Roxy Jacenko’s former Bootcamp business partner left start-up $10m short

One of Roxy Jacenko’s business partners in the controversial “house giveaway” project had previously left a tech start-up $10 million short.

“Roxy’s Bootcamp” was meant to be an online business workshop run by Roxy Jacenko, right, and Kassim Alaouie and Youssef Tleis, left, with those who signed up going in the draw to win $250,000 in prizes and a multimillion-dollar waterfront home. The business partnership came to a sudden, and very public, end last weekend. Pictures: Supplied

One of Roxy Jacenko’s business partners in the controversial “house giveaway” project had previously left a tech start-up $10 million short after failing to come through with a proposed investment.

“Roxy’s Bootcamp” was meant to be an online business workshop run by the PR maven and two partners, Youssef Tleis and Kassim Alaouie, with those who signed up going in the draw to win $250,000 in prizes and a luxurious multimillion-dollar waterfront home at Cronulla.

But the business partnership came to a sudden, and very public, end last weekend with Ms Jacenko – who now lives in Singapore – taking to social media to claim she was leaving after discovering a “shortfall” in the prize money pool, having even dipped into her own pocket to top it up. A claim Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie denied.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Mr Tleis was previously a director at another business which was set to deliver a $10 million investment – only to suddenly pull out.

Roxy Jacenko gave a video update about “Bootcamp” last weekend.

Mr Tleis was a director of Gped Pty Ltd back in 2021 when he and his business partner Steve Aliferis approached Fin-Pay, a tech start-up based in Brisbane, about investing in its unified payment platform.

But despite the major investment resulting in significant media headlines and the outlay of more than $150,000 by Fin-Pay in preparing the necessary paperwork, the deal never eventuated.

“They presented very well, they had the relevant background, or one of them (Mr Aliferis) certainly did,” a source, who requested to remain anonymous, said.

“We went through a due diligence process, a negotiation process, but when push came to shove … these long winded stories started that the cash is never going to come.

“We even had an article published around the capital raised. It left a really bad taste in our mouth and cost north of $20 million on the business valuation.

“We also paid in excess of $150,000 in lawyers, accountants and advisers, to get the signed pieces of paper on the table in front of them.

Mr Tleis was a director of Gped Pty Ltd back in 2021 when they approached tech start-up Fin-Pay about a $10 million investment – but never delivered a cent. Picture: Instagram

“The thing we can’t comprehend and we could never figure out was, why would you go out and say you’ve got time and effort to put into a business, only to not have the $10 million?”

In a statement, Mr Tleis blamed the “uncertain (economic) climate” during Covid lockdown as one of the reasons the Fin-Pay investment never eventuated.

He also said despite being listed as a “director” on ASIC documents, he was not an “active director” in Gped.

“Gped was trying to raise capital in an uncertain climate, the pandemic was well underway and many other businesses like Gped were unable to secure funding,” the statement said.

“Fin-Pay went out prematurely without approval from Steve and Youssef with this announcement. No investment had been secured at the time of the article above.”

However emails seen by The Daily Telegraph show Mr Aliferis “thanking” members of the Fin-Pay team after the stories were published.

Ms Jacenko outside the Cronulla home that is part of the giveaway, now run solely by Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

There is no allegation of any wrongdoing or misleading of potential business partners by Mr Tleis or Mr Aliferis about the failed Fin-Pay deal.

Mr Aliferis — who was not involved in business venture with Ms Jacenko or the giveaway promotion — has also been contacted for comment by The Daily Telegraph.

What began as “Roxy’s Bootcamp” will now proceed without the use of Ms Jacenko’s name or her intellectual property. Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie “guaranteed” they would honour the advertised giveaways.