Booodl Thinks Big to Get $2.85 million from Westfield Owner

9th December 2015, Start Ups Smart By Denham Sadler

Startup founders need to look for investments from large corporates instead of trying to disrupt them, Booodl co-founder George Freney says.

The local shopping app has just closed a $2.85 million strategic investment led by Scentre Group, the owner and operator of Westfield in Australia and New Zealand, opening up a whole new world of customer and retail opportunities for the startup.

More entrepreneurs need to be willing to work with bigger, more established businesses to achieve deals like this, Freney tells StartupSmart.

“This shows how big business and entrepreneurs can work together,” he says.

“If a big business can provide distribution and exposure to help grow your business then it can make good sense as an investor and partner.”

To do this, startups need to gain market traction and then pinpoint the appropriate businesses to partner with, he says.

“Make sure you’ve got a great product and a market that’s responding to it,” Freney says.

“Then identify the corporations that are playing in the marketplace that you are, and speak with them – a lot more people will say yes than you think.”

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