Nakatomi, a Sydney-based venture studio that backs and builds Australian startups, has raised $3.5 million to lift the pace of its venture-building model to launch three to four new businesses every year.
The company, which was founded by serial entrepreneurs Ben Bray and Andy Timms, is now being supported by founders from Leonardo ai, Gannet Capital, Scalare Partners, Booking. com and private equity veteran Les Fallick to pursue its mission.
Nakatomi was established to give founders an alternative approach to launch new ventures, while also assisting established corporates to defend against disruption by getting ahead of the competition.
The venture builder has already helped launch a host of successful startups, including Australia’s first women’s health AI partner, Ovum, which recently raised $1.7 million to close the gender health gap, and Ruminati, an agricultural ESG platform that supports the whole supply chain to measure and reduce the sector’s environmental impact.
Bray says the raise validates the Nakatomi hypothesis that the startup ecosystem is ready for disruption.
“We provide new ventures with an expert team from day one so they can go further, faster than they could on their own,” he says.
“We’ve always fought against ‘best practice’ because it limits you from finding a better way. Our approach reflects this belief.
“The innovation landscape is being shaken up by big changes like AI, and business leaders need better support to create ventures and ensure they gain the traction they deserve.”
Bray points out that “everyone at Nakatomi creates”, describing the first-hand experience as essential to help the company build businesses with a greater chance of success.
“The creative chaos of early-stage venture creation is what drives us,” he says.
“It’s what we love and will continue doing for as long as possible. With the right partners and the team we have around us, there’s no limit to what we can build.”
Bray and Timms come from diverse creative and technical backgrounds, having worked across defence, education, healthcare, entertainment, film production, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and gaming, including with corporate giants such as Nestlé, Google, and LMVH.
“Our edge comes from the diversity of problem spaces we explore,” says Timms.
“We work hard to uncover non-obvious connections and patterns that unlock differentiated products and ventures. Early-stage creation is what we love, and it’s a muscle we keep training.
“When you combine that process with people who are world-class in their fields, whether they’re founders or corporate teams, that’s when you can create something truly novel.”
Timms says that after working on numerous corporate innovation projects, he and Bray are keen to challenge the status quo.
“Our model helps corporates build a portfolio of innovations across multiple opportunities,” he says.
“By co-investing our own capital, we lower costs and share risk, creating a proposition that’s both creative and commercially compelling.”
The founders settled on the name Nakatomi for their new venture in a salute to “the greatest Christmas movie of all time” – Die Hard, the 1988 action thriller in which Bruce Willis stars as NYPD officer John McClane who fights terrorists at the Nakatomi Plaza.
“It’s always meant a lot to us, as does Bruce Willis,” say the founders.
Nakatomi comprises a team of seasoned entrepreneurs who partner with external experts to create new ventures across sectors and industries. Their focus is on creating “bold new businesses, driven by technology that elevate human experience”.
Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks, founder and CEO of Ovum, acknowledges the role of Nakatomi in the success of the women’s health platform.
“I first came to Nakatomi with nothing more than an idea – to empower women with knowledge and data to advocate for their health and transform women’s health outcomes,” she says.
“Nakatomi believed in my vision to co-create the app that Ovum is today.
“Four years on, I now have a team of my own and an app that is used by women across Australia. I simply couldn’t have done it without them.”
Chris Gillis, co-founder of Leonardo.ai which last year was acquired by graphic design platform Canva, says the Nakatomi team is made up of “good, talented, committed people with a strong track record”.
“I’m excited to back them,” says Gillis. “By partnering early, they help aspiring founders turn brilliant ideas into real, successful businesses.”
Booking.com founder Adrian Critchlow says: “It’s rare to see a team move this fast without compromising on quality. Nakatomi’s ability to take an idea from research to strategy to launch, and get it spot on, is very impressive. I see this as the future of venture building.”
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