A new Sydney venture builder has a model that flips how Aussie startups usually get made. It gives each founding team A$3M, two years of operating support, and the founders never have to go out and raise.
Who is behind it
Repeat Builders was founded by Andonis Sakatis, who spent 13 years in quant trading at GSA Capital and XTX Markets, then built Zenify, an Amazon best selling consumer brand.
How it works
The usual order is founder, idea, validation, funding. Repeat Builders runs it the other way:
- It validates the business idea first, from market signals
- Then it recruits a founding team with the right domain knowledge
- Then it funds the venture with A$3M over two years for salaries, tech, marketing and growth, plus an internal team covering product, engineering, talent and governance
- The founding team starts with 30% equity, with no service fees
After two years the company runs on its own. Repeat Builders plans to launch five ventures in its first year.
Why it matters
CB Insights’ well known post mortem research lists a lack of market need, running out of cash and team problems among the top reasons startups fail. This model is designed to deal with all three before the company starts trading.
The closest comparison is Germany’s Rocket Internet, which also separated validating an idea from running it. Sakatis says the difference is that Repeat Builders will build its own concepts rather than copy proven businesses into new markets.
My read
Too many good Aussie founders burn their savings while pitching VCs for 18 months. A model that takes the fundraising off their plate could change who gets to build here. The 30% starting stake is the trade off, and it will be worth watching how founders feel about that once the first companies take off.