startups – Startup Daily

simon cant

A group of six leading figures in the FinTech space have released a policy paper that outlines how governments and other stakeholders can ensure that Australian FinTech remains globally relevant and becomes a leader in the Asia region. The policy paper, which saw collaboration from 30 companies and was led by Simon Cant from Reinventure in Sydney. The six leading figures who contributed to the paper include MoneyPlace CEO Stuart Stoyan, Stone & Chalk's Alex Scandurra, Moula CEO Aris Allegos, Fintech Melbourne/Financial Ask's Andrew Lai, Reinventure group's Simon Cant, and Tyro's Andrew Corbett Jones. The paper has addressed key policy initiatives that will change the regulatory environment for startups, with the goal to provide Australia with a clear vision of how it will respond to rapid changes in the market. “Competitive and geographical boundaries have been put aside as a group of over 30 members of the FinTech community have come together in a relatively short time to agree a set of priority policy recommendations for the industry,” said Stoyan. While Australian FinTech ventures have been gathering pace as of late thanks to the development of initiatives such as the Stone & Chalk FinTech startup hub in Sydney, which was opened with the support of the NSW Government, the paper warns that these initiatives have not been enough and that changes to policy are key to ensuring the future of local companies. When it comes to policy, the paper believes Australia can learn a thing or two from the UK. Australia and the UK are like minded markets with similarities in language, culture and consumer mentality. The regulatory environment for UK FinTechs is friendly; the government gives tax deductions to investors to lessen their downside loss and incentivise them to back smaller companies and startups. Risks are easily spread across the playing field, with no taxes on capital gains and earnings an investor makes in the early stages of a FinTech company. According to research conducted by Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. The risks in investment are large, however tax deductions help investors weigh in the risks against profitability. To invest in FinTech companies means 2 out of 10 will succeed, so it’s important not to put all your eggs in one basket. Stoyan believes tax deductions have essentially made FinTech early stage investing possible in the UK. “The culture mindset of technology and finance in UK thrive and that's something I think that we should emulate,” said Stoyan. Currently, there are no tax incentives specifically aimed at FinTechs in Australia. The R&D tax incentive allows investors to receive a tax refund of 45 percent on any money spent on research and development. The paper states that it is crucial that the government works on a similar model for FinTech investment. “In Australia, we have this fear of failure, where overseas and in other areas in the world, especially Silicon Valley in the US, they've encouraged people to fail and fail fast because you learn from it,” said Stoyan. “We need to create a system and a tax environment that encourages people to support people who are giving it a go,” added SelfWealth’s Andrew Ward. The UK’s policies have been so successful that two Australian FinTech ventures, Lend2Fund and CoinJar, have relocated their businesses to the UK, demonstrating just how much Australia lacks initiative to be globally competitive. According to the policy paper, overseas disruptors seek the spoils of Australian consumers but contribute significantly less to the economy by avoiding high tax contributions and investment. Currently Australian taxation policy is preventing Australia from leading the Asian market in FinTech investment. Australian disruptors such as Carsales, SEEK and REA have become major taxpayers despite winning only 20 percent of online media revenue. On the other hand, Google reportedly paid a dismal $11.7 million in tax last year, a small price to pay when you compare that to their net worth of $367.6 billion. Without key taxpayer advantages, the paper warns that Australia is at risk of losing a potential $30 billion, as that money will go to foreign FinTech disruptors. “Under the existing tax regime, equity is taxed at the same rate as salary, which makes no sense for smaller companies where equity is potentially worth nothing. Why should it be considered as income?” said CEO of Sharesight Doug Morris. There is little opportunity for startups to compete in the market due to slow progress and high cost of involvement in payments, which is greatly influenced by the stronghold of big banks.The market has been traditionally dominated by just the four big banks. The FinTech Association, which hopes to be formed officially within the coming weeks, wants to lobby the government directly to change the way things are being done in terms of banks, fund managers and consumers. It warns that to prevent the loss of Australian talent, changes must be made to small businesses in terms of taxation. The paper highlights the fact that, with Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister and Wyatt Roy as Assistant Minister championing the cause for innovation, there has never been a better time to act. “Innovation is the output of a strong entrepreneurial culture. A culture of speed of execution, empowerment of people and ideas and a tolerance of failure and those who try,” said Roy. The ultimate goal of the FinTech Association is for Australia to become a key player in innovation and investment. It is important to convince investors and the consumer public that smaller tech companies are trying to do what’s right for their back pocket. “Startup FinTechs lack the roadway to launch in Australia, so they take their ideas overseas,” said Morris. The paper recommends that the Government implements incentives that stop FinTechs from venturing and relocating overseas, with the experts highlighting the importance of home grown products and companies to local consumers. Morris added, “If you think about FinTech, the best FinTech is FinTech that is built in Australia for Australian investors, Australian consumers because fundamentally financial services are tied to the market that they serve.”

Image: Simon Cant. Source: Capital Pitch.

trolley saver

One day, our descendants will look back on this time and study the intense, decades-long wars fought on Australian soil: the supermarket wars. Woolworths and Coles have been the key players, neck and neck for years, with Aldi slowly making its mark and smaller players like IGA bravely keeping up the fight. For a long time, consumers have been caught in the middle. Now technology is finally giving them the chance to fight back. Trolley Saver is a new Australian app, currently available on iOS, that wants to make paper catalogues a thing of the past while ensuring that all consumers are getting the best deal. It works by linking a user’s shopping list with supermarket specials to show they how much they will save by shopping at specific supermarkets. Shoppers can use the app to browse specials, and set notifications for alerts on their favourited or listed products go on special. Consumers tell the app how far they are willing to travel, and the app searches the specials database and notifies users of the related products as they put their shopping list together. When the user is ready to go shopping, the app tells the user how much they would save by going to specific or multiple retailers. The app then splits the shopping list so the user knows what items to purchase from each selected retailer. Founder Sam Lee first came up with Trolley Saver in 2011, when he set about starting a business that would make a positive impact on all Australians. “Everyone has to grocery shop, so I set about discovering what pain points I could solve. It wasn't until 2014, after hundreds of shopper interviews and multiple pivots from discussions with industry experts, that development of the prototype began,” Lee said. Lee said the app was first designed to give a 'whole of basket' price comparison to users so they could choose the cheapest product, while also considering convenience. However, he found this model wasn’t viable due to different prices at different locations. “More than that, I didn't want Trolley Saver to be involved in any 'races to the bottom' in terms of supermarket prices, so instead we designed it to link to specials. Supermarkets already have specials and every day low cost items, and now they have Trolley Saver as a tool to put the information in front of consumers,” Lee said. As such, the app is aimed at both shoppers and supermarkets. While the major supermarkets have their own apps, Lee said the majority of Australian shoppers are not loyal to any one particular store, and Trolley Saver fills this gap. But rather than disrupting supermarkets themselves, Trolley Saver aims to disrupt the advertising channels used by supermarkets; that is, digital and print catalogues, and TV and radio advertisements. “We believe Trolley Saver is the most powerful supermarket and FMCG [fast moving consumer goods] advertising channel because we put products in front of consumers when the messaging is actually relevant, not while they are watching The Block. We also put products in front of consumers based on what they want to purchase, not necessarily the stores they already frequent,” Lee said. Lee believes Trolley Saver gives supermarkets the opportunity to put their specials in front of shoppers at four key decision making points: as they decide what to buy, before they decide where to shop, during shopping, and after shopping. Trolley Saver launched as a prototype several months ago, hitting around 17,000 users. At this point, several issues with the app were brought up, which Lee said highlighted a key benefit of not having a tech co-founder: he was able to quickly change developers in order to launch the market-ready version in October. Lee has had mixed results working with supermarkets. He said he has found it harder to deal with smaller retailers, a fact he finds confusing given they would have the most to gain from coming on board. “Contrary to my initial assumptions, the large retailers are extremely open to exploring new ways of reaching customers and have shown interest in participating more than their 'normal' catalogue specials. The larger retailers see the value in reaching customers in a way that catalogues - digital and printed - can't,” Lee said. Supermarket retailers pay for their presence on the app on a capped pay-for-performance model, charged either by impressions alone or impressions and user interactions - that is, user shares or additions to a shopping list - capped at the agreed maximum amount per user. Lee is looking to extend this model to the communication of targeted campaigns, not just specials. Lee is also looking to expand the app beyond just supermarkets to incorporate a broader range of retailers. He hopes to have 50,000 users by January, a number he thinks the app will be able to reach fairly organically. “A large percentage of our users love the app and are sharing with friends and family. We've built a viral component into the app where our users can share specials that their friends and family would be interested in,” he said. Shopping list apps are a dime a dozen, but as the supermarket wars continue to rage on, it isn’t hard to see Trolley Saver having real potential. The app is similar in theory to fellow Australian platform MyGroceries, though MyGroceries works across only Woolworths, Coles, and their associated liquor stores. As well as a wider selection of stores, Trolley Saver has a more pleasant design and UX that will appeal to younger users who throw catalogues away and simply shop where it’s more convenient. Bringing local businesses on board also means users who like to avoid the big supermarket chains will still be able to support small businesses, while integrating coupons or rewards will also help boost the experience. Lee has been bootstrapping the development of the app so far, and has no immediate plans to find investment. At the top of the to do list for the next 12 months is finishing the Android app, finalising a strategic partnership with a major retailer, and onboarding local small businesses.

Image: Sam Lee. Source: Supplied.

martin bliemel

The survey is being run by UNSW and funded by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation & Science, who are interested in the policy implications regarding startups and and the organisations that support them. The emphasis is nominally on accelerators, but remains inclusive of organisations that provide co-working space, mentoring, seed capital, or structured workshops.

kelly o'dwyer small business minister

More than six months after the Murray Financial System Inquiry recommended changes to Australia's equity crowdfunding regulations, federal Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer yesterday announced that the government is set to ease regulations and allow 'mum and dad' investors to invest in startups and small businesses. In a speech delivered to the Financial Services Council, O'Dwyer said that the government would be looking to bring Australia into line with countries like Canada, the UK, the US, and New Zealand, where "small businesses and startups are able to use technology to reach new investors to finance or expand their businesses." Current Australian regulations limit the scope of equity crowdfunding to wholesale or sophisticated investors who earn at least $250,000 a year or have $2.5 million in assets. O'Dwyer announced that the new regulations would allow public companies with $5 million or less in annual turnover, or up to $5 million in assets, to raise $5 million a year from retail, or 'mum and dad' investors. "Right now in Australia, startups and small businesses cannot practically access retail investors due to significant upfront and ongoing compliance costs and red tape. Changing this will unlock innovation and growth," O'Dwyer said. The $5 million limit is significantly higher than the $1 million cap on companies in the United States, and the $2 million cap in New Zealand. O'Dwyer said, "This means that the founders of a microbrewery in Tasmania can get their business off the ground with the investment of Mums and Dads in places like Albury and Sydney." The Minister added that the new regulations will also call for "appropriate consumer protection", including the licensing of intermediaries, risk warnings to investors, and a five day cooling off period. The Government is also considering the implementation of a cap on the amount individuals can either invest in a particular company on one campaign, a cap on the amount they can invest across a 12 month period, or both. The announcement comes almost a month after the Turnbull Government released its response to the Inquiry, with Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Chris Pyne saying at the time that crowdsourced equity funding should be "a vital part of any proposed policy changes." “Crowdsourced funding has a lot of potential as a new source of finance for innovative Australian companies and will encourage local entrepreneurs," he said. Anna Guenther, co-founder of New Zealand crowdfunding platform PledgeMe, is watching Australia with interest. The startup, which raised NZ$360,000 in capital through its own platform earlier this year, has discussed the possibility of an Australian launch a couple of times in the past. Guenther said it is good to see Australia thinking big with the $5 million cap, but questioned the potential of caps on individual investors. Though New Zealand does not impose limits, Guenther said the average individuals invest on PledgeMe is around $2000. "It seems like over-regulation. Regulation makes sense when it’s based around science and safety, but there doesn't seem to be any good reasoning for capping how much individual investors can invest," she said. She believes this reflects the language often used by law makers and those in the space when talking about equity crowdfunding, which is often "quite patronising." As the Minister's did yesterday, the discussion often centres around 'mum and dad' investors, language which implies these individuals are not knowledgeable about the area and may be taken advantage of. While PledgeMe provides ample information for prospective investors and clear warnings about the risk, Guenther said those investing are often customers already closely familiar with the company. "We’ve had everything from 18 year olds invest through to our oldest at 86...companies are inviting their crowd to get involved, which means they already have a relationship with them. These investors aren’t just 'mum and pop' investors, they’re people with a wealth of skills and advice that can actually help the companies grow in different ways," Guenther said. She pointed to a campaign run through PledgeMe earlier this year, where a woman running a hair care business got investment from a handful of chemists, who were able to quickly help her solve a problem she had been working on for months. The concern about overregulation and the Australian players already in the space, such as VentureCrowd, mean PledgeMe is keeping a close eye on Australia as it carefully considers whether a launch here is financially viable, but it isn't at the top of the agenda. According to O'Dwyer, the Government will continue to consult stakeholders over the next month before presenting legislation to Parliament before the end of the year, with consultation around debt crowdfunding also on the table. With peer to peer and debt crowdfunding making up two thirds of the international crowdfunding market, this should be an important part of the conversation.

Image: Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer. Source: abc.net.au

snow explore

Most of us may have become accustomed to booking holiday flights, accommodation, and activities online, but ask around and you'll find that more than a few people still like popping into the travel agent and picking up a couple of brochures to flick through for their initial research. While technology has upgraded every other aspect of the holiday experience, a glossy brochure outlining where to go and what to do still works better at giving people an idea of what's in store for them at a particular destination than what's available online. Starting with ski resorts, a Sydney startup is looking to change that. Founded by Daniel Lynam, Luke Hymann, and Blake van Delft three years ago, Snow Explore was first developed as an online community of sorts for skiiers and snowboarders, allowing them to post videos of trails. It has now evolved into a service that creates interactive maps that allows people to, in the words of Hymann, “know the mountain before they take on the mountain.” Snow Explore is looking to give ski resorts another tool to sell the resort experience. It allows the resorts themselves, as well as their customers, to capture multiple forms of content and then share it onto the map, thereby allowing prospective visitors to get an idea of the mountains and whether they’re appropriate for their skill level or the experience they’re after. A keen snowboarder himself, Hymann said the idea came from visiting ski resorts overseas and noticing that some of the more well-known international resorts were using only PDF trail maps. “With so much content available via YouTube and social media, I thought there had to be a better way to use this content and showcase ski resorts to customers like me,” Hymann said. This is typical for most resorts, and while Hymann admitted static maps have their uses, he said they offer no opportunity for visitors to engage more deeply with the mountain. Conversely, Snow Explore maps can contain images, videos, comments, and ratings on an entire trail or a particular section. It’s essentially like a social media platform or ratings site for a trail, except instead of diners whining about a restaurant's service on Yelp, a Snow Explore map is more about posting tips and tricks to help other people. Hymann said the startup has found that the addition of a map to a site increased a customer’s response to a call to action by between five to 10 percent. With Snow Explore's target market made up primarily of resorts and travel agents who want to improve the way they engage customers in order to compete in the tough tourism industry, Hymann said the maps are particularly useful in selling based on an experience rather than just price comparisons. [caption id="attachment_47806" align="aligncenter" width="748"]

snowexplore.com[/caption] Creating a map takes two to three days, with this covering the mapping out of the areas for coding based on the requirements from the customer and then coding the areas, configuring the backend, and then seeking the content and uploading for launch day. Once live on the site, the clients and their customers can add content. “We try to help our customers by providing them with a solid base of content so maps look great from day one,” Hymann said. As well as snow trail maps, resorts can create summer maps for mountain biking on the same trails, and year-round maps for their villages. The service is offered via a monthly subscription model, which covers ongoing development and flexible rates for multiple maps. There are a couple of other companies in the space looking to provide a similar service, though Hymann maintains that no one is dominating the market. “Where we excel compared to our competitors is with our mobile first approach, meaning that our maps work perfectly on mobile as well as desktop; this is unlike the offering of our competitors. Providing an exceptional mobile experience is becoming increasingly important as we see traffic volumes from mobile beginning to exceed that of desktop,” he said. “We also acknowledge the importance of content for resorts as they attempt to differentiate themselves from competitors. This has meant our maps utilise content in much better way than other interactive trail maps. Our maps focus on providing a rich content experience to users so that they fall in love with your ski resort.” Maps can also be embedded on other websites, which is particularly helpful in allowing a resort’s travel partners to help promote the resort on their own sites. This could also raise the idea of going back to Snow Explore's original concept and curating a social media platform or community of sorts for skiiers and snowboarders. People who love these sports love to talk about them and share related content - after all, there's a reason why YouTube is full of videos of athletes performing trick shots. Leveraging this community and connecting users across resorts around the world would be powerful. The Snow Explore team recently won a pitching competition at TEDxSydney, where they received $10,000 in funding from St George bank. Aside from this, the development of the business has been funded by the founders themselves. They’ve set themselves “a very ambitious goal” of reaching $100,000 in revenue by the end of next year, with the major work to be done educating the market about the value the maps can add to their website. The team is also considering expanding the concept to other sports, with possibilities including maps for golf courses, downhill mountain biking, surfing, walking trails, and wake boarding. They are also looking to work outside the sport and recreation space and in the wider tourism market.

Tiltsta Founders

The ecommerce space has come a long way. eMarketer data shows that worldwide ecommerce sales will hit $1.5 trillion this year. In the Democratization of Ecommerce report, Australian software company Bigcommerce makes a prediction that global B2C (Business-to-Consumer) ecommerce revenues will reach US$2 trillion in 2015, with US SMB ecommerce revenues expected to exceed both eBay and Amazon combined (estimated $100 billion in 2015). A lot of this growth has to do with technology making it easier to purchase products online, and now on mobile. Mobile is a particularly interesting space, and Sunshine Coast startup Tiltsta is looking to change the way that people purchase items and engage with advertising campaigns on their smartphones. It's doing away with the 'one touch' mentality and instead replacing it with a slight 'tilt' of your device. Founded by Ben Thomas and Bonny Morlak, Tiltsta exists to provide people with a better mobile experience. Right now, the company concentrates specifically on mobile advertising. "In mobile advertising, things are shifting to the mobile phone rapidly. People spend a lot of time on their mobile phones and that's where you get people if you want to reach them," says Morlak. "However, people also have a very short attention span. So while on the mobile phone, grabbing their attention is extremely hard. Since 2014, video has become an integral part of advertising on mobile because we have wifi and good data plans and videos engage people more than anything else in mobile marketing." "If you want to grab people's emotions, if you want to create an intent for an action, nothing is as good as video. But when you have a video on a mobile phone, when it goes full screen - you cannot click the screen to like, share or buy anything. When you touch the screen it will stop or pause the video, depending on whether you have an iPhone or Android device, but you definitely can't put a button on there. We have created a solution for that." Tiltsta technology works very similar to the way that a joystick does. Basically, you hold the phone, and by tilting it forward or tilting it to the side, you can trigger reactions without touching the screen. This video below shows the Tiltsta technology in action, being used to power a SurfStitch video ad on Facebook: The fact it can be integrated into Facebook advertising is significant - that's where a lot of consumers are hanging out. If you click on an ad in Facebook and stream in mobile, the full screen video will come up, and let's say there's a catwalk model walking down the catwalk in a bikini - you can tilt your phone forward every time you see a bikini you like. At the end of the video, users will have a shortlist of those bikinis and can make a purchase. When the platform is fully built-out, Tiltsta will most likely be a SaaS model product with a suite of online tools for advertising and social media marketing agencies to use when creating campaigns, so they can power them with Tiltsta technology. Right now the team are running a series of pilot programs, with around 20 of these types of companies aiding them in helping them take current campaigns to the next level for their clients. Very early stage A/B testing has shown that conversion rates seem to be higher when combing Tiltsta's tech with social media advertising. In addition to this early testing, the company is looking to raise around $500,000 in seed funding to build out the platform, ideally from Australian investors. The team will be looking at the United States after the platform has been fleshed out more for an add-on round or Series A.

Featured image: Ben Thomas and Bonny Morlak | Source: Provided

edwena dixon

Almost every article, column, book, or speech giving career advice will spend some time talking about networking; after all, success can often be down to not what you know, but who you know. As such, the business world is full of networking events and gatherings, but their usefulness is debatable - it's easy to spend a whole night talking to people without having made one relevant connection. That was the thinking behind finance professional Edwena Dixon’s decision to launch N3, an app that helps users search the room through the app for their ideal networking partners based on industry, area, experience, and other factors. If the user is interested in speaking to the person, they can be put through to their LinkedIn or Facebook profile to learn more about them, see what they look like, and then decide whether or not they want to approach that person. The idea of forgoing easy conversation with people who may not necessarily be useful to you in a business sense may seem a little cold, but for Dixon it’s simple. “No more countless hours lost at networking events striking up random conversation after random conversation in the hope that you'd eventually strike it lucky. When you come to N3 you know you'll be able to speak with the right people, and potentially all of the right people, in the room on the night,” she said. Dixon is the founder and principal of Pinpoint Finance, a finance brokerage specialising in finance for professional women. She said she experienced significant frustration when she first started in the industry, with most non-industry specific networking groups seeming ineffective, and many industry-specific initiatives often just old boys clubs, or closed shops for newer professionals. “I thought, there must be a better way. Seeing an opportunity for a younger and new-to-industry specific networking event, the idea of integrating technology into the heart of the networking experience seemed natural, given how tech savvy the new generation of finance professionals are,” she said. The app won’t be working on its own, however. Dixon said N3 stands for ‘Networking in 3 Dimensions’: the professional, personal, and digital, which come together at N3 events planned by the Pinpoint Finance team. Participants will be added to the N3 platform when they register for an event. Dixon believes that building up networks is important not only for a professional’s individual success, but also in order to help them deliver better service to their clients. “When people are making major financial decisions, such as buying or refinancing property, or purchasing a house, property, or life insurance, they're often at a moment of great change in their lives and financial situation. It's in moments like this that a good broker should be instructing them to seek professional advice from accountants and financial planners, meaning they need relationships with such professionals that are worthy of their trust and their clients business,” Dixon said. “The finance industry as a whole is a trust based industry, and clients will be much more likely to trust a recommendation than they are to trust an advertisement. When someone needs an accountant, financial planner, or broker, they don't google it, they ask their friends or post on Facebook. Or, they ask the finance professionals they already have a relationship with to refer them to someone. Developing a network of finance industry professionals in complementary specialties is a powerful way to grow your business, no matter which speciality within the finance industry you are in.” Dixon has self funded the development of the N3 app and Pinpoint Finance, though secured big-name sponsors including National Australia Bank for the app’s launch event earlier this week. Two finance industry bodies have also recognised N3, giving a continued professional development (CPD) point to members who attended the launch . N3 will be charging entry fees to events in order to cover expenses, and will also be offering memberships that cover discounted entry to public events, access to members-only events, and year-round access to the member database for external networking events. In a sense, N3’s competitors are varied, from traditional networking groups through to LinkedIn and Twitter, but clearly, they aren't quite working perfectly. N3, however, blends online and off in an effective way. Though it’s focused on making targeted connections, N3 isn’t the only networking service to launch recently, which is no surprise given the importance placed on networking in the business sphere - CUB Network, perhaps best described as being like a country club of sorts for tech entrepreneurs, recently launched, offering a range of services and swanky features within its premises to facilitate networking. Dixon believes that the N3 concept has the potential to change how professional networking happens in industries around the world. As such, she looks at this first Australian iteration as a proof of concept, and will be looking to roll the model out into new industries over time.

Image: Edwena Dixon. Source: Pinpoint Finance.

shopandbox

It has been another busy week across the global startup space, with Pandora announcing that it is to acquire Rdio for $75 million, India's Uber rival Ola raising $500 million, and US fintech startup Earnest raising $275 million in debt and equity financing. Closer to home, online lender zipMoney secured a $100 million debt facility and $1 million in funding, while ShopandBox raised a $1 million seed round. Acquisitions Greenhouse acquires Parklet A few months after partnering, recruitment startups Greenhouse and Parklet have taken their relationship a step further, with Greenhouse acquiring Parklet. The partnership saw Greenhouse, a recruiting platform, integrate Parklet's employee training technology into its own platform to give clients a more complete offering. Pandora to acquire Rdio for $75 million Music discovery platform Pandora is set to acquire music streaming platform Rdio's key assets for $75 million in cash, which Pandora said will "accelerate the company's plan to offer fans greater control over the music they love, strengthening Pandora's position as the definitive source of music." Pandora will acquire Rdio's technology and intellectual property, with members of the Rdio team to be offered roles at Pandora. Lightspeed POS acquires SEOShop Lightspeed POS, a point of sale platform for retailers and restaurants, has acquired Amsterdam ecommerce software startup SEOShop. As part of the acquisition, Lightspeed will be launching a new ecommerce platform. Dax Dasilva, CEO of Lightspeed POS, said in a statement, "With the industry rapidly digitizing, online-only merchant demand has grown exponentially. Bringing SEOshop into the Lightspeed family gives us additional scale, and allows us to help store owners create a global shopping experience and sell smarter- all from an iPad- no matter how their customers choose to shop." Funding ShopandBox raises $1 million seed round Melbourne startup ShopandBox, which lets consumers shop like a local anywhere around the world by linking them up with a personal shopper who then boxes up and sends them their goods, has raised AUD$1 million in seed funding from 500 Startups and a group of angel investors. The funding will go towards strengthening existing ShopandBox shopping routes, and to accelerate expansion into new countries. zipMoney secures $100 million debt facility and $1 million in equity Australian online lender zipMoney, which provides loans between $1000 to $10,000 to spend on goods and services at partner retailers, has secured a $100 million debt facility and $1 million in equity funding from US-based fund Victory Park Capital. Ola raises $500 million Indian Uber rival Ola has raised $500 million at a valuation of $5 billion from existing investors including Tiger Global and SoftBank Group Corp, and new investors including Baillie Gifford and Didi Kuaidi. This brings the total raised by the company to date to $1.4 billion, with TechCrunch reporting that Ola is now seeing almost 1 million booking requests through its app each day. Earnest raises $275 million Earnest, a startup that helps people refinance their student loans, has announced that it has closed $275 million in total financing, coming in the form of a $75 million Series B equity round led by Battery Ventures, with participation from investors includingAdams Street Partners and Maveron, and $200 million of lending capital from institutions including New York Life. Datto raises $75 million Series B round Data backup and recovery company Datto has raised $75 million in a Series B round led by Technology Crossover Ventures, with Ted Coons, general partner at TCV, joining the Datto board. The funding will go towards global expansion and accelerating product innovation. It brings the total raised by the startup to date to over $100 million. PlanGrid raises $40 million

PlanGrid, a platform that allows users in the construction industry to store blueprints and other documents, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Tenaya Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, YC Continuity and Northgate. The funding will be used to continue building out its product.

Athos raises $35 million Series C round Smart fitness apparel startup Athos has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by Social+Capital, with participation from investors including MAS Holdings, Lightspeed Venture, Felix Capital, and Golden State Warriors managing partner Joe Lacob. This fresh funding brings the total raised by the startup to date to $51 million and will go towards developing new products. Craftsvilla raises $34 million Series C round Indian startup Craftsvilla, which has created an online marketplace for ethnic goods, has raised $34 million in a Series C round led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Ventures, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital, also existing investors, and Apoletto Asia. UrbanClap raises $25 million Series B round UrbanClap, India's largest services marketplace, has raised $25 million in a Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors SAIF and Accel Partners. It comes just a few months after the startup raised $12 million across two rounds from SAIF and Accel Partners. ProtectWise raises $20 million Series B round Cybersecurity startup ProtectWise has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Tola Capital, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Trinity Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, and Arsenal Venture Partners. Sheila Gulati, managing director at Tola Capital, is joining the ProtectWise board. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to over $37 million, with this fresh funding to go towards supporting the company's growth, tech innovation, and expansion. APX Labs raises $13 million APX Labs, the company behind the Skylight smart glasses development platform, has raised $13 million in a round led by NEA, with participation from investors including CNF Investments, GE Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and more. Styletag raises $7.5 million Indian fashion marketplace Styletag, which focuses on emerging designers, has raised $7.5 million in angel funding from Jitu Virwani, chairman and managing director of real estate company Embassy Group. The funding will go towards expanding the site's range of labels, and acquiring more designer brands. Tubi TV raises $6 million Series B round Free streaming service Tubi TV has raised $6 million in a Series B round led by Cota Capital, with participation from existing investor Foundation Capital, and Hollywood studios MGM and Lionsgate. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to $10 million.

Image: ShopandBox founders Xin-lung Tai and Rebecca Chia. Source: Provided.

dorsal

The mercury is set to hit 41 degrees in Sydney today, which means at least half the city has either called in sick at work to go to the beach instead, or wishes they did. As we dive into beach and pool season, a series of familiar news stories will start making their way into the media: swimmers venturing beyond the red and yellow flags and getting caught up in rips, little kids falling into pools, and shark attacks. The mention of each scenario is enough to generate a sense of terror among Australians, but there's nothing quite as terrifying as a shark attack. A new app aims to help communities be aware of shark sightings by allowing users to track shark movements and receive alerts in real time. Developed by Allan Bennetto at digital agency Fruitful Tech, Dorsal was created after a recent wave of shark sightings and attacks around the wider Ballina region in NSW.

"It became evident that there was a lot of talk and not much action with a whole heap of conflicting views about what the best way forward was. One of the gaps was in the real time dissemination of info to the wider community. This really hit home when a Tasmanian diver was taken in front of his daughter a day after local fisherman reported a 4.5 White roaming around, yet no warning was put out. I did a bit more research and realised there was nothing really that was absolute real time," Bennetto said.

That's the long answer, Bennetto said. "The short answer is I have a 1 year old girl who I wanted to eventually teach to surf and that would be our thing for life, but the missus was not having a bar of it after all of the shark activity, so I created this to appease her. Still not sure the missus is convinced though!"

Dorsal combines public sightings and official warnings to alert users to any shark sightings or reports around Australia. The app captures all notifications from all of the main reporting outlets, which are then pushed out immediately. These alerts detail things like time, location, and the type of shark. The public can also submit sightings through the app, which are then sent to the Dorsal team for verification, and then sent out to users on the app itself, and Dorsal's Facebook, Twitter, and website. Dorsal is also in talks to push out alerts to third parties.

"There are some really good Facebook pages that are managed by volunteers and they do a great job, but there are still delays in those posts going up and getting out to people. That’s why in addition to the website and the Facebook and Twitter pages, we created the apps. Using the app allows surfers and whoever to set their alerts up to their home break or location and as soon as any report goes live, it is straight to their mobile. No searching for recent reports or waiting for Facebook to push me a notification, it happens instantly," Bennetto said.

"The other side is I wanted to give people a centralised, national tool to report sightings. At the moment, where and how people report is quite fragmented. I think there are a lot of sightings that go unreported - some deliberately which is fine - and many probably don’t think anything of it. With the Dorsal apps, you see a shark, you can submit a report and notify the wider community in under a minute."

A user can see a listing of all reports in chronological order on a map view based on their current location. They can then filter these lists down based on location, and can set the app up to push through notifications of reports within a certain distance of their current location or of selected beaches. Since launch, over 170 sightings have been reported, mainly around NSW and WA.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Dorsal isn't the only shark tracking app or service out there. As well as volunteer-led Facebook pages, Surf Life Saving Australia has an app, Beachsafe, which allows users to get information about recent shark sightings, among other key information about different beaches, while Global Shark Tracker is also a popular app. However, this is maintained by a research body that tags and tracks sharks, and this tracking is limited in the sense that a location is only registered when a shark surfaces.

Still, Bennetto hopes to include tagged sharks in Dorsal's alerts to provide more comprehensive data, but the Departments of Primary Industries and surf life saving bodies in each state have not yet gotten back to the Dorsal team.

"At the moment it is a manual process. We monitor all the official feeds and will report within minutes of any official report going out...ideally, we would integrate with [official bodies'] systems to enable them to report immediately to the wider community as well as allowing them to be immediately informed to any sightings to act quicker," Bennetto said.

"The lack of communication is actually quite frustrating given we have already built the tools, they are free for everyone and they are the quickest way to keep the community informed across any medium."

Bennetto said what began as a side project for the team has quickly spiralled, costing more than he initially thought it would, but he said that positive feedback from users has made it worth it. He plans to keep the app free, and put in place collaborations with new technology and water devices that will help some money flow through.

He said there are a couple of options in terms of securing funding for further R&D, but Bennetto's main focus is getting official involvement.

"We are just volunteers who built the system for free. It would be great if it was taken on at a national level and used by the various authorities to keep beachgoer informed in real time. We will continue to push for access and integration to the various other measures being touted, including the tagging programs and CleverBouys as well as continue building out our own innovations with our technology partners," Bennetto said.

With Australia's climate and wildlife seemingly always out to get us, there are a number of other applications for Dorsal. It could be used to track animals such as dingoes, for the reporting and dissemination of alerts about fires, or really, for any situation where community input and real time alerts to the public are required.

Image: Alan Bennetto. Source: Supplied.

Untitled design (5)

Op-shops like Vinnies used to be enough to satisfy lovers of vintage fashion, but the number of vintage pop-up shops appearing around Australia and attracting large crowds show that there’s a large market for pre-loved fashion. Like most other things, this experience has now been translated into the online world; given most of us have a closet full of clothing that we never want to see again because it reminds us of an era of bad fashion and poor life choices, app after app is now giving us a way to capitalise by selling and swapping second hand clothes. Based in South Australia, Remoda is one of the latest to emerge in the market. Like others, it too is based around this idea of selling off your pre-loved, or never worn clothes. Cofounders of the startup, Arie Spivak and Nir Davidson, believe that online vintage shopping is the new way to find your own sense of style and fashion in Australia. Pop-up stalls and markets have long been a favourite for fashion lovers, letting them browse, touch and try clothing relics from the past. The success of pop ups like Round She Goes preloved fashion markets identifies the popularity of first-hand discovering, bargaining and buying. The look and feel of vintage market places are hard to be replicated online, but both Spivak and Davidson want to take the idea of window shopping and browsing into the online sphere, where the experience of shopping is not lost on mobile devices. Using the app feels almost like window shopping from anywhere in Australia. It allows users to buy and sell items based on location and style choices. The target audience is identified through leveraging existing social network platforms, with an interface design similar to that of Instagram and Pintrest. Users upload a photo of an item they wish to sell, with a deal negotiated just as on platforms such as Gumtree. Buyers and sellers agree upon a price and find a place to meet or exchange their payment details. It’s really just a combination of Ebay and Instagram. “People have been complaining about eBay fees becoming astronomical and a lot of frustration there. That's where we fit in. We've see amazing growth and interest in Australia since we started,” said Spivak. Launched in May, Remoda has already reached 200,000 downloads Australia wide, with 150,000 listings, accumulating to a value of $30 million. These figures show that there is a viable market in Australia for pre-loved fashion apps, but Remoda isn't the only one in the market. Each founder of a fashion swapping startup always seems to come to the idea in the same way. CEO of 99dresses, Nikki Durkin started her business because she wanted to solve a problem she had personally experienced: having a closet full of clothes but still nothing to wear. However, Durkin’s fashion app failed due to a number of issues that made it hard to monetise, and it was consumed by unreachable growth plans. Of course, the failure of 99dresses hasn't deterred other entrepreneurs from taking a crack at the space. Shortly after the shutdown of 99dresses, new startup 99closets took its place (and almost its name). The startup is really just a revamped version of 99dresses, focusing on the use of mobile phone devices rather than web-based platforms. It was born out of the same issues, targeting women who have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear - which almost sums up every girl in Australia. Cofounder of 99closets, Christian Lin, told Startup Daily earlier this year, “It seems like that’s a very common issue, where women have so much in their closet but have little they actually want to wear. I thought, why don’t we sell their clothes to people and buy newer things to wear?” Also trying to capitalise in the online market of second hand fashion is Yordrobe, an app that launched only a month ago. It once again uses the premise of selling, shopping and swapping fashion. Its point of difference is that, rather than focusing on vintage clothing, the startup targets Australian designer labels. “We're trying to capitalising the Australian market, where girls already use these brands to buy, sell and swap them,” said Yordrobe founder Rochelle Carbs. Based out of South Australia, Yordrobe is competing in a market where vintage sells - according to Spivak from Remoda, 30 to 40 percent of items sold in South Australia are vintage. Remoda began as a social marketplace for users to buy houseware, fashion and electronic products but decided to pivot when they discovered a trend of female users looking for vintage clothing. “We noticed the trend in our app that most of the users coming on board were female and they were buying and selling women's pre-loved clothing,” said Spivak. Given it is competing with an already established app like Remoda, which has amassed a significant user base, Yordrobe has its work cut out for it. While Remoda has expanded Australia wide, Yordrobe is currently focused on growing in the South Australian market. However, its scope is quite limiting - Carbs said that while they encourage users to tell them what brands they want to see, Yordrobe has control over what they can sell and swap on the app. This very control over what users can upload, swap and sell limits Yordrobe to a very particular market, one which is already being targeted by Remoda. This similarity between the two apps may make it difficult for Yordrobe to differentiate itself in a highly competitive market, especially since Remoda already has a significant number of users. The social trends and gaps in the online world of pre-loved fashion have well and truly been addressed and filled. The success of these apps rides upon how they can differentiate themselves from one another and harness the power of mobile platforms.

Image: Rochelle Carbs of Yordrobe. Source: Supplied.

Sinan Kaya - Localizer

Though founders talk of taking it slow, most startups launch with dreams of going global and reaching customers and users in every remote corner of the world. While it can be easy for English-language businesses to think they’re reaching the majority of the world’s consumers, it turns out that, actually, there’s a whole other world out there and simply letting Google auto-translate your website isn’t good enough to grab their attention. That's where Sydney startup Localizer comes in. Localizer wants to help businesses spur international growth by, as the name suggests, localising their service to different markets through its platform. More than just straight translating, Localizer aims to help keep a website’s particular language or tone of voice and adapt it into a similar style that fits the other country. For example, keeping the idea of Australian cheekiness or sarcasm but adapting it for a more playful Spanish audience. Founded by Sinan Kaya last year, Localizer works by integrating one line of code into an existing website. Working across all major content management platforms, users can then go into their back end and select the content they want translated, and then pick whether they want to translate it themselves, have it machine translated, or translated by someone in Localizer’s network of professional translators. When the translation is completed, the site is then presented to a foreign user in the appropriate language based on their browser’s language settings. The idea came to Kaya, who is also the founder of ecommerce solutions platform Ashop, after he had difficulty localising a service of his own. “We couldn’t find an easy way to do it. That’s why we created Localizer. Once we realised that there is a huge need for a platform like this we ended up packaging Localizer as a service for everyone,” he said. Human translations are completed through Gengo, Localizer’s translation partner. Gengo has a community of over 15,000 native speakers translating over 35 languages across more than 140 countries, with translators on the platform reviewed by a team of linguistics experts before they are given access to the platform. Ninety five percent of orders posted on Gengo are started within two hours and finished in an hour. It’s essentially real-time translation, Kaya said. Gengo’s native speakers are essential for localisation, doing more than translating word for word. For example, speaking both French and Italian, I would be able to provide a simple translation of a page into those languages, but I wouldn’t be able to translate Australian English humour and idioms into something that resonates with French or Italian readers. Tone is key in order to deliver “a native brand experience,” and take into account cultural context, Kaya said. Localizer’s translation interface lets customers communicate directly with translators and set out the scope of a translation to regulate things such as tone. The localisation process then goes further, presenting text from right to left if necessary, displaying first and last names in the appropriate way, and changing testimonial images and text to one relevant to each particular country. While Localizer’s main goal is to fully automate the localisation process so it can be done in the click of just one button, Kaya said the startup is also looking to educate companies about expanding their business overseas. “Typically, when a company thinks about ‘expansion’ the first thing that comes to mind might be the cost of opening up a new branch, or how are we going to do this? With technological advancements, this is no longer the case. No longer do regional borders trap businesses,” he said. Kaya wants to show businesses that it isn’t necessary to have an office overseas and deal with all the associated costs. “Just add Localizer’s smart software to your website, and start accessing new markets instantly,” he said. While that may be a simplistic view - depending on what you’re selling and how big you get, international offices are probably going to become necessary - it is true that initial expansion can be launched through a properly localised website that helps get people interested in your product or service. According to the Harvard Business Review, 72.1 percent of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own native language, while Hubspot reports that more than 56 percent of users say in-language information is more important to them than price. The growth of similar US-based platform Localise, which counts companies like Uber and Microsoft as customers, shows that Localizer could have legs in the Australian market. The startup is targeting small to medium businesses who are looking to develop an international presence, and has got around 100 clients on board since its July launch. Pricing starts at $19 per month for sites getting up to 10,000 monthly pageviews, $69 per month for 100,000 page views, and through to $199 per month for up to 1,000,000 page views. It’s easy to see a service like Localizer being particular useful for businesses in the tourism or hospitality industries, like hotels or restaurants, as well as educational institutions looking to attract foreign students. Kaya has self funded the development of Localizer thus far, and isn’t yet looking for investment.

Admyt

One of the biggest issues that surrounds retail shopping centres is that most experience a major pain point when it comes to parking. The companies that own them spend quite a substantial amount on internal furnishings, ceilings, tiles, and getting the tenant mix just right, but, from a customer point of view, the first experience and last experience at most shopping centres is a poor one. It often leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially if you end up having to pay for that experience after dropping a grand on purchases within the mall. Realising that basically everyone hates the hassle in dealing with a paper parking ticket, trying to find a pay machine, standing or being parked in a queue and leaning out a car window into exhaust fumes to exit or pay using a credit card, Australian startup Admyt, founded by Jordan Wainer, is looking to provide shopping centres of the future the means to be able to provide a 'windows up' car parking experience for their clientele. Admyt allows a user to create an account on their smartphone, which then lets them drive in and out of a variety of shopping centres around the country that have installed a number plate recognition system. Through the Admyt app, customers can validate their parking, check how much time they've got left of free parking, and if need be, pay for their parking. Admyt has created a complete seamless windows up experience. "We like to think of ourselves very similar to an ETag or the fast lane access at an airport," Wainer said. Unlike some of the other solutions in this space, Admyt does not believe in eradicating paper tickets altogether just yet. It is approaching the market slowly, positioning its hardware as an add-on that will allow both systems to work in unison. Other than the obvious fact that Admyt will make it more convenient and pleasant for customers to enter shopping centres, for the shopping centre itself Admyt also acts as a gatherer of very valuable data. Some of the analytics include tracking whether or not the person driving into the shopping centre is a repeat customer and how often they come to a particular shopping centre. This information that makes it easier for these shopping companies to offer users a variety of targeted rewards both in terms which could include free parking or discounts at retailers in the centre. Although the startup was founded in and is primarily based in Australia, Admyt is launching its first pilot programs in South Africa for a number of reasons. "South Africa has one of the world's highest percentages of people who visit shopping centres by car versus public transport," says Wainer. "In Australia, if you're going to a shopping centre there are a few options; you can walk, catch the train and so on. That doesn't really exist over there. There is a lack of public transport and it's very much a shopping centre dominant culture. On average, a customer will visit any shopping centre three times a week. You might even end up going there a few times a day for socialising or to go to a movie and so on." Being South African by birth, Wainer also has a strong network of contacts over there as well. In fact Admyt's recent AUD$500,000 seed funding was a 50/50 split between Australian and international investors, many of them from South Africa. Unlike other competitors in the space, the business model is to not take a percentage clip but to charge the owner of the shopping centre on a licensing fee on a monthly basis. The pricing is dependent on the number of vehicles that are going into that centre. It's a scalable model. "We're not quite at the stage of working exactly how much that is per centre," says Wainer. "Ultimately we'd like to have a very clear table on our website but right now in early stages, we are doing pretty sharp deals to get it to scale. We also see a big part of our model eventually being marketing led revenue, value-added type stuff."

Featured image: Founder, Jordan Wainer | Source: Supplied.

kizkaz

The art of parenting seems like it used to be a lot more laissez-faire than what it’s become. From planning playdates to organising extracurricular activities to keeping up with what goes on at school, parents are now more involved in a child’s life than ever thanks to a range of technologies that keep them constantly connected to other parents, teachers, and their child themselves. Melbourne startup Kizkaz is the latest to enter the parenting space. The startup has created two products; the first is an app for mothers, helping them organise activities, find recipes, shop, and communicate with other mothers. It includes Genie, an on-demand personal assistant, to help them do research and make bookings, as well as a Childcare feed, which connects to the second product, Kizkaz Observation. Observation is a platform for childcare centres, allowing centres to keep track of forms, plan their days, and take pictures, videos, and notes about kids to share with parents. Kizkaz founder Sean Guo came up with the idea after months of dropping off and picking up his daughter from childcare. He realised that he had no idea what she got up to while she was there and, speaking to other parents, heard that they didn’t know about their kids either. And so he came up with Kizkaz Observation. From that came the Kizkaz app for parents, aimed at stay at home and working mums with children under the age of 15. “Finding things for their kids to do, new recipes and keeping in touch with childcare are important issues that mums are faced with on a daily basis. At the moment there is no good solution for mums on each of these issues. They either need to Google it themselves, or go to a number of different websites and apps and do their own research,” Guo said.

Guo soon brought on first employees Alec Jiang, Jasmine Elias, and Jason Zhao, who have worked to make the lives of mothers easier by aggregating all the content they could possibly want into one app and building a platform for them to share this content with their friends. The Kizkaz app covers child-friendly events and activities, split across ‘Top Picks’, a selection of events curated by the Kizkaz team, and a ‘What’s On’ list that covers all events, sorted by location. Further research and bookings can be made through the Genie function.

However, perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the app is its social media or chat component. Like Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp, it supports group and one-on-one chats, taking the chat at the school gates online. “We found a lot of parents don’t want to add new parents they meet to their Facebook, as it’s ‘too personal’. Instead, they can add and chat to their friends on Kizkaz without worrying about their history. Users can easily send each other ‘playground’, ‘event’ or ‘recipe’ cards directly in a conversation,” Guo said. Guo said 50 childcare centres were pitched the alpha version of the Observation app, with three agreeing to test it and then becoming customers. As well as connecting educators with parents, the app aims to help educators be more productive through features including a built-in Early Years Learning Framework, learning outcome summaries. Since inception, over 25,000 photos, videos, and learning stories have been shared through the app. The startup raised a seed round in July from two angel investors, including Peng Xiao, CEO of Chinese events and activity platform Wanzhoumo.com. He has since been advising the business. The funding has gone primarily to product and content development, with minimal spending on marketing. Still, Guo said Kizkaz has amassed a “small but active” user base around Melbourne, with 78 percent of users visiting the app monthly, and 55 percent using it weekly. [caption id="attachment_47951" align="aligncenter" width="584"]

kizkaz.com[/caption] Word of mouth driven by mothers has spurred the growth of countless businesses, so it’s easy to see it becoming a big factor here, and it’s something that the startup will be looking to leverage in order to monetise its apps. Kizkaz is determined to keep both Kizkaz Observation and the Genie service free for parents and childcare centres; as such, its long term goal is to allow users to share and recommend partner products or services with friends through its chat service. “We are also trying to design an awarding system to motivate users to share products or services by giving them a share of the revenue. We believe the future of shopping is a balance of social media and word of mouth as means to help businesses reach customers exponentially,” Guo said. There are a number of platforms in the market that play in the same sort of space as Kizkaz in one way or another; for example, Eventbrite in the event space, a whole host of on-demand personal assistants, and Kinderloop and Parent Paperwork for connecting parents to educators, albeit to varying degrees. However, Guo believes Kizkaz is the only one to combine them all and link them with rich content. What's more, the beauty of Kizkaz Observation is that it is getting parents onto the app when their children are very young; developing new features that attend to the needs of both the parents and kids as the kids grow could ensure years of use. The team is focused on validating new ideas in Melbourne, with a view to expanding its existing services to Sydney and other capital cities early next year. They will also be looking to raise further funding over the next few months.

Image: Jasmine Elias, Jason Zhao, and Sean Guo. Source: Supplied.

victordominello

Workplace messaging platform Slack has today announced that it has chosen to open its Australasian headquarters in Melbourne, following fellow global names Zendesk and GoPro. While Melbourne notches up another win, conversation around the Sydney tech scene of late has been somewhat more sober, centered on the sale of the Australian Technology Park. While losing bidders Atlassian slammed the sale as a “missed opportunity” for the state, NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello has rejected these claims, pointing to initiatives such as the Data Analytics Centre as signs that the NSW tech industry is well placed as a national leader. “NSW is definitely, definitely showing leadership in this area, and it’s the place to be, quite frankly,” Dominello said. The Minister told Startup Daily that “just because the ATP hasn’t gone the way some people wanted it to go doesn’t mean there aren’t other opportunities.” The biggest of these, of course, is the proposed White Bay Power Station hub, announced by Premier Mike Baird last month. “We’ve got Google interested in White Bay, and Google is one of the biggest elephants in the room when it comes to this sector...[White Bay] will absolutely be a shining light, not just in NSW, but around the world, and that puts us on the map in a big way,” Dominello said. However, he added that the Government is looking beyond White Bay. Dominello is working with Planning Minister Rob Stokes to see where the Government can put in place structures to support organic growth. “Everywhere I go, people want their place to be a hub. If I go to Newcastle they want a hub there, if I go to the Illawarra they want a hub there, Macquarie Park...just because Mirvac won the bid for the ATP and CBA is moving in doesn’t preclude other opportunities from occurring, whether it’s the Bay Precinct or Macquarie Park or any other area,” Dominello said. “In Macquarie Park, you’ve got a natural fit there for a PharmaTech centre with all the pharmaceuticals there. That would be a natural, organic thing to do. You can go to another area like southwest Sydney that might have a manufacturing-type component to it. What we need to do is look where the strengths are and put some government support around it.” With Atlassian too dedicated to the creation of a hub, the company has been in discussions with Mirvac to see what kind of presence the company may be able to have at the new ATP development. Atlassian’s global head of real estate, Brent Harman, said that the company is still learning about what Mirvac has proposed, but “at first glance” it seems unlikely they will be able to create a real tech ecosystem at the ATP. As has been detailed before, Atlassian’s bid for the ATP focused on Atlassian as the anchor tenant, supporting coworking and incubator spaces, educational space, retail, short stay accommodation, and space for community activation. “Now taking that brief and overlaying it against what Mirvac have got planned, we’re still not convinced there’s enough space to get done what we need to get done. But we don’t want to just be dismissive of it; it’s important that we do look at it, but that’s where we are at the moment, so we’re continuing to ask some more information from Mirvac to form a final view,” Harman said. He said the White Bay precinct also presents its own set of problems, from the lack of mass transit to questions about rental affordability and timing, with the proposed development expected to be complete in 2020 and no solutions in the works to help in the meantime. “One year in technology is like dog years, a lot can happen,” Harman said, but stressed that Atlassian is committed to finding a solution.

Image: Victor Dominello, Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation. Source: Victor Dominello MP Facebook page.

product management

The question of whether you're in the business of saying yes or saying no is an interesting one, but it's one you may have never asked. I’d argue it’s one worth pondering.

To give an example of what I mean, Marc Andreessen, co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, has explicitly stated that he’s in the business of “crushing the hope and dreams of entrepreneurs.” This is due to a16z’s thousands of potential inbound investment deals per year, and the firm only funding between 10 and 20 of them.

When most people think about venture capital, they probably think about funding the hopes and dreams of entrepreneurs, or saying yes, so it’s interesting that Andreessen articulated his job in this way.

Switching the context over to product, or to those designing and ultimately taking a product to market, ask yourself what business you are in - the business of saying yes or the business of saying no?

I recently read a great eBook on Product Management from Intercom, where they go into detail about product evaluation, saying no to new features, what features you should say yes to, and ultimately, how to get those features used regularly by your users.

It was a compelling read, with some great insights and tools or frameworks that can be used regularly by product managers, product owners, founders, or anyone else deeply engrained in managing product.

For me, the value of a product is measured by its efficacy, or rather, how effectively it fulfils the customer's job-to-be-done (JTBD). By that, I simply mean the degree of satisfaction your customers experience each and every time your product enables them to achieve their specific objective (their JTBD).

For context, let’s look at a strange yet highly relevant example - milkshakes. Yes, milkshakes. You may have already seen the video below, but it’s probably worth watching again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84LymEs67Y

In this video, Christensen perfectly captures the essence of the customer job with his milkshake example, and offers some great insights into the ways in which the people designing products and services might need to think about fulfilling that job effectively.

People hire products to fulfil a functional or emotional job. They then fire products that aren’t effectively fulfilling that job, particularly when there’s an alternative solution delivering a more valuable experience.

With this in mind, I wanted to look specifically at the role of a product manager. In an early-stage startup, this might be one of the founders, however in certain environments, particularly larger organisations, this will be a specific function and role title.

The primary objective of a product manager is to solve the right problem for the right group of people at the right time. Therefore the product manager is directly responsible for the efficacy of the product. This is also what they should be measured on.

To look at the role in more depth, Josh Elman’s SlideShare presentation is worth referencing.

[caption id="attachment_48009" align="aligncenter" width="613"]

Image credit: Greylock VC[/caption]

From this visual representation of a product manager's roles and responsibilities, it’s clear that there’s some serious breadth to the role. The synthesis of this breadth, in combination with the input of your team, is likely how decisions will be reached.

For those of us in product management or similar roles, you’re probably used to an onslaught of ideas. These may be your ideas or the ideas of others. But, it’s important to note that ideas are not a finite resource. However, while ideas are not finite, many of the ideas in circulation may be excellent in some way, shape or form.

So how do you say no to an excellent idea? How do you say no when there’s a compelling argument that can be made to say yes? Perhaps the data supports it, the budget owner is requesting it, or perhaps it’s been determined that this will provide competitive differentiation.

“Building a great product isn’t about creating tons of tactically useful features which are tangentially related. It’s about delivering a cohesive product within well defined parameters.” - Intercom on Product Management, eBook 2015.

I absolutely love this paragraph as it succinctly sums up the collective reasoning as to why product managers will likely find themselves saying no, over and over.

The success of your product is directly related to how effectively you fulfill the specific jobs of your customers. The role of a product manager is to make this a reality.

Everything that doesn’t help the customer achieve their objective is waste. This intense focus on product efficacy is why a product manager is in the business of saying no.

This isn’t to say you default at no, but it does mean that your well defined parameters, your vision, or the specific job you’re trying to fulfil for your customers, needs to remain the sole focus.

So how do you know when to say yes?

An example you might be familiar with, and something Intercom referenced in their eBook, is Anthony Ulwick’s opportunity algorithm.

[caption id="attachment_48008" align="aligncenter" width="731"]

Image credit: Intercom on Product Management - a worked opportunity example using Ulwick’s opportunity algorithm[/caption]

By having clearly defined the importance of a customer JTBD, as well as their satisfaction with their existing experience, high-value, under-exploited opportunities may present themselves.

This is one of the ways in which a product manager might work towards yes.

But there’s a lot more to think about.

[caption id="attachment_48007" align="aligncenter" width="678"]

Image credit: Intercom on Product Management[/caption]

How about the cost in time, effort, and capital? Does the increment of value the proposed feature delivers to customers deliver an equal or greater increment of value to the business?

There are many questions to ask and honestly answer here, but at this stage, I’m going to divert you back to Intercom’s eBook for reading.

Product management is multi-faceted and ubiquitous. It’s about synthesising a plethora of often imperfect information from the market, from users, from the business and from your team, all in an attempt to intimately understand, and eventually deliver a product that effectively enables your customers to achieve their specific objectives.

The primary objective of a product manager is to solve the right problem for the right group of people at the right time. Often this involves saying no.

So, what business are you in?

alex louey

When apps were still fairly new and marketers sought to educate the market about what exactly apps could help us do, they came up with the memorable ‘there’s an app for that’ tagline. Fast forward a couple of years and there truly is an app for almost anything you could possibly think of, and countless companies out there creating them. Founded by Alex Louey and Nick Bell in 2010, Melbourne company Appscore has become one of the leaders in Australia's app development space. Louey, who worked as a project manager for companies including ANZ and BHP Billiton, and Bell, founder of SEO company Web Marketing Experts (WME), were flatmates at the time, and decided they wanted to launch a business together. “I wanted to get out of the corporate space and build something from scratch. That was always a drive of mine, and Nick had already started, so we ended up starting an app company. We had experience in digital, we had experience with technology, and with the app space just kicking off, we thought it was an opportunity for us to really use our skills to help guide the market a bit,” Louey said. Thanks to their combined experience in the digital and IT space, Louey and Bell were able to leverage existing connections, particularly Bell’s through WME, to bring on board staff and start finding customers. With apps not yet truly mainstream at the time, the pair spent time educating the market about the value apps would bring to their business. Appscore works with companies of varying sizes, from startups through to corporates including Mercedes Benz, Nestle, and BP, but the majority of its growth is now coming through a partnership with Telstra. Launched 18 months ago, the partnership sees Appscore provide mobile development and digital marketing services to Telstra and its clients. “Most people know Telstra as a telco, but over the past 3 to 4 years they've sort of been transforming slowly into a digital solutions company. Beyond providing phone and data and all that jazz, they actually have some really creative solutions for their business customers, because to be a company like that, you've always got to continually add value to your customers. Telephone and data has only done so much,” Louey said. Appscore started off purely in the mobile space, delivering custom mobile solutions to Telstra’s business and corporate customers; from there, the company began delivering cloud services and digital marketing solutions in conjunction with WME, and is now helping Telstra onboard clients to off the shelf apps. Louey said partnering with a giant like Telstra was always part of the plan for Appscore. “They've changed their position in the market to a dual solutions company and we saw that, as a partner, there are a lot of synergies - they can't deliver certain services by themselves because they're just not built that way, and that's why they have a really big partnering channel,” Louey said. Appscore contacted Telstra at just the right time, Louey said, when the company was beginning to make a big push to mobile apps. “It was literally cold calling. Cold calling them up, telling them our story and our value proposition and how we believed we would fit their current business model and how the customers would benefit from our services,” he said. Appscore works across Telstra’s customer portfolio, from its small and medium business customers through to corporates, with a number of the startups Telstra has invested in through Telstra Ventures also working with the company. While it isn’t currently collaborating with Telstra’s accelerator muru-D, Louey said Appscore is looking to get more involved in that side of Telstra’s work. While this means the company will always be open to working with startups, Louey said that going forward, Appscore will be aiming itself primarily at middle tier clients like medium sized businesses who have thus far been left behind by the digital revolution. “Appscore has always been a big business thing, for companies that can afford millions of dollars for a mobile app, but we want to help the middle tier-type client get the benefits of having mobile device and mobile workforce, and help them integrate with off-the-shelf systems....I think there's a very big untapped market there in the SME space,” Louey said. Further international expansion is also on the cards. Like Bell’s Web Marketing Experts, Appscore has opened a number of offices around Asia, with much of the growth in these markets coming from corporate clients. “It comes down to taking calculated risks and wanting to expand, having high ambitions and not being scared to fail. We've done stuff that haven't succeeded but we just make sure whatever we did, we learn from and don't do it again,” Louey said. The failures include a few investments in bricks and mortar ventures, but Louey believes the experiences served he and Bell well. In spite of the other ventures, Appscore itself is well placed; the company’s local revenue is projected to reach $25 million in 18 months. Louey said, “You've just got to try stuff. If you don't try stuff and take risks, you're never going to succeed.”

stone and chalk

There's been a lot of debate lately about the value of a university education for aspiring entrepreneurs, with critics arguing that Australian universities have been too slow to launch initiatives and industry partnerships that give students hands-on experience. Industry, for its part, has been strong in its approach to students and this is only getting stronger, with Sydney fintech hub Stone & Chalk today launching Fintern Fever, an internship program that will see 30 university students work with a resident startup over the summer. The program was launched through ribit, a new platform from Data61 linking businesses to students and universities. Over 400 business, commerce, and technology students from around Australia applied for the program, with 100 then selected to pitch for a place to the startups themselves. Alex Scandurra, CEO of Stone & Chalk, called the program a "hallmark collaboration" between the startup community, universities, Data61 and CSIRO, Finsia, and the Committee for Sydney. "For the first time ever, we’re giving budding student entrepreneurs the opportunity to experience and contribute to, first-hand, the journey of a fintech startup in a fantastic office space in the heart of the financial district,” Scandurra said. Professor Nick Wailes, associate dean of the UNSW Business School (Digital and Innovation), said the program is a fabulous opportunity for students to immerse themselves in "startup culture" while still at university. “Whether our students are interested in establishing their own disruptive business or securing a role with an established firm in banking or consulting, getting first-hand experience in the fintech sector is a great addition to their studies," he said. The 100 students will be pitching for one of 30 places at Stone & Chalk today in a speed dating-type event. As well as hands-on experience working across various areas with a startup, from coding to content creation and business modelling, those who make it will be given mentoring, networking opportunities, and tailored seminars. The program aims to help these students build leadership skills and outline career pathways. Depending on the individual startups, the interns may be given ongoing opportunities once the program finishes, while remuneration will also vary. Given the whole university/internship debate, the program is a good move from Stone & Chalk, especially considering the hub only opened its doors a few months ago. It also comes just a few weeks after the hub launched a mentorship program pairing residents with established industry leaders and entrepreneurs to help accelerate and scale their startups. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSSPvdca2GQ&feature=youtu.be

Image: MP Ed Husic with two Stone & Chalk Finterns.

James Baird PunditConnect

Like the ‘social media guru’, almost anyone can call themselves a ‘consultant’. It can be quite a vague job title, which means that for businesses who need consultants, it takes a lot of time to weed out the best. Geelong startup Pundit Connect has launched a platform to help. Targeting customers that are working on projects worth between $10,000 and $200,000, it allows users to post descriptions of their projects and receive competitive quotes for services. Customers posting a project on the platform can choose to share it to the marketplace in one of three different ways. The first, Preferred Providers, allows a customer to curate their own group of, you guessed it, preferred providers and so receive quotes from consultants they already know and trust. The second, Member Connect, allows customers to get quotes from professionals in the business networks, while the third, Skills Connect, sees projects posted to the wider Pundit Connect community and sorted according to the specific skills needed. CEO James Baird, who has worked as a lobbyist, communications consultant, and as a political advisor to Malcolm Turnbull, founded the startup late last year after considering his own experiences in the space and how they could have been improved. “It was born out of a simple proposition, that as a consultant looking for business, I wanted an easy way to connect with potential projects in my network. Traditional networking was proving an inefficient way of finding clients, and while LinkedIn is great for marketing and promotion, it didn’t tell me when a potential client had a project that I could deliver,” Baird said. “I designed Pundit simply to create more visibility between clients with projects and consultants with the skills to meet the brief.” Launched in May, Pundit Connect now has over 900 registered users, and is on track to have $1 million worth of projects posted on the platform over the next few months. The startup has also partnered with a number of universities, including Deakin University, and business networks to build up Member Connect. Baird secured angel investment to fund the development of the startup, but said it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. “I bring a consulting background to Pundit, so it was a steep learning curve creating the spec and project managing the development team to get platform build done. The biggest lesson I learnt is that the more money you have, the more money you will waste, especially early in the process and before you launch. No matter how much planning you put into site architecture and workflow, you will always want changes both big and small,” he said. “Allowing a platform to evolve too much in the initial development phase costs money and quickly eats into time. Less money forces you to focus on the fundamentals and to get your MVP out there faster. It’s much better to spend your money with the benefit of customer experience. That’s when the real learning starts.” Pundit Connect faces a tough road ahead, given its big competitor in the space, Expert360, recently raised $4.1 million in funding and features a curated selection of over 6000 consultants and other professionals. Another player in the space, Find A Consultant, which launched last year, also focuses on giving customers access to a curated list of professionals. However, Baird believes that Pundit Connect has a significant point of difference as, rather than curating, it is focused on connecting customers to professional talent in their existing local and business networks. “I guess other platforms tend to ask their customers to look away from their home market and come to them as a source of curated professional talent. We actually want to encourage people to dig a little deeper at home and see what diamonds they find in their own backyard,” he said. Pundit Connect experimented with various pricing structures for several months, with fees varying according to the value of the job won by a consultant, but is now free for both sides of the marketplace, with Baird explaining that the sole focus at the moment is on providing a great experience for customers. The startup is currently planning to raise a seed round of up to $1 million and build up its network of partners.

biteable

Biteable, a Hobart-based startup that has developed an online tool allowing users to create professional promo videos in minutes, has raised $1.1 million in seed funding from Australian investors including Tank Stream Ventures and BridgeLane Capital. The startup, whose last round of funding came through a $130,000 angel investment last December, has seen over 90,000 customers use its platform to create over 100,000 videos, with these customers ranging from small businesses to schools through to Fortune 500 companies. The fresh funding will go towards expanding the Biteable team, further developing the product, and broadening the video content available to users. Rui Rodrigues, managing partner at Tank Stream Ventures, said, "Biteable has democratised access to video creation for consumers. The team has built an awesome product, proving that you can build a global business from anywhere in Australia." James MacGregor, co-founder and CEO of Biteable, said that while the team knew there was strong demand for a simpler way to make promo videos, they have been blown away by the response. Founded in 2013, Biteable has gone from strength to strength in the last year thanks to the rise of technology that allows users to watch videos on the go, such as on smartphones through Facebook. “Businesses large and small want to take advantage of the power of video to showcase their own products and services, but without incurring the high costs traditionally charged by digital agencies. Biteable is riding that wave,” MacGregor said. Over 24,000 of Biteable's 90,000 users have come in the last month alone, with many now asking the startup to change its pricing structure and introduce a subscription model. As it currently stands, a user can create a video from a Biteable template and either publish it to their site, social media, or any other platform as is, with a Biteable watermark visible; removing the watermark costs US$99. "People have been actively asking for subscription plans, because originally we thought people would want to make a single video for their homepage, but now we’ve realised there’s lots and lots of use cases. There’s schools using it for their curriculum, companies that are putting all their announcements out as videos, classifieds sites turning classifieds into videos. There’s a plethora of use cases and a lot of those want to make a lot of videos. The current pricing doesn’t work for that at all," MacGregor said. The startup will continue to offer the product for free, as it has found that it's the free users who are driving all the traffic through the watermark. With the majority of Biteable's users overseas, the startup has one eye on establishing a presence in the US at some point in the future, but for now, the team is happy in Hobart and is set to add two local developers to its ranks next week. "There’s quite a lot of skilled developers around and not a lot of startups or companies for them to go to, so it’s a real advantage to be here from a development side," MacGregor said. "The rest of the world doesn’t really care where we are. I don't think they even know where Tasmania is, to be honest."

Image: Simon Westlake (Creative Director), James MacGregor (CEO), Tommy Fotak (CTO). Source: Supplied.

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Globe-trotting is number one on the list for many Gen Yers, with gap years, Contiki tours, and unplanned routes of discovery embodying the lifestyle of many students and graduates. As such, the travel marketplace has been inundated with apps looking to provide Aussie travellers with tailored advice and destination options. Ventoura and Tenderfoot are two of the newer startups trying to find the gaps in the market to enhance the overall experience of the adventurer. Like Tinder is to flings, Aussie app Ventoura is to wanderlust, providing a way for travellers to have a local experience through an interaction with, well, a local. It connects travellers with like-minded people who know all the secrets of their destination. “The single most important factor to accessing great experiences is interaction with and gaining knowledge from a local,” said Raymond Siems, cofounder of Ventoura. Though founded in Australia, the Ventoura team saw that it would be hard to grow in the local market and so relocated to Europe. After a trial in Helsinki, Ventoura launched in 2015 across 12 cities in Europe, with more destinations added each month. The idea is based upon locals sharing knowledge with travellers, an age old tradition that has been forgotten with tour groups rushing over or altogether miss the local hidden gems. It is trying to zero in on more personalised advice to create an experience that tour groups just can’t provide. Travellers are turning their heads away from the cliches and want unique experiences that only locals can provide. “We work and save all year to make our holidays happen, yet we see way too many tourists barely skim the surface of the places they visit, missing out on exhilarating, culturally enriching and transformative experiences,” said Siems. Travellers can download the Ventoura app and enter in their desired destination, where they browse through a selection of experiences offered by passionate locals. When something catches their eye, they can chat to a local and book an activity or experience. Travellers can also see who else will be in their destination at the same time and are given an opportunity to go exploring together. On the other hand, locals can create a profile for their activity or experience, where they then wait for the swarm of awe struck travellers to appear. Ventoura, however is not alone and nor are their ideas and values. Other Australian travel startups like Bindle work using the same premise, connecting users to nearby travellers. However, unlike Ventoura, Bindle shares experiences through user-generated travel guides, helping tourists to explore. But how often do we explore the road less taken? Siems believes that the Ventoura team sets themselves apart from other travel startups by avoiding the cliche, and the cookie cutter experiences. Ventoura offers travellers with unique experiences and adventures that are off the beaten track. “There are also a number other startups from other geographies with similar concepts, such as Tripr and Vayable. Airbnb have also been experimenting with offering local experiences, so the space is heating up,” said Siems. [caption id="attachment_48051" align="aligncenter" width="701"]

(L) Ventoura, (R) Tenderfoot[/caption] With a red hot market and poor funding schemes in Australia, Ventoura found it hard to break in. Siems saw that the investment scene in his home country was not conducive to raising capital, so the team looked abroad. The Ventoura team moved all the way over to Finland, where they raised seed funding from a private Finnish investment group. Since then they have signed partnerships with companies like British Airways, who have helped spur growth. Next year Siems and his team will be launching local experiences in Melbourne, their first Australian destination, with Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to follow. "Over half our team is Australian, so we’re thrilled to be able to bring Ventoura back home. We hope the recent rumblings surrounding a more vibrant startup scene in Australia can be brought to reality," said Siems. Another Aussie company competing for that highly sought after seed funding is Tenderfoot. They have already secured $120,000 and hope to stay in Australia and branch out globally. In an attempt to be noticed through the thick forest of travel apps, Tenderfoot has created a social media space for travellers, connecting them to people and places. The company looks at a user's social profile and attributes to suggest places that mostly accommodate their interests. Their app gives travellers personalised and user specific advice on: things to do, places to eat, places to drink, go out, sleep. Their mental philosophy on travel encompasses two things: the places you go and the people you experience it with. Their interface is a combination of social media and travel advice and discovery. But they believe that what sets them apart from the rest is their social media aspect. “I think there's a bit of a market gap particularly in the travel and lifestyle sector where social media is integrated with that content based travel advice platforms and we think that integrating social media enables our users to view places and just discover places as a person and not as a IP address,” said Lucas Lovell, cofounder of Tenderfoot. Despite the competition - and the difficulties that Ventoura faced in Australia - Lovell believes that there are opportunities for TravelTech startups locally, but they must challenge the way travellers think, feel and interact with people and places. It is certainly a noble goal, and it will be interesting to see which startups achieve it and make it out of the crowded market alive.

Image: Ventoura Team, Source: Callum Macbeth

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