AfterWork Ventures

🎙️ Introducing CRO Spotlight! 🎙️ A new interview series, in partnership with Stripe, that invites leading Chief Revenue Officers to spill the tea! In our first interview, we sit down with Paul Harapin, CRO at Stripe Asia Pac to hear about his journey to CRO and his perspective on what it takes to succeed. Why CROs? 💗 In many ways, the CRO is the heartbeat of a company, acting as the bridge between business, sales, marketing and operations. 💰 As startups and scaleups face mounting pressure to achieve profitability at speed, the importance of this role has never been greater. ✨ The tenacity, creativity and strategic thinking required to excel in this evolving role has lessons for us all. https://lnkd.in/gpc3g8cn #CRO #venturecapital #interviewseries #startupnews

AFTERWORK ARE DELIGHTED TO CELEBRATE A MAJOR MILESTONE: THE FIRST EXIT FROM OUR 2021 FUND! 🚀 Congratulations to the OfferFit Team on Their Impressive US $325M Acquisition by Braze! 🚀 🤝 We first met OfferFit co-founders George Khachatryan and Victor Kostyuk in 2021 and immediately saw potential in their vision. We are proud to have been their partners and seed investors from the beginning of their journey. 👩💻 OfferFit’s ambition was to revolutionise marketing through AI-driven, 1:1 decisioning—a concept that deeply resonated with us. 📈 Over the past four years, OfferFit has transformed the marketing landscape, navigating market shifts, evolving customer needs and rapid tech changes. 💵 They focused on revenue growth (achieving 3x revenue growth in 2024) and refining their product to deliver game-changing results; helping major brands like Yelp, MetLife and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts generate tens of millions in revenue. 🧨 Now, they join Braze, a company they have long admired for their innovative approach to customer engagement. The alignment across product, customer focus, and culture makes this an exciting next chapter for both parties. 💡 This acquisition shows clearly the shared appetite for AI is by both investors and enterprises (including tech-native businesses). 🥂 We couldn’t be happier for George, Victor, and the entire OfferFit team—a well-earned milestone on an incredible journey! AfterWork partner Alex Khor says, "Everything we loved about OfferFit back then holds true today - and more. George and Victor are a formidable team and some of the sharpest thinkers we've ever met on exactly how and where enterprise marketers can capture most value through the use of AI. We're unsurprised the team at Braze see that so clearly too." Check out our original investment notes here https://lnkd.in/gx3gZQ3a #venturecapital #startupsuccess #exit #acquisition #startupnews #founderstory

🚀 From Pre-Seed to Series A: The PropHero Growth Story 🚀 With their simple, smart and data-driven product, PropHero has transformed the property investment landscape, across 40 countries and counting. With an unwavering focus on innovation and customer love, founders Mickael Roger and Pablo Gil Brusola built a product customers adore, drummed up impressive momentum, showed endless reserves of tenacity and resourcefulness, expanded globally and proved the stickiness of their business model. We met the unstoppable team 3 years ago and were delighted to join the journey and invest in their pre-seed round (and subsequent rounds). The PropHero story embodies everything AfterWork stands for: supporting ambitious founders from the very beginning and helping them de-risk their business while rapidly building momentum. In our latest investment notes-meets-interview, we get the behind the scenes look at how PropHero grew and the key strategies that propelled their success. From selecting markets for global expansion, to creating a culture of innovation to building a data-driven product that solves a clear consumer pain point, it's an inspiring firehose of intel! A very big congratulations to the team on their Series A and all their success to date...We're excited for what's to come 🎇 👉 https://lnkd.in/gPtE3yNJ #StartupJourney #SeriesA #VentureCapital #PropTech #Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess #Investment #GlobalExpansion #Innovation

A rare opportunity to join of our most talented founding teams and build healthcare experiences for the 21st century - see below for details 👇

What a year it’s been for the AfterWork portfolio! 🪅 We’re deeply impressed by the incredible founders and teams we’ve backed - and the milestones they’ve achieved. As early-stage investors, we often meet founders and their ideas in seedling form. We see firsthand the tenacity, creativity, dedication and determination it takes to move them into real things, making real impact - and we're inspired! 🪩 We're thrilled to share some 2024 highlights and are excited for what's to come in 2025 Samphire Neuroscience Emilė R. Alex Cook Wagetap Mitchell Stevens Turnto Jessica Dove London Sam Naparstek Alyse Borkan PropHero Mickael Roger Pablo Gil Brusola OwnHome James Bowe Tim Harley Imogen Baxter Everlab Sam Kothari Marc Hermann Dr Steven Lu Anshul J. klikit Chris Withers Furthr Brian O'Farrell Nathalie Mann Primary Ben Buckingham Will Freeborn Finn Blake 👏 Hats off to you and thanks for having us on the journey.... #startups #founders #milestones #VC #earlystage

In our spotlight series, we loved getting to know the dynamic duo Jo Thomas and Yvette Quinby, founders of the impressive edtech Enrola. Enrola is an online education comparison platform that helps students navigate the complexity of finding and enrolling in Vocational Education and Training courses - it's a refreshing solution to a complex and common problem brought to you by two passionate and powerful founders. In this interview, we get to know the brains behind the business. We hear the story of how they got the idea for enrola and their first steps to getting it off the ground... and most importantly, how they still make time for Ultimate Frisbee and horses! https://lnkd.in/gdAdz5Tj

Investment Announcement!! We're delighted to officially welcome Primary to our portfolio. Here's why we're excited... 👓 Startups and scale-ups are woefully overlooked by the big banks – and it hurts. They earn an average 70% less interest on their deposits compared to institutional clients. 🤑 Primary is here to revolutionize financial efficiency - their innovative treasury management solution helps startups maximize idle cash through high-yield savings accounts and term deposits, while keeping funds easy to access. 🤝Primary's approach not only provides immediate benefits—like turning idle cash into revenue—but also fosters strong relationships with clients at critical growth stages. This positions them well to become a comprehensive financial command centre in the future. 🧠 The founding team, led by founder Ben Buckingham and CPO Will Freeborn, brings extensive fintech experience and a commitment to truly putting customer needs front and centre. In a short amount of time, they have gained 40 customers, managing more than $200 million in funds. 📰 AfterWork has proudly backed Primary through both their pre-seed and recent seed rounds - like the team, we see the immense potential in offering tailored treasury services to next gen companies. In our investment notes, we unpack why we're riding shotgun on their journey to level the financial playing field for upstarts! https://lnkd.in/gKaUZpCt #fintech #foundernews #venturecapital #venturenews

Exciting News! We are chuffed to announce our investment in Matilda's pre-seed round - the migration tech startup on a mission to digitise, destress and simplify the visa application process. The two founders Damian Png and Niamh Mooney are AfterWork community members and proven powerhouses, with critical expertise in product, commercial and digital marketing. We're proud to back their tech-forward solution that takes the headache out of the immensely stressful process of applying for a visa. 🎆 WHY WE'RE EXCITED 🎆 🛂 Australia processes a lot of visas (almost 3m a year) - the process is confusing, complicated and stressful 😕 Migration agents leave a lot to be desired! NPS is low and complaints are high 👌 Conditions are ripe for a new entrant - the market is fragmented, distribution is localised and there's no real love for existing solutions 🔑 Matilda offer a simple solution that harnesses AI to automate and accelerate the administrative parts of the process, while reserving human touch for the moments that matter (strategic use of AI means better margins, without shortchanging the customer experience). ☀ Their vision to improve the migration experience is timely and a personal passion point for the founders We're delighted at the chance to lead Matilda's pre-seed round, alongside Wollemi Capital Group, Everywhere Ventures, Co Ventures and Startmate Read our full investment notes here https://lnkd.in/gbR2rHTR

Congratulations to one of our first community members Duncan Allan on the launch of his new business Fourteen10. At a time when advertising has never been harder and more complex, they are entering the market with a pointed proposition that shakes up the tired media agency landscape. “Designing an agency from scratch to solve important advertising challenges for its clients, means the new business model must look nothing like the status quo." Co-founder Cameron Roberts Part of their approach centres on strategically super-charging top talent with AI. We recently wrote about the new wave of AI-powered service businesses that are using AI in the right ways, and the right times, to uplift the end-to-end experience - Fourteen10 are bringing this playbook to life in a new category and we're here for it! https://lnkd.in/gPcB3gXQ

We're thrilled to announce our investment in Enrola, an online education comparison platform eliminating decision paralysis for prospective students. With two formidable founders at the helm, Jo Thomas and Yvette Quinby, Enrola has the credibility and expertise to transform the student experience, at a pivotal moment in time. 🎆 WHY WE'RE EXCITED 🎆 💥 - Vocational Education Training is booming - there's over 4.5 million students enrolling annually in Australia 📕 With over 2,133 course options from a growing number of providers, it's a struggle for students to find the right course, from a quality provider 🔎 Enrola simplifies this process, helping students find the course that's right for them; based on their desired goals, learning outcomes, lifestyle and study preferences and budget requirements 😁 To top it off, they give students confident-boosting support throughout this high stakes decision; from initial discovery to enrolment 📈 With more competition than ever, Enrola is a welcome reprieve for Registered Training Organisations, who are looking for effective marketing solutions that drive enrolments. We're delighted at the chance to lead Enrola's pre-seed round, alongside Skalata, Antler and a host of strategic angels. Check out our full investment notes here https://lnkd.in/gfTgq-2r #edtech #vocationaltraining #startup #founders