From a garage to a $2.5b start-up: SafetyCulture founder steps down

Twenty years after founding a $2.5 billion software start-up from his garage, SafetyCulture chief executive Luke Anear has resigned from his role as his company builds towards its next stage, including a likely future public listing in the US.

Anear, a former private investigator, started SafetyCulture from his Townsville garage in 2004, growing it into one of Australia’s largest privately held technology businesses and employing 900 people globally.

SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear with new chief executive Kelly Vohs. Credit: Greg Fonne

It’s widely viewed as the next Atlassian or Canva in terms of Australian success stories exporting their software globally and making billionaires of their founders.

Anear says he had 18 jobs before he came up with the idea for SafetyCulture, during his time “spying on people at work” as he puts it, working as a private investigator. He witnessed the impact of workplace incidents on businesses and their employees and built a simple checklist app for workplace inspections to help reduce hazards and accidents.

SafetyCulture has since grown into an all-in-one workplace operations platform, serving nearly 2 million customers globally and targeting 100 million users by 2032. Its software is predominantly used by frontline workers across construction, manufacturing, hospitality and retail.

In September, SafetyCulture raised $165 million at a $2.5 billion valuation, down slightly from its $2.7 billion valuation a year earlier but further cementing its position as one of Australia’s most valuable software companies. The company has yet to turn a profit and most recently posted a $36 million loss for the past financial year, though it’s common for high-growth software companies to remain unprofitable for an extended period while they grow in scale.

Now, ahead of an expected future IPO that would probably be in the US, Anear has announced his resignation and will shift to a role as the company’s executive chair. He will remain SafetyCulture’s largest shareholder and owns just under a quarter of the company.

Anear said in an interview the time was right to hand over the reins to technology veteran Kelly Vohs, who will be based in the United States. Vohs was originally destined to join SafetyCulture as company president but instead will join as its CEO.

“It feels great – I don’t know I’m meant to be this happy,” Anear told this masthead. “It’s been 20 years of trying to figure out how to do a job I didn’t know how to do.

“It’s actually a big weight off my shoulders to be able to hand over the day-to-day CEO role to Kelly. I’ve been on the road a lot. I’ve been travelling every week away from home. My daughter is in her 20s and my son is seven, and I haven’t spent anywhere near enough time with them.

“It’s a full-contact sport – it takes every ounce of energy that you can give, and it’s not easy. I think it makes sense to have a CEO based in North America who can build the business from there and still lead the teams globally.”

Scott Farquhar with Luke Anear.Credit: Belinda Pratten

Anear has previously spoken about the challenges associated with being a start-up founder, launching a four-part documentary TV series last year featuring himself and other founders including Finder’s Fred Schebesta and Canva’s Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht.

Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht has a close relationship with Anear.Credit: AFR

“Founding a company is one of the most daunting and lonely paths a person can choose,” Anear said in one episode. “If you get it wrong, you can lose everything you have, but if you get it right, you could change the world. It’s a relentless rollercoaster of emotion that changes every day, and to take that leap requires a very rare mix of naivety and courage.”

Vohs will take on the CEO role from January 1 and has spent the past decade leading Blackstone portfolio companies. He was most recently CEO of real estate company LivCor.

“I am deeply honoured to accept this role and excited by the clear mandate I’ve been given to drive the company forward towards its next big milestones,” Vohs said in a statement.

Canva co-founder Obrecht has been close with Anear over the past decade, and their companies inhabit neighbouring headquarters in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

“Luke has taken SafetyCulture from just an idea to a global success story over the past 20 years,” Obrecht said.

“It’s been incredible to see the role he has played in building the start-up ecosystem here in Australia while proving great companies can be built outside of Silicon Valley.

“He’s always been quick to spot opportunities and is constantly thinking one step ahead – that founder mindset is core to his DNA, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next in this new role.”

Venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures is one of SafetyCulture’s largest investors and partner Rick Baker – who also featured on Anear’s Founder TV series – said the company was “fully supportive of Luke’s decision and agree with him that it is a great time to hand over to Kelly”.

“It’s amazing to look back on the vision that Luke drew for us 11 years ago and see it come to life in the SafetyCulture platform today,” Baker said.

“Luke has fearlessly built and led the team at SafetyCulture to deliver on this vision, and in doing so, he has also built a large business and created a lot of value for his investors and team – and I’m sure he’s quite literally saved the lives of many people through helping create safer workplaces.

“Looking ahead, I am excited for Kelly to take the CEO role at the company and am confident that he’s the right person to lead the company through the next phase of growth.”

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