Experts in business planning and finance, PKF Sydney & Newcastle have joined forces with brand, product and marketing experts, GHO, to bring a new type of ventures proposition to Australian Startups.
GHO and PKF have uniquely designed programs that provide a framework for innovation and growth, prioritising go-to-market strategies over blue sky thinking and idea generation.
Despite a growth in professional services focused on start-ups, GHO and PKF believe there is a gap in the market for a more complete service that helps new businesses avoid conflicting advice or having to work with multiple partners that may eat away at cash and / or equity.
This new venture between PKF and GHO recognises that the Australian market has seen a large increase in new professional services in this area, buoyed by a strong increase in capital available for investment in start-ups. However, the path to market is challenging and complex requiring the right balance of experience and advice backed by proven processes.
Equally, with borders still shut and corporates paying more than ever to secure creative and technology talent, Startups are hard-pressed to access the talent they need for growth without giving away too much cash and/or equity.
This venture between PKF and GHO will enable Startups to access diverse talent across business, finance, creative, product and marketing through either a full sweat-equity or part cash/part equity deal. This type of model has already been successfully implemented with Hunter based Startup Grub Lab, an augmented reality entertainment experience for the food service industry which has recently completed a new round of funding and signed a major distribution deal with food services industry leader Simplot, along with NRL and AFL licensing deals.
“The problem that startups like us face is not a lack of advice from business, finance and creative industries. It’s being able to access this breadth of experience without signing over a lot of equity or much needed cash to a long list of partners. PKF and GHO bring these skills together and provides strategic processes for us that are designed to ensure we can leverage this mix and breadth of experience alongside our own talents. We’ve worked together for 3 years now, and I couldn’t be more delighted with the outcome,” said Mick Carr, CEO of Grub Lab.
“PKF have been supporting startups like Grub Lab and AirCamp for some time, but this venture with GHO enables us to offer a more holistic offering and reduce the risk for the Startups we back as they go to market and scale,” added PKF Sydney & Newcastle Managing Director, Steve Meyn.
“Innovation and creativity is core to what we do and a critical requirement of start-ups but we’ve long believed there is an opportunity to change the model for supporting these businesses and to help them scale rapidly and with clear purpose. By developing our design thinking offering and service-for-equity commercial models, together with PKF, we’re in a position to help deliver a clearer path to profit and growth,” GHO Strategy Director, James Legge, concluded.
