Western Australia’s peak startup advocacy body, StartupWA, has announced the strengthening of its Advisory Council with three new appointments.
The Council supports the StartupWA board by offering independent advice on the local startup sector.
The appointees are Charlie Caruso, Andrew Stead and Helga Mikkelsen.
Jason Balchand, Chair of StartupWA, commented “We’re looking forward to having Charlie, Andrew, and Helga join the Advisory Council and bring their unique knowledge and experience to help grow the sector and I’m excited for the opportunity to work with them.”
Mr Balchand and the StartupWA board has also thanked the outgoing members, Dr Katherine Giles, Dr Natasha Teakle and Derek Gerard for their years of service to not just the Advisory Council but to the wider startup community.
Peter Clarke has also stepped down from the Advisory council following his election to the StartupWA Board.
Peter Rossdeutscher has been thanked for being the inaugural Chair and assisting in the creation of the Council.
Former StartupWA Board Chair, Tom Goerke, will now become the new Advisory Council Chair.
Startups play an important role in all economies and having a truly independent advocacy body for the sector is incredibly important. The new members of our Advisory Council will bring a depth and breadth to our team which will be invaluable
Tom Goerke, StartupWA Advisory Council Chair
The new appointees
A former startup founder and author, Ms Caruso, General Partner of newly established early stage VC firm Quokka Capital, brings a strong passion and knowledge of early-stage venture capital market and what is required in order to increase the flow of investment capital into the WA startup ecosystem.
Mr Stead has founded multiple successful startups in his career and is a Director of Bloom. He is passionate about getting more young people involved in startups and pursuing entrepreneurship as a career option.
Ms Mikkelsen has a background in venture capital with her role at Brandon Capital, a life sciences venture capital firm, as an Investment Analyst. In particular, she has a strong knowledge of the med-tech sector.
The StartupWA Advisory Council now consists of Tom Goerke, Peter Rossdeutscher, Deb Cousins, Daniel High, Brodie McCulloch, Jacqui Coombes, Rohan McDougall, Greg Riebe, Charlie Caruso, Andrew Stead and Helga Mikkelsen.
