The term workplace culture refers to a set of values, beliefs, and behaviour practised within an organisation. Through rewards and disciplines it is formed and, over time, becomes the foundation of all human interactions happening within that workplace.

Why is culture so important to a startup?

The fast pace, greater risks and lots of constraints are among the most common reasons why startup employees are more susceptible to stress than those working in other sectors. The ramifications of this can be disengagement, lack of loyalty and negative impact on performance. While stress is inevitable, having a positive culture where your team feels valued, supported and nurtured can help alleviate it.

Most founders understand the importance of culture, though the biggest challenge is to build it. And there’s no better time to get started than now.

Why it’s never too early to focus on culture

Your first few hires are critical to building a culture from the ground up. They will be part of the onboarding process for your future employees. What they do and how they behave will set the tone for the rest of the organisation.

So before you start recruiting, you should first determine the type of culture you want to create; then incorporate it in the recruitment process and use it as a basis for assessing candidates. This way, you can build a core team to help champion your values and become role models for their subsequent members.

That said, no matter the type of culture you set out to build, don’t forget to start with trust.

Trust and psychological safety in the workplace allow for more direct and honest communications. In turn, this will support the fast pace at which your team solves problems and grows. Everyone should feel like they have a voice and can speak up. They should fear no repercussions for being clear on their capabilities and what they can or cannot do. Most founders also agree that fostering trust will help overcome negative emotions such as hostility and defensiveness.

That said, trust goes both ways. Your responsibility as a leader is to believe in the value each team member brings to the table, and to empower them to take charge of their own work and be accountable for the outcomes.

There’s no one way to create a culture that sticks, but below are several practices you can try if this is your first startup.

Ask yourself: What culture am I building? How does it align with the values my startup stands for? How does it show up in the behaviour of my team members? How can I measure, recognise and reward these behaviours?

Reinforce them in all your communications

Incorporate them into all people processes, e.g. hiring, reward, recognition, performance review

Take time to understand your team and how they can best work together; know how they operate under stress.

Once you’ve got a clear understanding of how to build the culture you desire, you need to ensure it shines through in all your recruitment efforts, people processes and, particularly, through your employer brand.

Your employer brand is your startup’s personality and the package of functional, economic, and psychological benefits it offers. Whichever way you choose to build your network of talent, this brand is key to attracting the right people, even at the early stages. Your core team plays a significant role in developing and representing it. If you already have a dream team and a smashing culture, it pays to lean on them as a foundation of your employee value propositions.

Below are a few tips and tricks for building a startup’ employer brand successful founders vouch for:

Articulate what makes your startup unique

Share your vision with all existing and prospective employees

Ensure basic information is accessible everywhere, e.g., on your website, social media channels, networking events

Create positive hiring and onboarding processes

Showcase your employees and their stories.

Want more information on finding the right people for your startup? Download this free study for further insights into how founders at Stone & Chalk have successfully recruited for their businesses.

When to start building your startup's culture?

A photo of Splose team at Stone & Chalk Adelaide startup hub.

Adelaide 2 August – Splose today announced that it has raised AU$1 million in capital to fund its forecasted growth over the next 18 months.

Launched in 2018 as a website developer specialising in the needs of Allied Health professionals, Splose quickly identified the challenges providers faced while trying to support participants and manage their obligations under the NDIS. 

Splose developed modern and intuitive software to automate practice management, replacing the decade-old software used by many providers in the market, and empowering Allied Health providers to give better and more effective care to those in need.

On the back of $100,000 in South Australian Government support, Splose quadrupled its market share within the last year and with its current growth rate, it is projected to have 10,000 monthly active users by the end of 2023.

Founded by entrepreneur Nicholas Sanderson while a student at the University of Adelaide, Splose now has ten dedicated staff operating from Stone & Chalk at the Lot Fourteen innovation district. Nicholas was awarded the First National Real Estate Innovation Award in the 2022 7NEWS Young Achiever SA Awards in recognition of his innovative contribution to improving healthcare delivery. 

Nicholas was awarded the First National Real Estate Innovation Award in the 2022 7NEWS Young Achiever SA Awards.

Nicholas said Splose's focus is on the parts of the NDIS it can control, including reducing participant wait times for supports by making providers more efficient, and boosting cash flow so providers can bring on more practitioners.

“Participants often spend months waiting to get approved into the NDIS. When participants get approved, we help providers streamline the process with automated online service agreement templates and case management tools to accurately allocate and maximise NDIS funding over the plan. 

“Improving provider cash flow is imperative to retain staff and support participants, so developing batch invoicing capabilities and automating bulk payment requests to the NDIA are some of our critical features.”

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Dr Susan Close MP said she is pleased the South Australian Government is supporting local startups.

“Splose identified a key gap in the market, and their product is set to simplify the administrative burden for both healthcare providers and patients receiving care,” Minister Close said.

“I congratulate Splose and company founder Nicholas Sanderson on their vision to create better systems for people receiving allied health and disability support services and for driving social and economic outcomes.”

Adam Coulter, Co-Director and Operations Manager of Geelong Neuro Centre in Melbourne, said Splose has proved to be an ultra-efficient, reliable and effective software platform for their business.

“The ability to easily track cases for each client in Splose has enabled our clients, support coordinators, planners and team members to have up-to-date data relating to funding. The cases paired with the ability to batch invoice clients' services over a block of time have been well received by clients, particularly self-managed or private clients. It makes the paperwork they do at home with claims much easier to handle.”

Michael Bromley, CEO of the Stone & Chalk Group, said technology, innovation and advancement are integral to delivering the NDIS sustainably into the future.

“The NDIS will provide $33.9 billion to over 500,000 Australians who have permanent and significant disabilities in 2022-23, growing to $44.6 billion in four years.

“By creating automation workflows and industry-specific features that improve getting paid and reducing waitlists, Splose will empower NDIS providers who use their software to support more people living with a disability and ultimately create efficiencies within the NDIS to make it sustainable into the future."

Splose’s innovative functions include invoicing automation with Xero, online forms and service agreements, progress note and report writing tools, scheduling supports, provider travel functionality and more. Splose saves a practice 10 hours per week on average in administration or $30,000 per year.

Splose was founded in 2018 with a mission to build trusted, delightful-to-use practice management software for the future of Allied Health. By listening to our community, we’re able to deliver innovative, future-thinking software that matches the needs of providers and their clients. Splose’s modern design and workflow automation allows providers to focus on delivering high-quality healthcare to the people who need it the most.

George Jankovic
Branding & Communications Advisor
Ph: (+61) 422 013 923
E: george@splose.com

Stone & Chalk Group is Australia’s home for emerging technology innovation. Our world-class expertise and networks, provide unrivalled knowledge, access to capital, infrastructure and guidance that's driving emerging tech innovation for positive impact.

For more information, visit: www.stoneandchalk.com.au

Stone & Chalk-based Splose raises $1 Million in capital to strengthen NDIS and Allied Health delivery

Cryptocurrency will become a normal part of life.

Experienced Fintech entrepreneurs will take newcomers under their wings.

We’ll see a greater shift towards green initiatives in Fintech.

We’ll have better access to and more interest in complicated financial tools and instruments.

These are the main predictions that our expert panel of industry leaders envisioned for the future of Fintech in Australia at our event hosted by Stone & Chalk Group CEO, Michael Bromley, in Sydney this week.

Stone & Chalk is the largest innovation community nationally, and in this article, we are excited to take a deep dive into Fintech.

The Fintech journey has been monumental and extremely fast-moving here in Australia, heavily disrupting traditional finance.

However, that’s not to say that Fintech is looking to replace traditional finance altogether.

“Fintech’s aren’t necessarily standing up against the incumbents. We’re actually now enabling the incumbents, so we’re working together to produce better consumer outcomes,” says Vanessa Fletcher, CMO of Nano Digital Home Loans.

Fred Schebesta, Founder of Finder.com.au, takes it one step further, suggesting that our banks were the first Fintech generation.

“Banks in Australia actually did a great job. They built apps, they built stock trading, and I just think that we should honour that because those rails and that idea was actually pioneered by them.”

When considering the rise of Fintech over the last 10-15 years, Apurva Chiranewala, General Manager of Block Earner, believes that it was the GFC that created the initial fork in the road, where a choice then had to be made about whether we continue to settle with tradition or start to look for a better way.

As for why Australia seems to punch so far above its weight in the Fintech space, Apurva suggests that “we are an affluent market. This does give us a little bit more tolerance to risk… when you have safety nets built in, you can be more entrepreneurial in a rich market.”

This, coupled with good levels of government support, has allowed for greater levels of innovation and progression in the Australian Fintech industry.

The next 10-15 years are looking particularly strong for Australian Fintech.

“In the last 5 years, we’ve more than doubled the amount of Fintechs in Australia. I think it’s now about 850 contributing to $4 billion in revenue – and that’s growing. What that shows us is that there is still plenty of consumer problems that need to be addressed and plenty of disruption that’s still to come,” says Vanessa.

Meanwhile, Fred predicts, “I think crypto is going to be normal in ten years’ time. Like, we don’t talk about POP3, we don’t talk about TCPIP, we don’t talk about WWW anymore, it’s just the internet and I think crypto will be the same thing.

A lot of these rails, a lot of these things are going to get sorted out. There are a lot of problems that are being experienced, but if you look at the problems, they’re the exact same problems that happened with the traditional financial system.”

As these digital currencies do become commonplace, Fred believes that they will help to reduce transaction costs and drastically speed up our economy, both here in Australia and on a global scale.

Apurva agrees with this sentiment, especially as more regulations and trust is built into the system.

He adds, “we often get asked, ‘Is blockchain the future of finance?’. Well, it’s part of the future of finance, but I don’t think it’s going to destroy the banks. I think banks will have more acceptance towards it. There will be a share that will be taken, there will be a space that it will create for itself, and that will create more options for everyone who’s sort of been sitting out of the financial revolution.”

Moving away from cryptocurrency, Fred also anticipates that the current Fintech entrepreneurs will take on a much greater responsibility than we’ve ever seen before to coach and guide the new generation of entrepreneurs coming through.

This will allow the industry to take greater risks and truly swing for the fences, bringing exciting new opportunities and further innovation.

Vanessa adds to this, explaining that “Australia has embraced Fintech, but we’ve not embraced climate change. I used to work for a youth brand, and I know how much climate matters to the next generation. So, if the Fintech leaders of today are nurturing the next generations, then I expect that it won’t be long until we start to see that green movement come to life.”

As a final prediction, Apurva points out that over the last couple of years, we’ve started to see what he calls ‘increased participation in complex finance’, and this will only continue to grow.

“Up until recently, there was a higher degree of faith in financial institutions and systems, and I think in the last couple of years, the Superheroes and the Robinhoods of the world, they’ve opened this portal for the average user to be able to dabble in financial instruments that up until recently, they had an arm’s length distance from.

“In the next ten years or so, you’re going to see more and more people in a macro way participate more in finance, and there will be tools, startups and Fintechs that are going to play a big role in doing that.”

Essentially, more people are going to start to do their own research and educate themselves about their own money and gain a better understanding of the financial instruments around them.

While there will always be risks around Fintech, with the right attitude, they can be managed.

Vanessa explains that there has been this ‘growth at any cost’ mindset around Fintech in recent years, however, this has caused several issues, and it cannot continue if we want to move forward.

“Profitability is important, efficiency is important, and revenue chasing at any cost is just not okay. Understanding your strategy, understanding that profitability matters and understanding that it’s people that get you there is key to making sure that we survive.”

As for the problem of the big banks buying all the Fintech startups to eliminate their competition, Vanessa suggests that working with the banks, rather than against them, is the best way to move forward together.

Apurva takes a slightly different approach, joking that, “Fintech can keep producing and let the banks keep eating them, to the point where they can’t eat anymore, and then Fintech will win.”

Whatever the future may hold for Fintech, we at Stone & Chalk are beyond excited to be a part of it, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to play such a significant role in helping so many growing Fintech startups succeed.

The future of Australian Fintech is brighter than it’s ever been – here’s why.

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” – Red Adair.

The quality of your team directly influences your startup’s performance, and finding the right talent is as important as having a winning product. 

Every startup differs, but one constant remains – a talented team is essential to making progress and achieving success. For founders, however, one question lingers: is talent the culmination of hard skills, education and intelligence? Or is it something more?

You may think it’s as simple as hiring the person with the most experience or the highest degree, but for startups, passion reigns supreme. Employees with passion care about what the company does. To them, it’s more than just a job; it’s their startup, too. Fostering passion among your talent is key to building a foundation of loyalty and increasing employee retention.

How does a startup foster passion among its team? 

When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.

This statement rings true and passion is the driving force behind it. The good news for founders is that passion can be nurtured. And what’s more? It’s contagious. 

Below are 3 tips for lighting the fire of passion in your team.

Start with facilitating connections between your team members. Founders often take it for granted that putting everyone into the same room is enough, but that rarely suffices.

As a founder, you need to encourage your team to get to know one another on a more personal level and follow through by continuously creating opportunities for connections to be nurtured, at work and outside work. Set goals that the entire team can work towards. Encourage collaboration and dissemination of ideas on a regular basis.

The book The power of pull, written by John Hagel and John Seely Brown, sums up this practice perfectly. It suggests that by positing the right questions to the workforce, you can draw their attention up from their day-to-day work and inspire deeper thinking and creativity.

A growth mindset is particularly important to startups as it signifies the team’s willingness and ability to navigate chaos, pivot quickly and step out of their comfort zone. For such a mindset to flourish, you need to build a culture of growth.

Below are several practices you should incorporate into your processes to foster growth: 

supporting the development of new interests and providing a framework for progression and upskilling

consistently evaluating growth and development and making changes when necessary 

encouraging skill sharing among your team members and facilitating cross-departmental communication or training.

The right talent commits to your vision, advocates the mission and makes decisions that are in the best interest of your startup.

Most employees are attracted to the startup environment for its fast pace, vibrant culture, flat structure, opportunities to work on new, exciting technologies and the ability to bring their whole self to work.

But, finding the right talent is no small task. It’s not enough to be cool and fun. In most cases, it’s an ongoing investment of time and effort in attracting those who will stay and be as committed to your vision as you are.

How to attract the right talent for your startup

As important as it is to instil a purpose into your team, it is even more crucial that you find a purpose before seeking talent for your startup.

Research reveals that an organisation has much to gain in terms of performance if its employees feel that their purposes align with their work. As individuals gain more meaning from their roles, they are typically more productive and resilient, and report higher levels of wellbeing.

The primary implication of these findings for a startup like yours is that before you start recruiting, you need to define your core values and purpose. Then, you should aim to reinforce these ideas in all your communications and incorporate them into your people process, be it recruitment, employee recognition or performance management.

Networks seem to be the most popular source to search for talent among founders, be it family and friend circles or investor networks. Events and meetups also work. A strong network, coupled with the increasingly positive perception of the tech sectors, will help attract talent for your startup.

A majority of founders, on the other hand, still find recruiters helpful, particularly for filling technical roles. Recruiters can help you connect with prospective candidates who aren’t active in the market but are potentially suitable. They have established relationships and know better of the wants and needs of their talent. They will also help save time and resources on screening. The expenses of engaging recruiters can be an inhibiting factor, though the cost of a wrong hire is often much higher.

Given the time it takes to secure great talent, being more proactive is key. Bring passionate people into your business whenever you find them, even if the role is still in formation.

Some founders rely on unconventional channels to connect with prospective candidates, for example, customer communities. Likewise, you can reach out to those within your own community who you think might be interested. Identify sectors, companies and job titles where your dream candidates come from and get in touch. Don’t wait around if you can build a relationship today.

Cultivate a pipeline of talent and always be on the lookout. Consider how you can gather referrals from your team as well.

Your brand as an employer is essential to attracting the right talent, even at the early stage. An employer brand is the company’s personality and the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits. The strength of your employer brand can lead to a reduction in cost per hire, a higher number of applications and a faster hire rate.

It’s worth noting that your core team plays a significant role in developing and embodying your employer brand. A study confirms that, from a candidate’s perspective, a communal team climate is one of the most attractive attributes of working at a startup.

Before actively recruiting, you should work on articulating your employer brand and what makes your startup unique. Have a clear culture and vision to share with candidates. If possible, communicate and reinforce your values across all channels, be it your website, social media or during an event.

The importance of the right talent for startup success

Growth mindset, a term created by Dr Carol Dweck, is more than a competency; it’s a belief and thinking system. It works on the premise that the brain is plastic, designed to adapt, learn, change and grow. 

Essential to a startup’s success is the team’s ability and willingness to grow, particularly beneficial where new starters are thrown into the deep end to navigate the chaos with minimal support. They’re often required to pivot quickly, solve problems and branch out into different areas.

A lot of founders see employees with a growth mindset as more open and resilient, ready to bounce back and move on from mistakes and failure. Most importantly, a growth mindset allows for a higher level of agility and prevents even the best performers from slipping into the habit of complacent acceptance. Individuals trapped in this state often find little to no motivation to learn or improve.

On the flip side, perfectionists can wrongly equate “success” with flawlessness and excessive standards, which may have an adverse effect not only on their performance but also on their psychological wellbeing – due to constant doubts and severe self-criticism.

That said, when it comes to growth, perfectionism isn’t all bad.

There are two dimensions of perfectionism: vice and virtue. The former is motivated by fear of failure. It hinders performance. The latter is driven by the pursuit of excellence and achievement. It helps cultivate a growth mindset.

To combat vice perfectionism, you should promote learning through failure. A few initiatives that have successfully implemented such a practice include the famous F*Up Nights and the issue log, a tool used to publicly record mistakes for the purpose of learning, first introduced and made popular by Ray Dalio.

Once you’ve recognised that a growth mindset is vital to the survival of early-stage startups, you’re already on the right track. The next important step is to build an environment where each of your team members is encouraged and enabled to cultivate it themselves.

Before we explore different ways you can foster a culture of growth, it’s important to examine the common myths pertaining to how the growth mindset really works.

Since its inception, many organisations have worked “growth” into their mission statements. Misconceptions remain widespread however due to the complex nature of the concept, and below are three most common myths that founders are falling for.

This belief is based on the assumption that a growth mindset is an all-or-nothing phenomenon. This is inaccurate since a mindset is a spectrum, and ours can vary between the two extremes – growth and fixed - to various degrees under different circumstances. In essence, a growth mindset isn’t absolute. It will continually evolve with experience.

This misconception downplays outcomes in favour of effort. If you reward your team just for showing up and putting in effort with little regard for the outcomes – or lack thereof – progress will stall. To truly champion growth, recognition should focus not only on the effort your team put in but also what they learn and the progress they make from it.

It’s not enough to have values written on the walls in your office. It’s imperative that the growth mindset be demonstrated through actions and given the opportunities to flourish. This can be done through developing concrete policies and processes that encourage appropriate risk-taking and collaboration within your team.

If you’re after a career with a startup, a growth mindset will help you cope with ambiguity and adapt to changes as your team works towards conquering new frontiers with emerging technologies.

you don’t accept failure and setbacks as final

you believe that challenges can be overcome

you proactively seek learning opportunities

you explore ways to improve your craft without severe self-criticism.

To cultivate a growth mindset, as a team member, you should:

understand where you are on the spectrum of growth–fixed mindset

identify practical ways to learn and grow at work

ask your leaders for support while you experiment and expand your skill set

spend time reflecting on your past outcomes – both negative and positive – and focus on the insights and progress you’ve gained.

To increase your startup’s likelihood to survive, your team members need the motivation to get out of their comfort zone – out of necessity or otherwise. The right workplace culture will help empower them to take risks, make mistakes, learn and grow.

Below are several ideas that you as a founder can try to foster a culture of growth:

running experiments and sharing learnings

role modelling and recognising the behaviour you wish to promote

implementing an issue log within your organisation

being clear with your team, from day one, on the value you put on growth

allowing your team to make their own decisions and take responsibility for the outcomes

creating a psychologically safe environment where everyone can ask questions.

Why is a growth mindset essential to startup success?

Southern Angels (ADL) members have invested $1.75million into 9 startups this year.

In 2022, members of Southern Angels have already invested a staggering $1.75 million into nine startups. Southern Angels is a community partnership startup that connects high net-worth investors with high growth companies who have the potential to make a global impact. 

“More than just money, Southern Angels have supported CareApp with expertise and networks. We also welcomed one of their members to our board.” – Allison Nikula, Founder, CareApp

Southern Angels and its members are committed to providing continued support for South Australia’s startup landscape. 

CareApp (ADL) announced as finalist for best software implementation at Aged Care awards.

At the 2022 ITAC Awards, Western Australian care and retirement living provider Bethanie has taken out the best software implementation award for their utilIsation of South Australian start up CareApp. CareApp provides a powerful communication and engagement platform for aged care providers.

CareApp themselves, having won the award for best quality improvement solution at ITAC 2018, were able to provide Bethanie with the means of sharing over 50,000 daily care movements with residents' families. 

CareApp’s work has been greatly appreciated by Bethanie and their association to this award is a testament to their powerful impact.

Arcanite (SYD) hits $1 billion benchmark for off-the-plan property sales.

Sydney based startup, Arcanite, announced a massive win in recent times, with over $1.1 billion worth of property sold on their platform. Arcanite is a proptech company utilising CRM  to simplify sales channels and project management for developers and real estate agents. 

“Placing a strong emphasis on mobility and finance is where Arcanite found the sweet spot in terms of meeting the needs of agile property professionals and Aussie buyers looking to secure their dream home quicker.” - CEO William Lin

Arcanite’s unique product allows professionals to streamline workflows and increase off-the-plan sales opportunities.

iPayd (MEL) launched their payment protection platform.

A big win has come from the Melbourne hub with IPayd announcing the launch of their payment protection platform. Their platform verifies transactions before exchanging funds, protecting your money and identity from scammers. IPayd are on a mission to open up the potential of the Consumer-2-Consumer economy by solving the issue of trust; between private buyers or sellers. 

Trellis (ADL) sign up 5 new local government clients in Victoria.

Adelaide based startup, Trellis, whose software is already trusted for over $1 billion in transactional value recently announced the addition of five local government clients in Victoria. Trellis is a data collection hub facilitating sustainable growth with the mantra “Turning data into knowledge, turning knowledge into actions and actions into savings”.

Optus leveraged their partnership with Stone & Chalk to scout, vet and procure emerging tech startups and scaleups for their 5G Innovation Hub at 11 York Street, Sydney.

The Optus 5G Innovation Hub is entirely powered by 5G as an enabler of emerging tech providing a space for startups to access, co-create and build or test tech-based products and technologies.

Stone & Chalk sourced and recommended startups and scaleups that are customer ready (MPV or PoC) to go to market that would benefit from the amazing speed and bandwidth that 5G has to support and enable their business and product.

The selected finalists gained access to the 5G space and technology tools, infrastructure and resources as well as:

5G specialised knowledge from SMEs and industry experts

access to key decision makers and mentors within Optus

access to Optus customers, capital, talent and 5G tech

opportunities for referrals to Optus VCs and partners.

15 prospective startups delivered to Optus

The new Stone & Chalk-run Scaleup Hub at Tech Central opened its doors during NAIDOC Week 2022, and what more fitting a time to welcome their newest tenants, Indigenous-led consultancy, Murawin.

Murawin is a highly experienced and accredited, national consultancy, owned and operated by Dunghutti businesswoman Carol Vale. Murawin’s team are dedicated to creating impact, breaking cycles of disadvantage, and advocating for the voice of Indigenous Australians and other marginalised groups. 

Murawin’s CEO, Carol Vale, shared, “We have authentic lived cultural experience and use our technical and cultural knowledge to earn the interest and trust amongst our clients and the community.

“NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the magnificence of the oldest living culture on the planet, to honour the history, culture, and achievements of First Nations peoples. This year’s theme is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! At Murawin, we firmly believe that for systemic and intergenerational change to occur, and to truly close the gap, we require collaboration from people from all walks of life, communities, industries, and cultures. Together we must all get up, stand up and show up!

“Our consultancy draws on the knowledge of our First Nations people that have sustained this country for over 60,000 years. We’re excited to be part of the movement to bring this knowledge into the epicentre of tech innovation in NSW. What better time to do so, than during NAIDOC Week 2022!

“Centring ourselves in this environment, not only offers Murawin access to industry experts, but it puts us, our clients, and our mob in close proximity to leading organisations such as UTS, Atlassian, Commonwealth Bank, Cicada Innovations, The University of Sydney, and many more incredible entities that have the potential to close the gap.”

Working collaboratively in the Scaleup Hub, together we will reshape and redefine the future of Australian technologies and take significant steps forward to establishing creative, prosperous futures for generations of First Nations Australians. 

“We hope that Murawin’s residency in the Scaleup Hub and our input into the Place Strategy for the Tech Central precinct will create opportunities for other Indigenous companies, First Nation suppliers, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, particularly young women interested in the tech space.”

“Stone & Chalk’s Scaleup Hub at Tech Central is privileged to have Murawin joining as one of our first wave of new residents,” said Stone & Chalk Sydney General Manager Marie-Anne Lampotang. “Through our association with Murawin, we can contribute to the growth of First Nations talent from schools, TAFEs and Universities into the tech sector, and in particular to the scaleups in residence at the Hub.” 

Stone & Chalk’s Scaleup Hub provides more than sophisticated physical infrastructure to the scaleups it supports. It provides the next generation of local and international emerging technology founders with access to vital resources in the form of extensive community leaders, industry networks and connections to capital.

“We are so excited to continue working with Murawin and other First Nations startups and scaleups in Tech Central. Our First Nations peoples are the oldest living culture and custodians of creativity and technology. Celebrating this announcement in NAIDOC Week is an opportunity to share with even more Australians the importance of First Nations innovation and culture. We look forward to welcoming more First Nations peoples and organisations to Tech Central in the future,” said Annie Parker, Executive Director, Tech Central.

To find out more, visit techcentral.stoneandchalk.com.au or www.murawin.com.au 

Stone & Chalk: Tom Finnigan, tom@austcyber.com, 0408 867 367
Murawin: Rebecca McGuinness, rebecca@murawin.com.au, 0422 854 640

Murawin is a highly experienced and accredited, national, Indigenous-led consultancy, owned and operated by exceedingly experienced and qualified First Nations people who are dedicated to creating impact, being culturally respectful, breaking cycles of disadvantage, and advocating for the voice of Indigenous Australians and other marginalised groups. Unlike competitors, Murawin is majority-owned by Indigenous Australians who, in addition to their extensive qualifications and skills, also have authentic lived cultural experience. We use our technical and cultural knowledge, experience and expertise across Social Outcomes and Engagement, Research and Evaluation, Indigenous Place Strategy, and Sustainability and Innovation, to earn interest and trust amongst our clients and the community. For more information visit www.murawin.com.au  

The Tech Central Scaleup Hub, located in the heart of the precinct at 477 Pitt Street, is operated by technology community Stone & Chalk, providing 8,000 square metres of affordable and flexible workspace to support high-growth technology scaleups. For more information visit techcentral.stoneandchalk.com.au 

Tech Central is Australia’s biggest innovation district of its kind, made up of six connected neighbourhoods near the Sydney CBD (Haymarket, Ultimo, Surry Hills, Camperdown, Darlington North Eveleigh and South Eveleigh). It is a place where universities, startups, scaleups, tech giants and local communities collaborate to solve problems, socialise and spark ideas that change our world. For more information, visit: https://www.tc.sydney/

New digs in NAIDOC Week: Murawin moves into Tech Central’s Scaleup Hub

SYDNEY, 28 June 2022 - Arcanite, an off-the-plan sales management software solution, is transforming the way off-the-plan developments are sold in Australia. With $1b worth of properties already sold on the platform, Arcanite assists property developers and real estate agents in simplifying the management of their sales channels and projects, rapidly growing their networks and selling more properties sooner. 

Noting the current housing shortage and impending interest rate rises, new buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to enter the market and realise their dream of owning a home. With a mission to accelerate sales in the new development sector, Arcanite’s technology is designed to support property professionals in connecting with potential buyers while also streamlining the sales management process.

“It can be a challenge to succeed in running a project selling agency if you are using the same methodology as traditional real estate sales,” said William D. Lin, Arcanite Founder and CEO. “The right tools are needed to not only address the specific needs of project sales, but to cater towards the demand for accessibility, convenience, and fast-paced nature of the industry.

“Placing a strong emphasis on mobility and finance is where Arcanite found the sweet spot in terms of meeting the needs of agile property professionals and Aussie buyers looking to secure their dream home quicker.”

To support the developers’ vision and bring it to life, Arcanite developed DragonVR, allowing developers, house and land builders, and agents to showcase upcoming developments prior to construction. DragonVR both enhances the selling experience and boosts sales conversions by strengthening buyer confidence when purchasing off the plan. 

Arcanite’s upcoming fintech product Equimate will accelerate property purchase opportunities by providing eligible first home buyers, who have little to no deposit, with the finance needed to purchase a home. This will give thousands of Australians the opportunity to realise their property dreams much sooner than anticipated.  

“We recognised how difficult it is for so many Australians to enter the property market, from saving for a deposit to coming up with additional funds to cover bank fees, including Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI),” said Phil Foweraker, CEO of Equimate. “Equimate helps first home buyers into home ownership, and saves costs involved in LMI premiums from standard lending institutions.”

“We’re proud to be fostering an environment where such companies are offering technology that is transforming the property industry,” said Michael Bromley, CEO of Stone & Chalk Group. “In fact, our Scaleup Hub in Sydney is using DragonVR to showcase our unique workspaces.

“This technology is helping break down barriers between potential tenants and real estate owners. Arcanite and the upcoming Equimate recognise the potential to shift Australia towards futureproofing the economy and diversifying entry conditions to reach a wider market.”

Arcanite is the ultimate sales management tool for project marketing professionals to streamline workflows and increase off-the-plan sales opportunities. To find out more about Arcanite and its affiliated products, visit www.arcanite.com.au.

Arcanite was a finalist for the proptech awards in 2021 and 2022 and they are a finalist for the Urban developer awards announced in August 2022. 

Tom Finnigan, PR and Production Manager, Stone & Chalk Group
M: 0408 867 367, E: tom@austcyber.com

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