Tractor Ventures

🎉 BIG NEWS ALERT 🎉 (Drumroll please… 🥁🥁) We have now FUNDED 200+ COMPANIES!! 🚜 🚀✨ This is more than a number to us - it’s: 200+ tractors fueled for the future, getting the funding they need to fuel their engines and drive their missions forward… 🚜 200+ businesses sowing the seeds to help spark innovation, create impact, and generate opportunities for growth and change in their industries… 🌱 200+ teams ploughing through milestones, empowered to turn their bold visions into reality, expanding their reach and making waves… 🌊 (𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴...) It’s been an incredible journey so far - and we’re just getting started.  And despite turbulent times recently (like we’re all facing), our team is more focused than ever to help more founders and Tractors fuel their engines! The best is yet to come! 💥 But most importantly, we would not have reached this milestone without our amazing team (past and present), partners, shareholders, and our amazing Tractors who’ve made this milestone possible. We couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you 🫶 Let’s keep pushing boundaries and achieving milestones together. Here’s to the next 200+! 🙌🚜

Financial literacy is more than just knowing your numbers. It's about understanding your options, making informed decisions, and choosing the best path for sustainable growth. At Tractor Ventures, we deeply care about empowering founders through education and clear insights into funding alternatives. 📈🚜 Our CEO & Co-founder, Jodie Imam, recently spoke with Evan Lucas on the Exchanges podcast about why understanding the difference between debt and equity financing can transform how founders scale their businesses. In this conversation, Jodie explores: - The behavioural differences between debt and equity. - Why financial literacy matters in preventing startup insolvencies. - How shifting cultural attitudes around money and entrepreneurship can lead to healthier, more resilient businesses. Helping founders make informed, empowered decisions is at the heart of our mission at 🚜. 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gzTXpamD 🎬 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gedfVkea

✨ From Local Festivals to Global Scale 🎟🌍 A specialised ticketing platform built for festivals, Ferve Tickets has been powering cultural events for over two decades, helping organisers sell not just tickets, but more culture. 🎟✨ “𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘍𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴.” – Rob Raulings, Founder of Ferve Tickets. With long-standing clients like Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals (25 and 15 years, respectively), Ferve’s ability to deliver exactly what festivals need has made it a trusted partner in the industry. But the journey doesn’t stop there. Ferve is constantly evolving, with recent innovations including:  ✅ A new Android scanning app 📲  ✅ Native Apple Pay integration for smoother checkouts  ✅ New subscription-based ticketing systems to support their expansion into North America 🇺🇸 As they scale globally, funding plays a key role. “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴.” With ambitious goals to double - or even triple - turnover within 24 months, Ferve is investing in cloud infrastructure, regulatory compliance (ISO certification & GDPR), and global expansion. Rather than raising VC funding and giving up control, Ferve chose debt funding to fuel its growth. Why Tractor Ventures? “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 - 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨." “𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺.” By balancing measured growth with the right funding model, Ferve is on track to becoming a truly global player in festival ticketing. 🎟🌍 Well done Rob and the team at Ferve! 📈🚜

I thought it was a good idea but it turned out to be a very good idea. Taking the whole team to _SOUTHSTART could have had any number of unforeseen negative consequences. But it felt like we needed some time together and being immersed in our ecosystem and the incredible festival that is SouthStart couldn’t really hurt. Turns out the unforeseen was far more positive than I expected. It’s hard to quantify but as a rough tally we have over 40 follow ups with our portfolio companies, partners (new and existing), investors and prospects. And for the intangible and highly valuable a couple of highlights from me and the team in our reflections: 🚜 Team dinner at Star of Greece 🇬🇷 which ended up being three hours of belly laughs for us all. Priceless!  🚜 Team singalong in the rented van listening to Rowan Simpson’s playlist for his How to be wrong book. Ghostbusters 👻🎤😂🤩 ice cream choices included a Bubble-O-Bill 🍦 🚜 Waking up to an interrupted view of  grapevines at Beresford Estate  🚜 Indulging the senses in the Mums & Co sound bath 🚜 All the ‘off the record’ conversations 😊😂 🚜 So many learnings from the great talks  🚜 Tarot reading 🎴. I was also invited to do a reading for the reader, a personal highlight for me 💫 not to mention my cards were all about sunshine and rainbows ☀️ 🌈 😃 🚜 Posing for photos on a tractor  🚜 Cohosting an event with some of our favourite partners - Airwallex, Cake and Eastend Ventures  🚜 Having important conversations in the bucket of a tractor 🚜 (Tractor Confessions). For all of those who have expressed regret for not taking this opportunity, I have started a list and there will be another chance when we see you next 😇 🚜 Hugs with all of my favourite fellow travellers We have come away feeling like a tight knit team of friends who are very inspired to keep doing great things with all the wonderful people we get to work with across this industry. Big thanks to the incredible team (Craig Swann, Base Yates, DANIELLE SEYMOUR, Jason Neave and Tiffany Bond), none of this was possible without you. Matt Allen, 🚜 🏳️🌈 Olivia Doherty, Dan Siepen, Darragh McDonnell, Ian Kinsley, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Natalie Gómez (nee Costante), Bronwen Clune, Simon Thomsen, Dickie Currer, Dominic Pym, Mike Kelly, 💼🧚♂️ Vinisha Rathod, Preethi Mohan, Claire Bull, Shilpa Mohan, Laura Ashmole, Pauline Fetaui, Remco Marcelis, Chris Hoffmann, Callum Davidson, Teala Stephens, Taylor Fox-Smith, Liz van Zyl, Bradley Delamare, Sophie Robertson, Noga Edelstein, Victoria Beal, Elizabeth Kaelin, MSc, RDN ....

We’ve introduced many new companies as part of the Tractor 🚜 family recently, and we’re excited to have Yabbr join too! 😍 Yabbr’s unified business communications platform - spanning SMS, MMS, Email, Phone, Web Chat, and Social - has already powered incredible growth, helping hundreds of Australian businesses (including 15% of the ASX 200) connect with customers on their terms. We’re proud to support Yabbr’s growth journey, and work alongside Logan Leatch and Dave Ertel - a great business and we can’t wait to see them continue to expand through effective capital allocation for marketing and growth. We appreciate the kind words guys! 💛

🙌 Welcoming another amazing Trackie to the team! 🚜 Big news!! Natalie Gómez (nee Costante) has joined us as Head of Credit! 🎉 With 15+ years of expertise in credit and financial services at leading organisations, including ANZ, BMW, and Judo Bank, Natalie brings a wealth of credit knowledge and leadership perfectly aligned with Tractor’s mission. Here’s what Natalie had to say about joining us: "𝘐’𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴! 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘔𝘌'𝘴, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥!”⁣ ⁣ As a remote-first team, Natalie will collaborate from Melbourne. ⁣ ⁣ We’re stoked to have her energy, vision, and proven track record in credit to help drive our Tractor forward. 🚜

(Part 2/2) Let’s be honest: Most startup advice feels like reheated leftovers - familiar, bland, and easy to ignore. But every once in a while, you stumble on insights that cut through the noise and reframe how you think about building a business. Last week, I shared the first 3 takeaways from Rowan Simpson and Matt Allen’s “How to Be Wrong” session at _SOUTHSTART - a talk that’s stuck with me precisely because it challenged a ‘taboo’ founders rarely discuss: learning how to be wrong. (link to post in comments below). While these lessons may seem obvious in hindsight, their impact is anything but trivial. Below are the final 5 insights from the talk (plus hard-won wisdom from Rowan and Matt). These aren’t platitudes; they’re battle-tested principles for founders ready to trade performative confidence for real progress. 💪 4/ Investors see through performative passion 💬 “Many founders have a thing they want to do and will shoehorn their ‘why’ into it. But you can’t keep that up for long.” – Matt Allen 💬 “If you don’t genuinely care about the problem you’re solving, it comes out. You can’t fake it forever.” – Rowan Simpson → Founders who force a fake “why” into their business struggle to sustain motivation. → If you don’t genuinely like your customers, find different ones - you’ll be spending a lot of time with them. 5/ Capital is Global - but so is competition 💬 “Capital doesn’t have a nationality. If you’re good enough, you’ll raise.” – Rowan Simpson → Too many founders think too locally, but capital flows to the best businesses, not the closest ones. → If you’re struggling to raise, ask: Is capital the real issue, or do you need to build something better? 6/ The harsh truth about venture capital VC isn’t the only way to scale - but too many founders take it because they think it’s the only path. → VC is a portfolio game - investors need a few companies to 10-100x, and they know most won’t. → The best founders understand when to take equity vs. when to consider alternative funding. 7/ Your first idea is almost always wrong 💬 “The idea you start with is certainly not the idea you end with.” – Matt Allen → Most founders think proving their original idea right is the goal, but the best ones expect to be wrong and adapt fast. → Tractor Ventures evolved significantly - their early financial products don’t even exist anymore. 8/ Learning to be wrong is a founder’s superpower 💬 “A founder who says, ‘I don’t know, but here’s how I’m going to find out’—that’s someone worth backing.” – Rowan Simpson 💡 The best founders are the most coachable and don’t pretend to have all the answers. 💡 Being wrong isn’t failure - it’s the path to being right. 💡They don’t pretend to have all the answers. 💡 They say "I don’t know" - but follow up with, "Here’s how I’ll find out." Big thanks to Rowan & Matt for this session - one of those talks that sticks with you long after the event. 🙌

“Can confirm – best startup festival on the Aussie startup calendar! Perfect balance of content and connection. So many great chats with founders and allies. And the chance to do it all with my fellow Tractors, that’s a 10/10 work week.” – 🚜 🏳️🌈 Olivia Doherty “Easily the most beautiful conference I’ve ever been to - gorgeous scenery, invaluable insights from founders who’ve truly walked the walk, and some of the best conversations I’ve had all year." - Dan Siepen Liv and Dan couldn’t have said it better for the team! 😎 The first two days of _SOUTHSTART in Adelaide and McLaren Vale were already off to a cracking start with thought-provoking talks/panel discussions, as well as fruitful catchups and conversations. Then came Day 3, where we literally rolled in with a life-sized Tractor 😍🚜! From early morning beach stretches to a powerhouse panel on community hosted by Base Yates (featuring amazing partners and friends - Taylor Fox-Smith from Airwallex, Callum Davidson from Cake, and JD Sheard from Eastend Ventures) - the vibe was all about genuine connection, laughter, and game-changing insights. Let’s not forget the fresh seafood - perfect fuel for a full day of swapping stories and forging new friendships. 🫶 These three days proved _SOUTHSTART truly is one of the best on the Aussie startup calendar. 🙌 Whether we were comparing pitch-slap horrors, trading confessions, or learning how to be “wrong” the right way, it all came down to community - and the power of bringing brilliant minds together in one place. 💛 Already counting down to next year! ⏱️😍

Pitch Slapped!! A term I learnt last week at _SOUTHSTART. Picture this, you are at a networking event enjoying a canapé, a drink and a nice conversation when suddenly you get tapped on the shoulder by someone you have never met before. Immediately they start pitching their business to you. There is no human interaction, its straight to the pitch. You just got pitch slapped! In my opinion, its the worst start to a relationship. If you are looking for investment of any kind this is not the way to get it. Your investors become a very important part of your life. Often paralleled to your spouse. Do you tap a future spouse and start pitching your domestic skills and the person you will one day become, straight away? Before understanding if there is any chemistry between you? Here is my advice. Save the pitching for the pitch event. Build relationships first. I had the privilege of judging the pitch showcase, powered by ACS (Australian Computer Society) at _SOUTHSTART Thanks Pauline Fetaui and team!! Facilitated by the brilliant Laura Ashmole and Daniel Johnsen and alongside Steve Baxter and Sid Kasbekar. Congrats to all the founders who presented, they were all high quality and entertaining pitches: Christel Cherryadi ✨ at CreArt® Solutions Pvt Ltd Dru Reschke at SecuriCode Ishan Dan at RegenX Mikhara Ramsing at Capyble Mohit Midha at Hoogly Ollie O'Neill at William Samantha Finnegan at Madebox & MadeMart Sahand Karimi at OptiGrid Alexander English @ FTNWO Cheree Bonnici at TOPICKS

Revenge, guilt, shame, lies, not belonging, money, love, illegal activities! These are some of the topics I uncovered at the Tractor Ventures Confessional yesterday at _SOUTHSTART on the stunning Aldinga Beach. The theme of the day was community and founder support. It takes a village to scale a successful tech company. Its a rollercoaster ride and its not for the faint hearted. Coming together and talking about the real challenges is so helpful. Confessing sins is next level! Was it the fresh air, or maybe the wine and delicious food. Perhaps the incredible hospitality that got so many getting big things off their chest? Nope, it was the LEGO! 🚜 Christopher Smith was the only one willing to come and talk until we starting handing out Lego to those who would bare their soul. These brave humans even agreed to let me share their confessions. So, for your Friday entertainment, here we go: 🚜 "I started and successfully ran three businesses based on revenge" - Peter Gatt 🚜 "Sometimes I lie to myself too much" - Benjemen Elengovan 🚜 "I feel guilty when I rest" - Celia Harding (I can totally relate to this one) 🚜 "I don't like money" - Erin Faehrmann 🤸♀️ 🚜 "We didn't do our activity" - Teala Stephens This one made me laugh! Teala was meant to run a sand castle building activity with Callum Davidson to help us connect but they were having too much fun 🤣 🎂 🚜 "I secretly love you" - Shilpa Mohan also so fun 🤣 I love you too! 🚜 "I lost an important friendship over a critical business decision" - Dominic Pym 🚜 "When I was 17 I did burnouts on the beach" - anonymous. Any guesses? Thank you all for sharing!! Many other great chats too, thanks Paz Pisarski, Dickie Currer, Liz van Zyl, Laura Ashmole, Mike Kelly, Remco Marcelis, 💼🧚♂️ Vinisha Rathod, Bronwen Clune, Chris Hoffmann, David Rohrsheim, Rachel Kidwell, Aron Häusler, JD Sheard, Sean Grealy 💰🪓, Taylor Fox-Smith and lots of others :) And I seriously can't thank you enough Base Yates, DANIELLE SEYMOUR, Craig Swann, Jason Neave, Tiffany Bond and the whole team behind this incredible festival 🙏 💚