GreaseBoss quadruples revenue in six months ahead of plans to export globally

The trio behind a Birtinya grease gun start-up backed by NFL legend Joe Montana are preparing to break into Europe on the back of phenomenal growth. See how they did it:

A Birtinya start-up backed by legendary NFL quarterback Joe Montana is preparing to break into Europe after quadrupling its revenue in just six months.

GreaseBoss was co-founded by Steve Barnett, Tim Hall and Peter Condoleon and launched in March, 2020 with the aim of creating a better way for companies to lubricate mechanical equipment and avoid hefty downtime costs with faults through digitised grease guns.

The unique product allows machine operators to track and trace areas on equipment that have been greased and instantly records and stores the results through cloud-based storage to their mobile app.

The trio’s first sale was for a client in South Africa and have since sold to a number of customers across Queensland and interstate including national companies such as Glencore, Holcim, and Queensland Urban Utilities.

In the last six months GreaseBoss quadrupled the revenue it made last financial year and the company recently secured distributors in the UK and other parts of Europe to begin exports throughout the continent mid-year pending certification approvals.

They are also planning to sell into the US by the same time.

Mr Barnett said being first to market with their product and acquiring major clients have driven their jump in sales as they look to tap into foreign markets for growth.

GreaseBoss co-founders L-R: Peter Condoleon, Steve Barnett and Tim Hall.

“We’re solving a global problem with a lot of demand so I think it’s very scalable,” he said.

“In Australia we’ve got some of the best run mines in the world and they’re looking for new ways to decrease their downtime and improve their flow.

“In Europe it’s not so much focused on mining, but manufacturing like car making and food processing and we think there’s a big opportunity for us over there because they have some of the best run manufacturing operations.”

The trio originally met in Brisbane in late 2019 and moved to the Sunshine Coast where they set up a makeshift production line in Mr Hall’s garage to develop the product before eventually relocating to their Birtinya warehouse.

In April last year they raised $2.5m in pre-seed capital from investors and soon after were accepted into coveted Silicon Valley accelerator program Y Combinator where they received mentorship for three months with US start-up experts via Zoom and a $125,000 grant to kick start their business.

GreaseBoss also landed private investment from NFL quarterback great Joe Montana after completing the program.

GreaseBoss have identified the mining industry as a key market for their digitised grease gun. Picture: Cameron Laird

The entrepreneurs are currently rolling out the fourth generation of their grease gun into the industrial lubrication market which is worth an estimated $250m in Australia and more than $7b internationally.

With nine full-time staff and four contractors, Mr Barnett said they also want to build partnerships with local industrial businesses and bring their entire manufacturing and software development to Birtinya in the near future.

“We currently have first to market advantage at the moment but that won’t be sufficient to retain that, we’re going to need support from local industry and businesses to capture it. With the right support and customers to work with, we’re confident about our company’s future,” he said.