TDM leads $35m round for Australia's SafetyCulture

Local VCs Blackbird Ventures, Skip Capital, and Index Ventures also participated, as did Malcolm Turnbull, a former Australian prime minister who has recently taken up an advisory role with KKR. This is Turnbull's second confirmed VC investment this week, following participation in a Series B for local space tech start-up Myriota.

The deal brings SafeyCulture's total funding to date to more than A$150 million, valuing the company at A$1.3 billion. It is among the best-funded companies in Australia's thriving staff management software niche. At least 10 local start-ups have received venture capital or private equity investment in this space in the past two years, including Culture Amp, which is also backed by TDM, Blackbird, Skip, and Index. 

"TDM travels the globe to find a very small number of fast-growing businesses that we can support on their scaling journey," Hamish Corlett, a partner at TDM, said in a statement. "We do however feel particularly passionate about supporting Australian founders and their businesses, and there is no doubt in our mind, there are few better than [CEO Luke Anear] and what he and his team have created right here in our backyard. 

SafetyCulture was launched with an eight-person team in 2004 in Townsville, a remote Queensland city with a population of less than 200,000. From this base, the company was able to attract 12,000 international monthly users during early operations by taking a sales approach that prioritized digital marketing, search engine optimization, word-of-mouth, and viral features built into the software. The company now claims its flagship iAuditor is used by 26,000 organizations in 85 countries.

IAuditor is a mobile app that helps companies create safety inspection checklists, conduct on-site investigations, and analyze data. It is said to complete more than 600 million checks per year. The fresh capital will be used to develop the product from a simple checklist app into a strategic platform that connects distributed teams, raising safety and quality standards while making them more efficient. SafetyCulture is currently hiring software engineers and product managers to accelerate this process.

Other initiatives include the development of enhanced analytics, internet-of-things sensors, and telematics capabilities, as well as efforts to reduce risk and lower premiums for businesses by partnering with insurance providers. Most recently, the company launched a series of tools that help companies keep their employees informed about COVID-19 related safety issues in the workplace.  

SafetyCulture said its annual recurring revenue improved 85% during the past year and that the business is now cash positive. It raised a $45 million round in 2018 that featured Blackbird, Index, Tiger Global Management, and Morpheus Ventures. This was preceded by a $23 million investment provided by Blackbird and Index. Earlier investors also include seed-stage specialist Raven Ventures Australia. 

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Support services
• Expansion
• Australia
• Blackbird Ventures
• TMT
• professional services