Aussie 11 goes to bat in US through elevate61

THEY ALREADY have more than $25 million in combined annual turnover, but all 11 fast-growth technology firms in Advance Australia-KPMG’s elevate⁶¹2016 cohort are aiming to accelerate growth through US expansion.

The 11-strong ‘Aussie team’ recently participated in a 10-day programmed visit to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Following the trip, the program highlight was a ‘demo-day’ of presentations to investors and Australian corporates. 

The elevate⁶¹ 2016 cohort includes a number of high-profile companies from sectors as diverse as logistics (Sendle), fintech/insurance (Cover Genius), and hospitality (Newbook). They represent a cross-section of Australia’s startup eco-system with six headquartered in Sydney, three in Melbourne, two in Adelaide and one in Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The 11 companies have proven their traction by securing customers and delivering strong business results, together achieving a combined turnover in excess of $25m over the past 12 months.

“Based on the number of quality scalable businesses uncovered during the elevate⁶¹application process, I can honestly say there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian enterprise tech startup,” head of KPMG Innovate, James Mabbott said. “The successes these entrepreneurs are achieving demonstrates the potential of Australia’s startup eco-system to compete on the global stage.

“By up skilling these proven businesses and entrepreneurs, and accelerating their understanding of the US market, elevate⁶¹ hopes to empower the next generation of global Australian leaders.

In April, the elevate⁶¹companies attended several days of intensive workshops that offered them specific guidance on how to approach the US markets, so they would be pitch-ready in the US.

“This global Australian powerhouse, made up of many of our best and brightest, builds our global connectedness, driving innovation and sustainable long-term growth,” Serafina Maiorano, Advance Global CEO said. “Whether working overseas or as returnees, the Australian diaspora have an important role to play in growing jobs, investment and exports.”

The elevate⁶¹ program participants are:

Accodex: (accodex.com) a scalable back-office service solution for freelance professionals. Based in Adelaide. 

Artis Group: (artisgroup.com.au) develops critical business applications for leading enterprise and government organisations, with expertise in incident and emergency management, financial services, defence, education and agribusiness. Headquartered in Sydney.

City Beach Software / Omnivore: (citybeachsoftware.com) an ecommerce platform that specialises in helping retailers list and sell their products across multiple marketplaces. Headquartered in Sydney.

Cover Genius: (covergenius.biz) global distributors of insurance products for online businesses. Cover Genius' first brand to launch was RentalCover.com which sells insurance for car rentals from its own site and also through the largest online travel agents globally.  Headquartered in Sydney.

Gymsales: (gymsales.net) a sales CRM for the fitness industry. Based in Melbourne.

Inkling Women: (inklingwomen.com.au) a training provider specialising in gender diversity, offering in-person and online programs that significantly lift the percentage of women at leadership level. Headquartered in Adelaide.

Newbook: (newbook.com.au) a cloud-based online property management system for the hospitality industry. Based in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Rapporr: (rapporr.com) a private messaging platform that offers more contextual and expedient communication for teams on the move. Headquartered in Sydney.

Sendle: (sendle.com) unlocks the power of big business delivery networks for small business and consumers to make it as easy to send a parcel as it is to send a text. Headquartered in Sydney.

Studylane: (studylane.com.au) operates a disruptive technology platform for international student recruitment. Headquartered in Sydney.

VoiceID: (voiceid.com.au) designs, integrates and supports solutions to enable process optimisation through the integration of voice recognition technology. Headquartered in Melbourne.

www.elevate61.com.au

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