Townsville-founded tech company JESI is having its global growth fast-tracked after being lifted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a cash injection from a big venture capital fund.

By Tony Raggatt, Townsville Bulletin
November 13, 2020 12.00am

TOWNSVILLE-founded tech company JESI is having its global growth fast-tracked after being lifted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a cash injection from a big venture capital fund.

It is following in the footsteps of another Townsville tech sensation, SafetyCulture, which has become a billion-dollar business.

Sydney-based Future Now Ventures has chosen JESI as its first investment, providing the remote worker journey management software company with $4.5m.

JESI, which stands for Journey Events Safety Innovation, was founded in Townsville in 2014 as an automated emergency alert system providing organisations with a journey management tool to track remote and mobile workforces.

It uses telecommunication systems to send automated alerts via SMS and email.

But with COVID requiring many people to work from home, its software is also being used to help manage workforces.

Now based in Brisbane and with some staff still in Townsville, JESI has more than 50 enterprise clients across 16 countries, including Rio Tinto, Orica, BHP and Sandvik.

The co-founder of the Wizard Home Loans franchise, Brad Seymour, recently was appointed chair of JESI.

Most of its 24,000 users are workers in West Australia’s Pilbara but there are also users in the United Kingdom, the US and Canada. The idea was born after co-founder Joe Hoolahan had a friend, a travelling salesman, in a road accident outside Weipa where he was trapped upside down for hours before being found.

Mr Hoolahan, now JESI CEO, said COVID had heightened awareness about staff management and the use of technology, increasing the use of its software.

He said the company had reworked the language around the software’s use and was looking to grow staff from 12 to more than 30 by early next year.

“The pandemic has bought to the fore the need for enterprises to protect their workers as they work remotely while at the same time ensuring they remain connected,” Mr Hoolahan said.

He said the company was fortunate to have been supported in the early days by investors in North Queensland, particularly through local financial planning firm Evolution Financial, and was now being supported by a fund partnering with Microsoft. Future Now Venture has an investment committee headed by former Morgan Stanley CEO and current Westpac director Steve Harker.

Mr Harker said the company was seeing an incredibly rapid adoption of technology as enterprises realised they must be mobile, digital and connected to remain competitive post COVID-19. He said the fund was assessing other non-venture capital backed, late stage software-as-a-service and software companies seeking growth capital.

Venture company backs Townsville tech firm to global growth