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Your journey starts here

Who we back, and why we back them. This is how you become a Skalata company. 
Choovie co-founders, Shane Thatcher and Sonya Stephen
Choovie co-founders Shane Thatcher & Sonya Stephen. Read Choovie's story.
Investment Mandate

What are we looking for?

Skalata isn’t tied to any one industry. If you’ve got a clear vision, a unique solution, and are open to feedback, we’ll give you the tools to scale.

Innovative

‘Innovation’ gets thrown around a lot, but you'll need an unfair advantage. Some unique IP, a special skill or inside industry knowledge. A creative solution you can scale (and defend!).

Capital efficient

We’re early-stage investors, so our funding should meaningfully extend your runway. Ideally you’ll have 12+ months of cash flow already. When it’s time to go another round, we'll lead it.

Market ready

You'll need to have a product ready for market, or at least be close. Ideally you’ll have some users and revenue already, but if you need a bit more time to get there, that’s okay. Launch day should be just around the corner.
Bookbot founder, Adrian DeWitts
Investment Mandate

Investing in you

It's common for VCs to try to predict the future, and invest based on what they think the world needs. But we’re not fortune tellers.

We’re investing in you, not just your company. What we care about is your unique insights into your customers and your ability to deliver value for them. We think you’re the one to have a crack at this problem, and we’ll give you everything we have to ensure the best chance of success.
Investment AMOUNT & Structure

How much do we invest?

Raising capital is a huge distraction for founders, so let’s keep things simple: once you’re in, you’ll never need to look outside Skalata for growth capital.

Initial investment

Up to $300k

We find it's better to invest a smaller amount up-front, work with you intensely to get things humming and then invest further capital when you need it.

Follow-on investment(s)

Up to $1m

Once you're on a sustainable growth trajectory, we can make additional investments across multiple rounds.

And beyond...

100+ investors

In our funds, we have hundreds of investors who are passionate about supporting and investing in exceptional early-stage companies. They trust Skalata to find, work with, and de-risk their investment. So when it's time to follow-on, they want to join.
Strength by Numbers co-founders, Lachlan Thurgood and Andrew Lemon
“Not only have Skalata provided invaluable help in scaling SBN's operations, they have also provided multiple rounds of funding to support our growth ”
Lachlan Thurgood – Co-founder, Strength by Numbers
Optomni co-founders, Sabina Zeynalova and Murad Mekhtiev
“Our goal isn't to start generating tonnes of revenue immediately – it's to get that really fast feedback cycle so we can make iterations and improve our product. When we launch successfully, our valuation will have doubled anyway!
Murad Mekhtiev– Co-founder, Optomni
Investment AMOUNT & Structure

Overnight success doesn't happen overnight

To scale your company into a market leader, you'll need to raise further rounds of capital – that's a given. So we work with you to develop a long-term funding plan that ensures you're always making smart decisions about your cap table.

We offer frequent, smaller rounds of capital to help you prove certain assumptions which either de-risk your company or increase its long-term prospects. This allows you to raise larger amounts on better terms in the future, so you can hold onto more equity and grow sustainably.
Investment Process

What's the process?

Interested in applying? Here's what our typical selection process looks like.

1. Pitch

The best place to start is our dedicated Pitch Form. Don’t worry about the classic ‘‘warm intro’ at this stage. We just want to see a great business with lots of potential.

If we're interested, we’ll jump on a quick call to learn more. If not, we'll follow up with some actionable advice.
Send us your pitch

2. Interview

Next up, you'll meet with two members of our Venture Team. This is where you'll run through your top-level vision. How are you tracking? What does growth look like? This is the getting-to-know-you phase. And it goes both ways. Come armed with plenty of questions, too.

3. Due Dilligence

You’ve wowed us with the vision, now it’s time for the nitty gritty, number-crunching stuff. Cash flows. Forecasting. Customers & contracts. This is the lengthiest phase, but it’s much faster if everything is in order ahead of time.
Preliminary DD checklist

4. Investment Committee

If you pass DD, we’ll then present your case to our Investment Committee (IC). They're the ultimate decision makers.

If they sign off, we’ll provide a term sheet outlining our investment terms and valuation. Our goal is to keep things open, honest and simple.
How we value companies

5. Final approval

We'll complete our final pre-investment checks (dotting I's, crossing T's...), and if that’s all good, you’re in! We'll transfer funds to your account.

6. Founder support

Now the real fun begins. We’ll work with your team, day in and day out, to develop product-market fit, rev your growth engine, and build a sustainable business model.
How we support companies
Flux co-founders, Justin Joffe, Gustavo Hoirisch and Brett Joffe
Investment Process

Due diligence is a two-way street

The thing most VCs don’t acknowledge is that founders are taking a risk, too. Seed-stage businesses have one chance to get this right. Choosing who to work with is a big decision, and you shouldn’t make it lightly.

Rather than take our word for it, we encourage you to chat to our founders, and quiz them on the highs and lows of their Skalata experience.
FAQs

Over to you. Any questions?

We want our investment process to be as transparent as possible.
If we haven't covered everything here, then please don't hestiate to ask.
Does Skalata invest in a particular industry?
No, we’re sector agnostic. The truth is, we don’t want to box ourselves into a particular industry, because growth and good ideas can come from anywhere. Our current portfolio includes everything from Agtech and logistics to healthcare.
What is Skalata looking for in founders?
We’re looking for founders who are honest, determined, driven and open to feedback. They’re not afraid of hard work or the unknown, either. At Skalata, we champion all backgrounds, languages and abilities. What’s more important is your attitude. Not sure if that’s you? Check out our analysis of successful founder personas.
Does Skalata invest in solo founders?
We do work with solo founders (meet Lisa and Declan), although we’d encourage you to build a team ASAP. Running a company is already a lonely road, so we need to see you’ve got the skills, and the support, to scale.
What is Skalata's investment structure?
1. Initial Investment we offer flexible initial investments of $50k to $300k. In return, Skalata receives an equity stake in the company. That stake is based on your valuation, and is determined on a case-by-case basis. 

2. Follow-on Investment(s) - at any stage of the journey, we can make further investments up to $1 million. When you need additional capital beyond this, we'll open the door to our fund investors, and do all the heavy lifting.
How long does the investment process take?
The ball’s in your court on this one. We’ve outlined our general process here, but this can change depending on the stage and readiness of your company. Due diligence is what tends to slow things down, so if you have your data ready to go, we can often streamline the process. On average, investment takes about 6-8 weeks from pitch to investment, but it can also take as little as 4 weeks.
I’ve raised at a higher valuation implied by Skalata. Am I too progressed as a company? Is this a down round?
Not at all! Quite a few of our portfolio companies raised funds at a higher valuation than implied by Skalata’s initial investment. The difference is, our founders tend to recognise that value beats valuation, and the hands-on experience of working with Skalata (through dedicated coaching, access to best-practice business resources, and a broader advisory network) will help materially increase the value of their business.
What if Skalata passes on my company?
The most important thing to remember is that this doesn’t mean it’s a bad company, or a bad idea. Usually it’s because your business either didn’t meet our investment mandate, or, after diving into your value proposition, we weren’t able to develop a strong enough business case to move things forward. At the end of the day, we get things wrong just like anyone else. We also know how emotionally draining this application process can be, so we’ll try and be as transparent and speedy as possible. Whatever the outcome. And even if you miss out on Skalata funding this time, that doesn’t mean you won’t be successful down the track, or come away from the interview process with actionable advice.
What does Skalata not invest in?
There are a few areas that we don’t invest in, including gambling, tobacco and weapons (we want our founders to have a net positive impact on society). We also don’t invest in pure e-commerce plays, biotech or pharma, capital-intensive businesses (which require significant funding to get off the ground) or anything based solely around banking, insurance, provision of capital, leasing, property development, infrastructure acquisition, land ownership, construction, or making investments to derive rental / royalties / interest / dividend income. Phew.
What's Skalata's investment mandate?
We’re after companies at the seed stage who have already built some momentum or traction within the business. You’ll need a unique proposition (some defensible IP, special industry insight, or market solution) 12+ months of cash flow, and a market-ready product. There are over 30 data points we look at, but this is broadly what we need to see before we invest.
How does Skalata value my company
We value companies based on a carefully-developed formula. We look at over 30 separate data points (both quantitative and qualitative) across four key categories: team, problem/market, solution and traction. Value is driven by data: it’s important to us that our investment approach is as fair and objective as possible. We do not place a dollar value on the additional support provided. Instead we offer a conservative initial valuation as an acknowledgement of that support. Any follow-on investment is offered at a regular market valuation.
What about later stage (Series A+) funding?
Our investment cap is currently $1 million, but that isn’t the end of the story. Once you’re in with Skalata, you’re in. You’ll never need to look beyond our network for growth funding down the track – whether you’re raising in one year or ten. We’ll make the introductions to our investors, and help refine your pitch. Anything we can do to make your next round a success.
Who are some of the investors in Skalata's funds?
Skalata counts a number of very successful entrepreneurs among our fund investors. These include: Anthony Eisen (Co-founder, Afterpay), Jan Cameron (Founder, Kathmandu), Alex Waislitz (Founder, Thorney Investment Group), John Rubino (Founder, Monadelphous), Paul Dwyer (Founder, PSC Insurance Group), WA entrepreneur Ian Trahar and Bell Potter’s Hugh Robertson. They’re always on the lookout for co-investment opportunities in great companies.
Will Skalata sign my NDA?
Unfortunately not. We could go into all the ins and outs – it’s complicated – but we think our article here sums things up.
If Skalata passes on my company, can you provide feedback?
Feedback on the investment outcome is a perfectly reasonable thing to want! We aim to be as transparent as possible with investment decisions (and often provide as much detail/feedback as we can), however, it isn’t always possible for us to provide comprehensive feedback for every company. In short, we’ll do our best.
Pitch

Work on your business rather than working the room

We know how to get onto a good valuation pathway. We know what ‘Series A ready’ looks like. And we know what later-stage investors need to see.

We’ll lead your seed round, hone your business model, then make follow-on investments at an increased valuation. When you’re ready for more, we’ll loop in our fund investors.
Pitch

Pitch? Perfect.

To get started, tell us a little about your company. We personally respond to every pitch we receive, and try our best to get back to you within a couple of days.
We need to see a pitch deck to accurately assess your company. If you don't have one, you can contact us over here.
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Thanks! We've got your pitch and will take a look shortly. Expect to hear from us within a couple of business days. In the meantime, check our new founder-focused content platform, KnowHow (shameless plug).
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