For now, we
remain focused on this market and raising the bar
on our service offering wherever we can.”
AFRGA1 S035
 S36
Special Report | The Fast Lists 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR

Digital disruption
takes hold in
construction
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

is massive but we’re identifying the right

Technology places to be,’’ he says.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Agnes King Away Digital may have to repeal its model

of self-funding growth and seek external
Melbourne-based building services com- investors to grow its new software platform
pany Away Digital might have made the Fast fast enough to secure sufficient market
100 in 2022, but it’s downgraded its growth share. Digital disruption appears to be
forecast for the 2023 financial year as the finally taking hold in the building and con-
volume of new homes being built plummets. struction sector, which for a long time was
The construction boom, fuelled by record considered a digital laggard.
low-interest rates over the last two years, ‘‘In other sectors people want to be the
saw Away Digital’s revenue jump by 76 per first to adopt and exploit first-mover oppor-
cent, to $22.6 million, in the 12 months to tunities. In construction everyone is waiting
June 30. for someone else to fumble the ball a bit first,
But in recent months it has seen the pipe- then learn from that,’’ Blieden says.
line of several of its home builder clients dry- Builders who are at the cutting edge have
ing up. digitised at great expense, and amid growing
‘‘There’s no hiding what these interest rate margin pressure, he says.
rises are doing to potential buyers of new ‘‘There is awareness that digital disrup-
homes. Everyone’s hurting,’’ Away Digital tion is all around them, and the software and
co-founder Gary Blieden says. tools are all there,’’ Blieden says. ‘‘The gov-
‘‘The level of inquiry is the same as it’s ernment is mandating it in a number of dif-
been for the last two years but the uncer- ferent ways. Builders are having to deliver
tainty around how much interest rates are those [digital] services or they’re not going to
going to go up is holding people back from win those bigger jobs.’’
committing,’’ he says.
Despite these headwinds, Away Digital’s Mobile app tidal wave
future looks bright. Custom app developer Appetiser, a Fast 100
Construction activity may slow but it company, has been forced to raise its prices
won’t stall. And the structural pressures by 10 per cent in response to inflationary
which have fuelled demand for its services pressures, including currency fluctuations
in information management for building and skills shortages, which have driven up
information modelling to date are not sub- salaries by 20 per cent for some software
siding. developer roles over the last 12 months.
The construction sector is plagued by The weak Australia dollar is proving par-
market capacity shortfalls, declining pro- ticularly painful for the fast-growing tech
ductivity, supply chain challenges, inflation- company. A significant number of its
ary pressures, growing community 210-strong staff are based in the Philippines,
expectations, and post COVID-19 skills short- and it is building up its presence in Vietnam,
ages. In response, big buyers of infrastruc- Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.
ture services, such as the NSW government ‘‘Being an international company, this
which has committed $112.7 billion capital really puts pressure on us,’’ Appetiser co-
expenditure over the next four years, are founder James Shostak says.
mandating dramatic changes to informa- Appetiser’s revenue rose by 37 per cent, to
tion handling and digital delivery that play to $8 million, for the 12 months to June, on the
Away Digital’s strengths. back of the continued boom in mobile apps.
At the same time, Away Digital has diver- Fast-growing clients have also provided a
sified into two new revenue streams – a soft- tailwind, including popular burger chain
ware platform that allows homebuyers to Grill’d and online marketplace MyDeal.com,
virtually ‘walk’ through their new home which listed and was swiftly acquired by
before its built, and a recruitment service Woolworths. ‘‘When our clients grow, Away Digital’s modelling (top) and co-founder Gary Blieden (below). Appetiser in 2017 determined to maintain a
that matches any type of employer to skilled they’re generally taking us along for the Above: Michael MacRae and James Shostak of Appetiser. flat structure, with no unnecessary organisa-
professionals abroad. ride,’’ Shostak says. tional hierarchies.
‘‘All three businesses have some nice tail- He says Appetiser’s propriety Five years on, the duo have abandoned
winds,’’ Blieden says. technology allows it to get a subsidies, Shostak says it was forced to com- this model and started building manage-
A qualified electrical engineer, Blieden fully customised app to mar- pete with rivals that shrunk their teams and ment layers to support the company’s next
started Away Digital with his brother-in-law ket withing four months on were able to plough the JobKeeper stimulus growth phase.
Aidan Wollner in 2013 to plug a gap in the average. into advertising. In another five years’ time, they want
market for efficient workflow management ‘‘From an industry stand- ‘‘That put a lot of pressure on us from a Appetiser’s annual sales to exceed $100 mil-
tools in the building game, particularly ard perspective that’s a frac- competitive standpoint, but we fought lion and to have offices in the United King-
among geographically dispersed teams. tion of the time that people through that and had to get smarter,’’ dom and United States.
It now has 400-odd staff, of which about generally expect it to take,’’ Shostak says. Along with a rebrand planned for early
35 are based domestically and the rest in Shostak says. COVID didn’t materially impact Appet- next year, they will launch an accreditation
Vietnam. Appetiser has emerged tri- iser’s sales but the lockdowns did hit staff standard to help other developers follow
International expansion is a top priority umphant from a particularly extremely hard. The company has hired a Appetiser’s unique product design process.
for the year ahead. Away Digital picked up competitive COVID-19 full-time psychologist and is investing more They also plan to launch a client educa-
several overseas jobs in the United Kingdom, period. While it didn’t in staff development and well-being pro- tion service to help fast-growing businesses
Hong Kong, and United States in the past 12 make layoffs during grams than ever, as well as undertaking accelerate their growth using technology.
months. In markets like the US, the largest the pandemic and more charitable works. ‘‘Our biggest challenge is making sure that
volume home builder does more projects was not a recipi- This has been the biggest driver of per- we’re not losing focus on continuing to fuel
than the top 100 in Australia combined, ent of govern- formance internally, Shostak says. the flywheel as we start the next phase of our
Blieden says. ‘‘The international opportunity ment Shostak and Michael MacRae founded growth,’’ Shostak says. AFR

From S19 als, he explains, and it offers a patient app

and a patient portal, so patients can be
Medical services reminded of medication schedules and the
tests they are required to take at certain
these people typically have complex and intervals.
chronic conditions, and often a number of A patient with diabetes, for instance,
ailments simultaneously, requiring treat- would be reminded every few months of the
ment from a range of health professionals, importance of taking a HPA1C test to deter-
from general practitioners to specialists to mine their average blood sugar levels, and
pharmacists to allied health professionals, reminded daily to measure blood sugar
he adds. ‘‘The challenge for clinicians is how levels. The platform can be linked to other
to collaborate with other health providers to electronic medical records in health sys-
manage the patient,’’ Biswal says. tems, and educational material can be sent
The CareMonitor platform can maintain to patients.
a patient’s records to allow for seamless Many of CareMonitor’s clients are public
communication between health profession- health services, such as the Northern
AFRGA1 S036
Adelaide Health Network, which uses the
platform to run ‘‘hospital in the home’’ pro-
grams. ‘‘For some of the sub-acute patients,
instead of coming to the hospitals, the ser-
vices are delivered to them,’’ Biswal says.
‘‘The hospital can effectively keep an eye
on them. If you know the patient is doing
well, there’s no need to bring them back into
the hospital, so you can allocate resources to
someone who’s actually falling off a cliff.’’
The platform settings can be tailored to
suit needs.
In January, the CareMonitor platform
was being used by Medibank and a large
Catholic hospital to manage 100,000 COVID
patients in five states: collecting data from
them, managing their progression to recov-
ery, escalating care when necessary and dis-
charging them when appropriate.
With a background in digital health care
strategy in the Asia-Pacific, Biswal saw the
opportunity to develop a comprehensive
digital healthcare system. It took his team
some time to build the platform and
CareMonitor finally began trading about
three years ago.
The system is still evolving, he says,
adding the company now employs 23 peo-
ple and to date nearly 200,000 patients have
been managed across the platform, which
has been built to deliver care more effi-
ciently in a range of settings. AFR
 The Fast Lists 2022 Special Report
Friday 25 November 2022
AFR www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review
Digital, ESG and talent
hold key for start-ups
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
businesses with established digital
Opinion capabilities had access to timely data and
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Martina Crowley flexible systems when the pandemic first
struck, making them well-placed to change
If you were to fast-forward to 2030 and look course at short notice and adapt to
at the AFR Fast 100 and Fast Starters, who stakeholder needs.
would you see on that list? Probably, several However, 59 per cent of family business
names you haven’t heard of yet. Possibly owners don’t yet have strong digital
with products or services that don’t yet exist. capabilities, and fewer than half of the
What we do know, however, is that respondents saw digitalisation, innovation,
everyone on that list is likely to have three and technology as a top priority. Environmental
things in common. Make no mistake: for any organisation in credentials and
First, they’ll be ahead of their peers when a hurry for high growth, digital technological
it comes to digital transformation. Second, transformation cannot wait. transformation will
they’ll be adept at managing environmental, That’s because digital transformation and characterise fast-
social and governance (ESG) outcomes. And agility go hand in hand, and the right growing companies
third, they’ll attract and retain the very best technology and processes allow owners to in the future , says
talent thanks to their strong sense of obtain real-time insights, identify trends, Martina Crowley
purpose. and make informed decisions to propel the (below).
These are the qualities we consistently organisation forward.
see among the fastest growing businesses To enable that to happen, businesses
we work with. And like a Venn diagram, need to radically simplify existing
these qualities are interrelated and services and processes, and this
overlapping. includes ensuring business is
The good news is that any of today’s future-fit and using technology
startups, emerging companies, or private specialists to overlay the
businesses can accelerate their growth by digitisation program. That’s how
focusing on these three areas. you’re going to keep pace with the
In fact, private businesses sit at a sweet likes of the Fast 100.
spot when it comes to growth – they’re Speaking of pace, the rate of
robust enough to tackle the world’s most change that’s required when it
complex problems, but nimble enough so comes to ESG considerations is
that they just might solve them. rapidly increasing, especially
Take digital transformation, for instance. when it comes to the global
PwC’s Family Business Survey found family energy transition.
Stakeholder expectations around ESG are
rising swiftly. Our survey, for instance,
found 43 per cent of consumers expected
businesses to be accountable for their
environmental impact. Meanwhile, our
data shows that integrating ESG
considerations into your strategy improves
access to finance and boosts talent
retention, and all while leading to long-term
value creation in deals, divestment, and
growth.
In fact, the CSIRO says the push for
decision makers to consider trust,
transparency, fairness, and ESG is a major
global megatrend that will shape the next 20
years.
How, then, can ambitious businesses
build their ESG credentials?
Certainly, not with an occasional
‘greenwashing’ side project. Instead, what’s
needed is to truly embed ESG into your
operating model, so that it becomes part of
everyday decision-making. Next, you should
measure your performance using ESG
metrics. At PwC, for instance, we routinely
S37
use the World Economic Forum’s
framework for consistent reporting on ESG.
Think of ESG as a chance to differentiate
your business and deliver impact for
stakeholders. Then you’ll have an ESG story
worth telling.
Which brings us neatly to our third and
final predictor of success: the ability to
attract and retain the best talent. It’s no
secret that Australia’s labour market is as
tight as it’s ever been. Nor is it a secret that
meaningful employment matters to
employees.
Fulfilling work is important, and we
found 75 per cent of staff want to work for
an organisation that makes a positive
contribution to society – such as an
organisation that leads on ESG – meaning
powerful storytelling is vital for winning the
war for talent.
So too is a first-class employee value
proposition. We recently surveyed 1,800
workers from organisations right around
the country, and found that remuneration
and wellbeing top the list of things they
value most from their employers, while 38
per cent of all respondents revealed they
plan to quit their jobs this year.
This tells us that employee value
propositions are falling short of the mark,
but despite this, almost half of all executives
say they have no plans to re-imagine theirs.
In an era where the war for talent is hotter
than ever, this approach needs a rethink.
So, whether it’s communicating your ESG
credentials or expressing your
organisation’s ‘why’ – or perhaps you’re
explaining your digital capabilities to attract
new skills – your organisation’s narrative
must be authentic.
That’s how we’ll read your story in the
Fast 100 of the future. AFR
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Martina Crowley is National Business Leader,
PwC Private.
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 38
Whole-project expertise a valuable USP
The Bellwether Group is dedicated to creating
certainty in a civil construction industry plagued
by skyrocketing timber and steel prices, supply
chain disruptions and a critical shortage of
skilled engineers.
The group consists of two primary businesses –
Bellwether Consulting and Bellwether
Contractors – with the consulting arm offering
highly experienced construction advice to clients
across the major infrastructure sector, and the
contracting arm offering principal contracting
capability on projects up to $30 million.
The rapidly growing group has already
consulted on major projects worth a combined
$57 billion across Australia’s eastern seaboard
and overseas, and its construction arm has built
more than $70 million worth of projects across
Queensland and NSW.
“We are unique in that we provide both
professional services and contracting capabilities
within the same group,” says Bellwether’s
managing director, Stephen Ladds.
“Our consulting business consists primarily of
civil engineers with major infrastructure delivery
experience, providing cost estimating, planning,
independent review, and project and construction
management services to the transport, water and
rail sectors.
“The lowest price is not always the best solution,
and our team strives to develop the right price.
Unlike a lot of other consultants, our assumptions,
methodology and pricing are tested every time we
submit a construction tender.
“Currently our numbers sit at minus 1 per cent
An integrated engineering consultancy,
project management, and construction
company.
Providing certainty in the delivery of
infrastructure projects across the
Asia Pacific.
Constructability/ Estimating/
Planning/ Independent Review/
Project Management/ Construction
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from the medium price, which gives comfort to
our consulting clients, and if our clients can’t find
anyone to build the job for our price, we’ll offer to
engage Bellwether Contractors and build it for
them.”
Ladds says that because Bellwether’s
contracting business relies on the group’s
consulting capability, it is fully in touch with the
current market and knows what’s impacting
materials, plant, labour and subcontracting prices
across its areas of work.
“We were one of the first organisations to be
pre-qualified with the Department of Transport
and Main Roads in Queensland on both the
professional service side for our cost estimating
capability as well as on the contracting side,” he
says. “Our construction business is now pre-
qualified nationally.
“That’s also an important point of difference,
not only from a market relevance perspective, but
it’s also a fantastic way for us to share resources
within the group and give younger engineers in
particular the opportunity to work on the
complete project.
“It means they can be involved in a project’s
entire life cycle, through feasibility and business
case, design development, and then into delivery
and operations. This experience helps build more
rounded engineers in my view.”
The group’s contracting arm targets civil
projects in the $10 million-plus range in a wide
variety of areas, including roads, bridges, rail, and
water infrastructure.
Ladds says Bellwether Consulting’s expertise is
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
“We are unique in that we
provide both professional
services and contracting
capabilities within the
same group.”
Stephen Ladds
invaluable, not only in providing preliminary
advice to clients by looking at projects from
different perspectives, but also by making sure
the delivery runs efficiently and on budget.
“We have typically guys like me who come from
a major contracting background, so we’ve been
out there and responsible for the building of large
infrastructure projects,” he says. “We can provide
those smarts into the development phase to help
provide better outcomes for projects.
“For example we sell constructability as an
offering, which is basically having a look at the
site, reviewing the design with the design
engineers and figuring out the optimal way to
construct the job.
“This process is inherently linked with value
engineering and risk analysis. It’s our preference
Bundi Bridge in Queensland
is a Bellwether Group project.
Inset: Bellwether co-managing
directors Stephen Ladds, top,
and Ben Sawtell, above.
also to engage our planners and cost estimators
throughout all stages of project development to
ensure that time, costs and risk are considered
during design development.
“That’s the sort of advice we provide to clients
before they go to market, so they’re very well
informed with a detailed profile of their project,
what it’s likely to cost, how long it’s likely to take,
and the key risks associated with it. That can be
tremendously valuable, and also well received by
the contracting market.”
Bellwether’s co-managing director, Ben
Sawtell, says that with a shortage of experienced
civil construction professionals across Australia,
the group’s diverse offering can inject valuable
“real-world” knowledge into development and
construction delivery that can be missing in some
projects, or realised when it’s too late.
“In a market like we have now, when you get a
high volume of work across Australia and the
world, expertise gets spread very thinly across
both the development and delivery side of
projects,” Sawtell says. “What we’ve seen is
designs being brought to market prematurely.
“Traditionally this becomes the contractor’s
problem, and in most cases, they are not best
placed to handle this. This can lead to disputes and
claims, and we’ve consulted on a few of these, both
from the client side and contracting side.
“Our offering provides clients with real-world
market intelligence, as well as value engineering
solutions that can help identify time, cost and key
project risks, before progressing to the most
expensive and high-risk delivery phase of projects.”
G12989203AA-241122
Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com
Firm’s agility lends authenticity to advice
Tales of economic slowdown don’t usually faze
fast-rising companies – and slowing down isn’t on
the agenda for consulting firm Adaptovate, which
promises to help firms thrive and grow, whatever
the market throws at them.
“Like most businesses, we faced massive
disruption over the past three years and we
practiced what we preach, because we help
organisations adapt to market change and embed
business agility at scale,” says managing director
Douglas Ross.
Ross set up Adaptovate with co-founders Alex
Rebkowski and Paul McNamara in 2017 (the three
having worked together at the Boston Consulting
Group), with the aim of tackling business
transformation differently.
They clearly made the right call: Adaptovate
now has 10 offices across eight countries, pulled
in around $34 million in 2021-22, doubled its
revenue through the pandemic – and grew from
56 employees in 2020 to more than 140 staff
today.
The three founders self-funded the enterprise
and the company’s compound annual growth
rate, averaging over 50 per cent since 2017, comes
on the back of re-invested profits.
It hasn’t always been easy. “In April 2020, we
had zero new clients and, faced with the
pandemic, our revenue dropped hugely, so we did
what we tell our clients to do: we were completely
transparent with our employees, told them how
much was in the bank and how long we could
last,” Ross recalls.
A few were spooked and left, but those who
stayed helped the company through its own agile
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transformation, and turned lessons from
adapting to remote work and being forced into
different ways of working, into solutions they
could share with their clients.
Ross says that Adaptovate’s approach is more
coach than consultant (though the firm does
both), and while high-level strategy is on the
menu, their main game lies in building capabilities
within their client’s teams – so training is another
key service.
“We help people to transform and change the
way they work and change what they do, so we
don’t just come in as a consultant to answer a
problem for them, because then we don’t leave
our clients with the skills they need to fix things
themselves in future,” Ross says.
“Our mantra is: success, sustained – and to do
that, we build capability, we coach people when
they need to be coached, we train, we change
habits – and we get some really cool outcomes.”
The company’s fast international expansion
was part of the plan from day one, with
Melbourne- and Sydney-based founders tapping
into long-term international business alliances
to establish offices in Singapore, LA and Warsaw
in 2019.
These were followed by Toronto and London,
and, more recently Munich, Auckland and Dallas.
Adaptovate now boasts more than 200 clients
across 50 countries, in sectors as disparate as
banking, pharmaceuticals, insurance, retail,
transport, energy and government.
“Our team needs to reflect diverse thinking,”
says chief operating officer Caitilin Studdert,
adding that the firm employs people with diverse
“Growing the business
is all about supporting
your employees to change
the way they do things –
it’s about helping your
people to grow.”
Douglas Ross
business backgrounds representing over 20
nationalities.
‘‘In five years, we have learnt from our Polish
colleagues, met as a team in Bali and Montreal and
followed COVID-19’s impact from Los Angeles to
London, watching companies transform to meet
the market at every global turn,” Studdert says.
Co-founder Alex Rebkowski says that
Adaptovate has made a point of living by the
principles that they are helping their clients to
implement.
Rather than hiring consultants, many of their
employees come from leadership and mentoring
positions within industry, he says.
“Our people are true practitioners that can
39
Adaptovate
co-founders
(from left)
Alex Rebkowski,
Paul McNamara
and Douglas
Ross.
share business agility knowledge in such
industries as retail, pharma, financial services,
airlines and many more,” Rebkowski says.
“This means that our clients can expect our
consultants to be hands-on and helping them
with real life challenges that unlock true business
value rather than only producing PowerPoints
and talking about hypothetical examples.’’
The Adaptovate team are keen advocates of
agile, the management model emerging from
mid-1990s software development teams that has
become a force for implementing fast-paced,
cross-disciplinary and low-hierarchy teams
across marketing and business units in
companies small and large.
Ross says that in today’s global market,
disruption is the norm, anything from worldwide
pandemic to climate change to the supply-chain
challenges emerging from the war in Ukraine.
“The challenge for every company is to be able
to adapt to market conditions rapidly and
successfully, by innovating their products and
services to meet those market adaptations.’’
Adaptovate’s solutions typically focus on
improving culture by building people’s skills and
changing the way they work. That, according to
Ross, distinguishes the firm from most global
consultancies, which start out with digital and
technology delivery first.
“We find that a business’s ability to improve its
speed to output is limited more by their people
than by their technology,” he says.
“Growing the business is all about supporting
your employees to change the way they do things
– it’s about helping your people to grow.”
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 40 Friday 25 November 2022 | The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com

Standing Out in
Healthcare Recruitment
Coming from healthcare and recruitment backgrounds, we’ve always held ourselves to the
highest standards. Servicing the whole of Australia, our skilled consultants have healthcare
experience in nursing, NDIS, aged care, acute care and related sectors. We’re proud and
excited to be an AFR Fast 100 company and we’ll continue to help our clients secure top
talent and candidates to find the right roles.

To find out more about Zonda People, visit zondapeople.com.au

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