Past Investments

Downstream Marketing

In December 2006, Netus formed a partnership with Downstream Marketing. The partnership brought together netus’ relationship with Efficient Frontier – including exclusive access to its market leading optimization technologies – and Downstream’s experience in performance marketing execution. Netus worked with Stephen Knowles, the founder of Downstream Marketing, to build Australia’s leading and largest provider of digital performance marketing solutions; managing search, social and display advertising for a range of clients across the financial services, travel, technology, telecommunications and online retail sectors.

In October 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired 100% of Downstream Marketing, delivering netus an IRR of 92%. During the five year partnership, Downstream’s revenue grew exponentially with CAGR over 69%.

On exiting Downstream Daniel Petre said, ‘Downstream is now the leading provider of digital performance marketing in Australia with an impressive and growing list of blue-chip clients. It combines the world-class technology platforms of Efficient Frontier with the world-class campaign management skills developed by the Downstream team, to deliver unparalleled service and performance to its clients in Australia. The acquisition of Downstream by Efficient Frontier will allow closer integration with the Efficient Frontier platforms, enhancing the services that can be delivered to Downstream’s clients, and accelerating Downstream’s growth. Downstream has grown exponentially since its inception and we are proud of the achievements of Steve and the Downstream team. We look forward to its ongoing success”

Stephen Knowles added, "netus has been an invaluable partner for the past five years, instrumental in the development of Downstream Marketing becoming Australia's leading digital performance agency. Their deep experience in digital markets aligned with great insight, judgment and credibility has helped us in our decision processes so far. We will miss them greatly."

Buyster

Founded in May 2008, and based on the successful wayfair.com (formally known as CSN Stores) model, Buyster was launched in January 2009 to offer Australian consumers a wide range of quality brands. Buyster offers more than 35,000 products from 600 brands, furniture for every room in the house, as well as lighting, rugs, pets care products and tapware.

Netus has worked with Buyster through its early growth stage to develop the retailer into one of Australia’s leading online home furniture and home furnishing sites. Niraj Shah, Wayfair CEO says of their partnership with Netus, “Netus has been a terrific partner, based on deep experience in building successful online businesses in Australia. This has been invaluable in building a strong local team and adapting our model to the Australian market. The business has solid foundations and is on a great trajectory. We look forward to ongoing growth in the Australian market.” .

OurDeal

Founded in May 2010, OurDeal applies the internationally successful group buying model to the Australian market. Its collective shopping experience offers unprecedented deals to Australian consumers and an effective customer acquisition channel for advertisers.

Netus’ partnership with OurDeal saw the business through its early growth stage and on to become one of Australia’s leading daily deal sites. Within the 12 months of netus’ investment, OurDeal produced exceptional results in the growth of the number of deals transacted monthly and rapid expansion into new cities and regions and ultimately delivering netus a 523% ROI.

Julian Holman, founder and CEO of OurDeal said 'Netus has played a pivotal role in the development and growth of OurDeal. Not only did netus have the foresight to share in our vision for OurDeal but the netus team also provided the engagement and support, both strategically and operationally, to make that vision real. Whether it was in opening up doors and unlocking relationships in the market, helping to identify and conceptualise strategic opportunities or sharing insights from previous experience in operational matters, netus has been there for the journey. I walk away from this venture with netus enlivened by what we have achieved together.'

Switchwise

Switchwise was formed in March 2008 by three founding shareholders: Shaun Johnson (Founder), Service Works Management (the leading service provider in the Energy industry) and netus.

Based on successful UK models, Switchwise was established to offer customers a transparent comparison tool to save money on their energy bills, and energy retailers a cost effective customer acquisition channel.

Netus supported the business through the early growth phase from business plan to scaling the business model.

By 2011, Switchwise was the leading energy price comparison site in Australia with the largest range of energy retailers. The business was profitable and growing at over 200% per year when it was acquired by Service Works Management in a transaction that generated a high multiple on invested capital.

Andrew Duncan from Service Works Management said 'Switchwise has been a great experience for our group. To work with Shaun Johnson and netus has given us valuable exposure to the very best online experience globally. The three way partnership has resulted in the rapid development and scaling of the business and we look forward to taking the business to the next level. I would like to thank Shaun and netus for having faith in our abilities to deliver the technology and services that underpin the business and for all the support during the critical start up phase.'

Shaun Johnson (Founder) said 'The netus team had the vision to see the great opportunity presented by Switchwise, supporting the business from its very early days before we had a product or customers. They provided valuable advice and knowledge to enable us to grow the business sensibly and profitably into Australia's number one energy comparison service. We benefited from being able to leverage netus' significant industry contacts and from networking with other businesses in the netus portfolio to share learnings and experiences. I really enjoyed the informal, collegiate approach of the netus team which made them easy to work with. In the end, netus' skills and reputation also ensured an optimal exit for shareholders.'

Tantalus Media

In May 2007, netus made an investment in Tantalus Media. Tantalus is one of the world’s leading independent development studios with a portfolio of over thirty titles on most major platforms. Renowned for handheld work on franchises such as SpongeBob, MX vs ATV, Cars and the million-unit-selling Pony Friends, Tantalus also develops for the current generation of consoles. Tantalus employs over 60 developers at its Melbourne studio. In the 3 years following netus’s investment Tantalus expanded the development team and grew revenue and profits by over 100%.

Tom Crago, founder & CEO of Tantalus Media said 'netus were my partners in Tantalus for three years, during which time we enjoyed significant growth. From the outset, their approach was extremely hands-on. As the business grew, they were an invaluable resource as we came to refine our systems and processes and manage our expansion. They are a small team, but they are all individuals with massive amounts of experience in working with founders in high growth businesses. Their knowledge of the Australian technology space is second to none.'

ReachLocal Australia

In December 2006, netus formed a 50:50 joint venture with ReachLocal Inc to build ReachLocal Australia. Applying the technology and business IP of ReachLocal Inc, netus established the local team and guided the business through initial start-up and rapid growth to become the leading provider of online marketing solutions for small and medium businesses in Australia. By August 2009, ReachLocal Australia had the operational and organisational foundations for success: It was the largest Google and Yahoo reseller in Australia, growing at approximately 150% year on year, and profitable. At that time, ReachLocal Inc purchased netus' share of the business at an attractive multiple of netus' original investment and integrated the Australian business into their global operations.

Zorik Gordon, founder and CEO of ReachLocal Inc said 'ReachLocal Australia has been a very successful first international step for ReachLocal Inc. netus provided us with the experience in internationalisation, local knowledge, management bandwidth and funding to confidently manage this rollout without distracting resources from our US business. The Australian business is in great shape and we are delighted to be integrating it into our global business.'

Daniel Petre, Founder and Chairman of netus said, 'ReachLocal has a unique and strong business model, with extraordinary potential in one of the fastest growing markets in the world - Digital Advertising for small and medium businesses. The success of ReachLocal in Australia confirms the strength of the ReachLocal model and demonstrates it's applicability to many markets outside the US. We are very proud of what the team in Australia has achieved and believe that they are on track to build a very significant business here in Australia.'