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Aconex Limited

May

Envato co-founders Cyan and Collis Ta’eed, built a company that was ultimately acquired for $375 million.

Why we should celebrate the unsung heroes of the Aussie tech scene

Successful start-up exits deliver rich returns to investors and create wealth for founders and some employees, and hopefully recycle talent back into the sector.

  • Leigh Jasper

October 2023

Firmable co-Founder and co-CEO Leigh Jasper.

After selling his tech firm for $1.6b, Leigh Jasper is starting again

After he sold Aconex to US giant Oracle, it is surprising to see the co-founder starting at square one again. What is less surprising is well-known backers buying in.

  • Paul Smith
Friends Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas co-founders have banked $1.5 million for their structural design start-up CLT Toolbox.

BlueScope, Aconex co-founder back mass timber products start-up

A Melbourne start-up has banked $1.5 million to develop structural design software to bring mass timber into the mainstream.

  • Tess Bennett

July 2023

Men’s skincare founder Hunter Johnson and investor and brand face Olympic legend swimmer Ian Thorpe. The brand Stuff is aiming to raise $3.5 million from investors.

Bassat, Thorpe-backed skincare brand raises funds to hit the big time

Stuff is seeking to disrupt the mainstream men’s grooming brands which have sat idle for two decades, according to its chief executive Hunter Johnson.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

March 2023

Maxine Minter

New start-up fund for founders without rich family and friends

A new angel investor has got some well-known backers for a fund for entrepreneurs who can’t tap up wealthy relatives for money.

  • Tess Bennett
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October 2022

SecondQuarter Ventures managing partner Ian Beatty says the fund is experiencing “unprecedented” demand.

Forrest’s Minderoo joins bevy of founders backing VC’s second fund

SecondQuarter has raised $83 million for its second fund, which lets start-up investors, founders and employees sell their shares without a company sale or IPO.

  • Yolanda Redrup

August 2022

Canva downgrade sparks valuation rethink for local tech

The tumbling value of Australia’s technology darling Canva has prompted VC funds to re-appraise their portfolios.

  • Paul Smith and Yolanda Redrup

March 2022

Masst’s CTO David Jablonski (l) invested in a funding round that CEO Doug Vincent (middle) and co-founder Jamie Cerexhe will put towards international expansion.

Investors look for billion dollar Aconex repeat as Mastt secures $9.5m

A booming construction sector and rapid revenue growth has led investors into a big funding round – including the founders of local success story Aconex.

  • Paul Smith

June 2021

MessageMedia co-founder Grant Rule has built the company up since 2000.

Melbourne tech firm snapped up for $1.7b

MessageMedia, which provides SMS marketing, has been bought by Sweden’s Sinch in yet another huge money deal for an Australian tech company.

  • Paul Smith

April 2021

London ity  towers including the Gherkin, at 30 St Mary Axe.

Equiem acquires British Land’s Vicinitee tenant portal

Australian proptech firm buys a rival portal that takes it into 157 new buildings immediately and will boost its further growth ambitions.

  • Michael Bleby
Deliciou’s sales began to jump early last year as restrictions and lockdowns triggered a surge in at-home consumption of food.

Why this plant-based ‘meat’ group listens to Ruslan Kogan

Deliciou has some new high-profile shareholders to add to an investment made by the Kogan.com founder.

  • Simon Evans

March 2021

SecondQuarter Ventures co-founder Ian Beatty says the fund has received a lot of inbound interest.

First secondary VC fund offers founders ‘life-changing’ wealth

SecondQuarter Ventures has raised $51m for its first fund and made investments that crystalise some of the value created by private start-up founders.

  • Yolanda Redrup
Mastt co-founders Doug Vincent and Jamie Cerexhe say they aim to kill spreadsheets and digitise the construction industry.

Raise the Mastt: Aconex founders back ‘spreadsheet killer’ start-up

Rob Phillpot and Leigh Jasper are among the backers of Mastt, which has signed up impressive clients for its software to help manage construction projects.

  • Updated
  • Paul Smith

February 2021

AFR LaunchVic Chair Leigh Jaspar and CEO Kate Cornick

Tech jobs could flee offshore, Aconex founder warns

Leigh Jasper, whose start-up was bought by Oracle for $1.6 billion by in 2017, says Australia is falling behind other tech hotspots.

  • Patrick Durkin

January 2021

The company has built a cloud-based enterprise procurement platform that helps construction firms deal with vendors.

Construction tech company Felix to kick-start sector IPOs

Felix will be the first construction tech company to come to market since Aconex was acquired by Oracle, and it does so with Rob Phillpot's backing.

  • Yolanda Redrup
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November 2020

Buildxact CEO David Murray says the business has boomed in North America.

Aconex founders back $6m construction tech start-up round

Buildxact sells software that lets builders provide quote estimates and manage their jobs. It raised capital after surprisingly growing during the pandemic.

  • Yolanda Redrup

October 2020

Leigh Jasper is now the chair of LaunchVic and secondary VC fund SecondQuarter Ventures.

There's JobKeeper and JobMaker, now we need JobMultiplier

When I co-founded Aconex, I saw first hand how start-ups are responsible for creating thousands of jobs.

  • Updated
  • Leigh Jasper

September 2020

How Afterpay and Whispir led tech out of the wilderness

Australian tech companies have had a breakout year despite, or perhaps because of, the toughest economic conditions in decades. Adapting to the in disruption is key.

  • Yolanda Redrup

June 2020

With digital twins Lendlease says it can model every aspect of new buildings before they are constructed, and detect problems in advance with AI.

Lendlease hails greatest construction innovation of the next 100 years

With "digital twins", Lendlease says it can model every aspect of new buildings before they are built, and detect problems in advance with artificial intelligence.

  • Yolanda Redrup

December 2019

Former Aconex CEO Leigh Jasper has invested in Buildxact, which is led by David Murray.

Aconex founder gets back on the tools in $8.5m Buildxact investment

Aconex founder Leigh Jasper has left Oracle following its acquisition of the company and has joined the board of construction software company Buildxact after funding it.

  • Yolanda Redrup

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/acx-x