SafetyCulture: Luke Anear builds a billion dollar checklist app
Aug 15, 2021
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Luke Anear, Founder of a startup that helps companies improve their safety procedures in the workplace, discusses the evolution of SafetyCulture from selling safety guidelines to creating the mobile app iAuditor. Learn about their global expansion, business model, and lessons learned from venture capital investors. Discover how opening offices in Kansas City and Manchester contributed to their growth. Explore their funding rounds and key investors that propelled the company to success.
Luke Anear's journey from selling safety checklists to creating a billion-dollar app highlights the power of transforming a negative experience into a positive solution.
The support and guidance from experienced entrepreneurs and venture capital investors played a crucial role in SafetyCulture's growth and success.
SafetyCulture's focus on going beyond compliance and enabling businesses to achieve best practices in workplace health and safety through technology has revolutionized the industry.
Deep dives
Starting with a Humble Idea
Luke Anear, the founder of SafetyCulture, started with a humble idea of helping prevent workplace accidents and improve safety. Working as a private investigator, he witnessed the negative consequences of workplace injuries and realized the need for better safety practices. He initially sold safety guidelines as Word documents and later created a mobile app called iAuditor, which revolutionized workplace safety. This app allowed teams to create their own safety checklists and ensure compliance. SafetyCulture has evolved into a global company with offices in the US and UK, serving thousands of companies and achieving a $2.2 billion valuation.
Venture Capital Funding and Growth
SafetyCulture raised significant funding from venture capital firms, such as Blackbird Ventures and Index Ventures. The investment from these firms, along with guidance from experienced entrepreneurs like Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar of Atlassian, propelled the company's growth. Luke Anear credits their support and mentorship for challenging him to think bigger and helping him navigate key business decisions. This funding enabled SafetyCulture to expand its operations globally and attract a loyal customer base worldwide.
The Importance of Compliance and Best Practices
SafetyCulture aims to go beyond basic compliance standards and help companies achieve best practices in workplace health and safety. Luke Anear recognized that compliance alone is not enough and that businesses should strive for higher standards. By leveraging technology like checklists and mobile apps, SafetyCulture empowers businesses of all sizes to improve safety practices, prevent accidents, and deliver better experiences to their customers. Their approach focuses on enabling employees to perform their best work every day and ensuring a proactive approach to safety.
The Role of Technology in SafetyCulture's Success
Technology played a crucial role in SafetyCulture's success. The development of the iAuditor app revolutionized workplace safety by providing a user-friendly and flexible checklist solution. This technology allowed businesses to customize safety checklists based on their specific needs and industry requirements. SafetyCulture also expanded its platform beyond checklists, integrating features like issue reporting, assigning actions, and training modules. Their innovative use of technology has enabled teams to gather and act on critical safety information, improving overall safety standards.
Building a Sustainable Business Model
SafetyCulture's business model centers around delivering value to customers through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model. They offer a freemium version of their app, allowing teams of up to 10 users to use the software for free. As businesses scale and require additional features and user capacity, they have the option to upgrade to a paid subscription. This approach benefits both small and large companies and creates a sustainable revenue stream for SafetyCulture. The company's commitment to delivering value and fostering customer success has contributed to their impressive customer retention and growth.
When Luke Anear worked as a private investigator investigating workplace mishaps and chasing workers' compo cheats, he realised he wanted to turn that negative into a positive. So he set about helping companies vastly improve their safety procedures in the workplace, to try and prevent workers having accidents in the first place. His little startup took shape in the proverbial garage of his suburban Townsville home, and he began slowly, selling safety checklists delivered on Word documents. But then Luke Anear transformed his little business baby into a multi-million dollar global technology empire, when he and a uni dropout mate created an app, called iAuditor -- essentially a mobile safety checklist app to suit each individual workplace. That completely changed Luke Anear's life, and set SafetyCulture on course to become a $2 billion Aussie success story.How that has mushroomed to now service almost 28,000 customers around the world, and what Luke Anear has learned along the way from the smartest venture capital investors in the room, including mentors and supporters like Atlassian's Scott Farquhar is a story and a half. Plus what Luke learned and how he navigated the panic-struck arrival of the COVID pandemic offers lessons for most entrepreneurs. Hope you enjoy Luke Anear!
