No place like home: After raising $10 million and expanding overseas, this founder’s heart is still in Queensland

Queensland startup RedEye has raised $10.4 million in Series B funding, and while co-founder and chief executive Wayne Gerard will use the funds to expand overseas, he’s not straying from his Brisbane roots.

The funding was led by US firm Energy Innovation Capital, and also included repeat investment from Advance Queensland’s Business Development Fund, along with a cohort of public and private investors.

Founded in 2012, Software-as-a-Service startup RedEye provides cloud-based data management and digital engineering solutions to any businesses operating critical infrastructure, including in the construction, mining, power and infrastructure spaces.

Speaking to StartupSmart, Gerard said the time is right for a Series B raise.

In 2016, the startup secured a $250,000 grant from Queensland’s Ignite Awards Fund, while before that — in 2014 — it raised $4 million in Series A funding.

“We felt we were too small back then to even take that,” Gerard says.

“We had early traction, but we didn’t have product-market fit.”

Since then, however, RedEye has expanded to offer its services to more industries, as well as opening its US headquarters in Las Vegas in 2017, when it secured a contract with the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Read more

Stephanie Palmer-Derrien - SmartCompany - 29 November 2018