There hasn't been a more exciting time to be part of the start-up ecosystem. Whilst there’s more uncertainty than ever, companies are innovating fast and creating value in a way that’s never been seen before. The sentiment amongst many new and existing Australian companies feels strong. After many discussions with start-up, scale-ups and established companies, it feels like the Australian tech ecosystem is up to the challenge.
Fleur Brown, director of startup community TechSydney stated that “startups are used to operating lean and embracing disruption”, and have the ability to “operate at an agile pace to create really specific solutions for narrow segments of the customer market”. Evidence shows that startups are leveraging this key differentiation now more than ever, in contrast to their traditional and more established counterparts.
SHFT Hero, is a staff sharing app that connects businesses with hospitality and event professionals. The platform now has a community exceeding 4000 businesses and hospitality staff. Hospitality quickly became one of the hardest hit industries as the pandemic unfolded. Many shopfronts and restaurants closed their doors due to limited operational capacity. SHFT Hero embraced this disruption, by launching the ‘Who is Delivering’ platform. The platform provides on-demand Delivery Drivers for restaurants, and matches the industry demand for at-home delivery services.
The platform aimed to help businesses Australia-wide to list their restaurant, contact details and menus and to let customers know they are open. It was a community-led campaign that ignited a sense of hope amongst the hospitality industry.
The Amazon Launchpad Innovation Report found that 92% of small to medium businesses felt optimistic for the future, with 28% of startups recognising isolation as helping them innovate and better prepare for the future. This was certainly the case for Australian startup Sourcr who helps recruiters build their digital presence online. COVID-19 crippled the industry overnight! Rather than stand idle, cofounder James Jennings engaged with the recruitment community to help them discover new ways to win business in a world that’s increasingly online.
This involved running digital branding sessions via zoom and by distributing Sourcr Professional for free to recruiters make it to the other end of the pandemic. “Recruitment agencies overnight started coming to us in swarms to discover how they could use reviews to evolve their brand and messaging. It’s early days but we are seeing really strong engagement on this.”
During this uncertain time, it’s refreshing to see how many companies are still moving in leaps and bounds. At Hudled, we had a unique perspective since launching. We were founded during COVID-19 and we had the opportunity to review the broader landscape to ensure our focus was aligned to market needs.
We have created a SaaS checklist for growing companies to better manage their software. Or, we’d love to hear from you if you are looking to become more nimble and better prepared for the future.