Giant Leap’s FY23 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion review
Small Steps Vol. 84: How we’re tracking on diversity 🙌; kids vs the state on climate 👩⚖️; and what growth looks like in 2023 📈.
Kick start
🎯 At Giant Leap, we remain firm in our belief that investing in diverse teams is good business. Last year we launched our FY23 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy with our practical action plan to help foster a diverse, accessible and inclusive team environment, founder portfolio, and broader investment ecosystem.
We continue to measure ourselves against the targets we set and have just released our annual review of our progress. Check out what we’ve been up to and how we’ve progressed below.
What we’re thinking about
🌎 Kids vs. the state for the future. In a groundbreaking decision, a Montana judge has ruled in favour of young plaintiffs who sued the state for violating their right to a clean environment. The court struck down a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act that prevented considering climate impacts in energy project permits, affirming climate's inclusion in the state constitution's promise of a clean environment. Climate activists celebrated the decision as a major win for challenging policies and industries causing harm to the planet, while fossil fuel industry allies dismissed it as an anomaly unlikely to survive appeal. This ruling could have far-reaching implications for climate litigation across the US.
So what are the key takeaways from this? According to this explainer in The Guardian:
Climate litigation is starting to make a difference, and more will come;
Courts are affirming climate science; and
Despite this, it’s likely that climate litigation could still face an uphill battle from here.
⬆️ What does SaaS growth look like in 2023? SaaS Capital has recently released its 2023 Private B2B Saas Company Growth Rate Benchmarks report. The survey of over 1,500 private companies has shown that:
The median growth rate for all SaaS companies came in at 35%, down from 40% in 2020. However, only 3.1% of companies reported flat or negative growth in 2022, which is well below the 13% reported in 2020, so things are starting to look up.
Bootstrapped companies reported median growth of 32%, up from 30% in the 2022 report, but equity-backed companies reported median growth of 35%, down from 45% the year before.
Growth rate is positively and exponentially correlated with net revenue retention (NRR). Companies with the highest NRR reported median growth that is double the median… looks like it’s time to get that sales engine humming and churn under control.
💰 Equity and dilution. How much equity should founders be giving up at each raise? While there’s no cut and dry answer here, this super helpful LinkedIn post from Peter Walker at Carta shows the median percentage dilution seen at each venture round across companies on Carta’s platform. Hopefully this can be a helpful benchmark.
Graphic sourced here.
New paths
🧻 Who Gives A Crap is looking for a Senior Marketing Manager, Paid Social and a National Account Manager, AU Grocery (Melbourne, remote).
💻 MoreGoodDays is hiring a Business Ops / Product Ops Lead in Melbourne (hybrid).
🏥 Seer Medical is hiring a Finance Manager (Manufacturing) in Melbourne.
🌴 Terra.do is looking for an Australian Country Manager (remote) to help it build the world’s largest platform for climate work. Their mission? Get 100 million people to work directly on climate in this decade.
🔥 Also, check out our Giant Leap Fund jobs board for over 80+ available positions or fill out our expression of interest form. There’s even more jobs at ethical companies on the global B-Work job board.
Giant leaps
🚽 Who Gives A Crap scored a feature in Forbes Australia regarding their success in both excellent marketing and brand work, and in creating meaningful impact. Now that’s how you build loyalty.
For the road
💡 All great ideas need to be protected. Trademarks vs patents? What’s the best time to register for a trademark? Startup law firm LUNA has released a helpful panel video breaking down the essentials for start-ups securing their intellectual property.
💯 Top 100 for climate. Are you one of ANZ’s 100 most promising climate tech companies? Apply to be included in HolonIQ’s new list and get the recognition you deserve. Apply before 1 September.
⚕️ A win for BioMed. Cicada Innovations has been granted $7.8 million to run a new incubator aimed at medical technology founders working on cell and gene therapy, cancer research, infectious diseases, immunology and vaccines. Check it out if this could be for you!
🧑🎓 The new Gap Year. The next phase of the government’s plan to offer more high school graduates startup experience is underway. The $14.6 million program offers students loans and credits towards a degree for time spent building and honing a business.
🩺 Calling all biotech and medtech founders. EOIs are now open for CUREator+, a new equity-free incubator which will provide successful applicants with access to between $1-5m in non-dilutive funding thanks to the support of the MRFF. Learn more here.
✍🏽 The nudge you may need. Expressions of Interest are now open for Cohort 2 of the Anyone Can Start program, commencing in October 2023. Run by The Creative Cooperative, the free program offers a transformative experience for Black and Women of Colour entrepreneurs.
🌡️ Northern summer sets new records. Straight after a scorching June in the northern hemisphere, weather in July saw air and sea temperatures reach new (and very bleak) all-time highs. This has led to some pretty scary headlines – like ‘has humanity finally broken the climate?’
📣 YES to the Voice. Directors of a long list of Australian companies and startups have thrown their support behind a viral Voice Referendum campaign that’s doing the rounds online. The referendum date has now been set for 14 October 2023.
😵💫 Dial down your anxiety with the Don’t Panic podcast. Has your brain ever kept you up at night wondering what you’d do to survive being buried alive or being chased by killer bees? Don’t worry – this podcast gives you a hilarious how-to guide on surviving the worst.
Save the date
📅 1 September: Applications close for the SPARK $10k Women in Business Grant. Apply now.
📅 14 September: Anyone Can Start-Up Pitch Night. Docklands, Melbourne. Register here.
📅 6 October: Applications close for the CUREator+, a new equity-free incubator program. Read more here.
📅 February 2024: Rocket Seeder's AgTech Seeds latest incubator program launches. Register your interest here.
Call-out for content!
⭐ Do you have an exciting startup event, some interesting content or a standout meme you’d like to share with our community? Let us know if there’s something you’d like to see more (or less) of… submit any content submissions to our team at smallsteps@giantleap.com.au!