The Scalare Team were absolutely thrilled to be able to gather a cross-section of our synergistic community last night at our fully-booked Together We Scale event in Sydney.
We brought together, at the Sydney Start-Up Hub, more than 90 members of our investors, advisors and portfolio founders along with masterclass presenter James O'Loghlin.
Quick links: Together we Scale Event Highlights
Challenges are best solved collectively
The evening kicked off with a reminder of the importance of a supportive eco-system in driving real transformation by the Head of Community and MC of the evening, Pernille Aggerholm.
"If you look at some of the world's most successful networks and communities, you will find they are based on a foundation of passion and shared interest. And once you have that foundation, you can begin to Scale."
"Right now, you are among a group of like-minded professionals, who all share a passion for helping businesses succeed. Be it in formal or informal ways, you refer talent, you introduce new investment opportunities, funding partners, potential customers, partnerships, you act as mentors and advisors, share resources and ask the questions that motivate and support."
Pernille then set the scene for how Scalare intends to answer some of the hard questions scale-ups face – of how we can address the access of resources, create greater synergy and by building collectively – create greater value, to fulfil Scalare's mission of driving greater impact and ultimately helping our game-changing founders, deliver the game-change.
The community in action
Executive Co-Founder, Nick Roberts and Chief Operating Officer, Jenny Li then gave an overview of Scalare's portfolio growth and performance over the past 12 months – helping prove the power of partnering for the long-term to deliver growth.
In March 2021 alone, our portfolio companies turned over $1.8M in trading revenue and demonstrated 123% Year-on-Year growth (March 2020-March 2021); with an average gross profit margin of 74%.
Hearing from several of our portfolio companies throughout the night, they consistently shared how essential it has been to have benefited from Scalare's hands-on partnership.
Growing their business throughout the challenging and transformational opportunity that the global pandemic presented, founders said that they enjoyed having an investor in their corner to share both the good times but especially during the challenging times when they have been galvanised by the ongoing support, advice and partnership of Scalare and it's community.
Perfecting your pitch
Attendees on the evening were treated to a pitching masterclass by the always memorable James O'Loghlin on how to deliver a clear, concise and powerful pitch – and how to ask for what you need from any audience.
Key Highlights
Communicating boils down to:
WHAT you say
HOW you say it
How to master the 'WHAT':
Before writing a pitch, presentation or even preparing for any important communication – know what you are trying to achieve
Know your audience and what they want
Describe the problem (build empathy) and how you solve it (build understanding)
Tell your STORY – people remember stories, not stuff
How to master the 'HOW':
Speak as you speak (just add 40% more energy)
Match WHAT you say with HOW you say it (e.g. if you are talking about something exciting, be excited!)
Overseas company Portfolio Pitches
While we were lucky to be joined in person by several of our portfolio companies, we also heard from three of our overseas companies via video on their current product traction, business milestones and outlook for FY2022.
The evening featured updates from virtual fitness sensation, WithU in the UK; critical financial and health compliance RegTech company, Vital4 in the US; and automated APAC business verification innovator, AsiaVerify from Singapore.
While this was nearly as good as having them in the room, we a very much looking forward to hosting them in person sometime soon!
What does a doctor, a guide and a surfer all have in common? They are all founders, entrepreneurs – and currently completing fundraising rounds.
Flightcare Global
We heard live pitches from Flightcare Global Founder, Simon May, on the technology opportunity to transform how health incidents are managed in the sky and on the ocean. An automated platform could not only save billions in lost revenue for operators but greatly increase safety and save lives (with an enormous 70% of the world's passenger aviation industry not engaged with any provider).
FreeGuides
We then heard from FreeGuides founder, Daniel Wasilewsky, on their disruptive peer-guided tour platform, primed to take advantage of the enormous opportunity a post COVID world presents on how we tour and explore cities and regions. Rolling out across Australia and New Zealand presently, FreeGuides plans to take the platform global later in the year.
Cape
And then the only thing between our audience and further drinks and networking was to hear from Cape founder Ryan-Edwards Philip, who is on a mission to help SMEs spend less time worrying about managing cash flow and business expenses and more time building their business.
Cape offers an innovative credit product line and cash management account that help SMEs manage their spending and offer credit limits based on personalised data points and future-focussed forecasting.
If you would like to hear more about any of our exciting portfolio companies, the founders and current fundraising rounds, please get in touch with our team at hello@scalarepartners.com.
Where the magic really happens
Of course, the magic truly happens when we bring this like-minded community of passionate technology innovators, investors and specialist subject-matter-experts together and let them loose to connect, network and collaborate (and of course ply their creativity and innovation with a little food and drink on us).
We thoroughly enjoyed your valuable contribution and company last night and extend our gratitude to you for spending your evening with us. Unfortunately, this was once again a strictly capped event due to the ongoing COVID restrictions.
We look forward to gathering even more of our community again soon.
– The Scalare Team
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About Scalare
At Scalare, we’re on a mission to create a greater impact by building a collaborative network that connects exceptional founders, advisors and investors in a unique and powerful partnership, because real transformation and growth takes more than money.
Our unique collaboration and partnership model provides clear pathways to global investors, experts and markets. We plug existing skills gaps in our portfolio companies from our best-of-breed advisor network - to bring, expert resources exactly when needed to facilitate growth and deliver exceptional returns to investors and founders alike. Find out more here