Australian Financial Review quotes ANZA CEO Viki Forrest

In an Australian Financial Review story last week, “Culling the Web’s Weak”, reporter Chris Jenkins interviewed several people in-the-know about online start-ups and their ability to weather the slowdown in ad spending. How are these companies coping? What have they learned from their predecessors who bore the brunt of the dot-com crash in 2001? What do they have to do get through the current economic downturn and remain viable for the Internet’s next wave?

ANZA CEO Viki Forrest talks about the current VC climate in Silicon Valley in regard to online start-ups’ ad-based revenue models and what she’s been seeing. Later in the article, Viki references the ANZA Gateway 2008 companies, and how impressed she was by their preparedness to do business in the US in tense economic times, making the point, yet again, that entrepreneurial spirit can trump economics — when proper strategies are applied. (Read more)

TechNation Australia Interviews John Scull, Managing Director of Southern Cross Venture Partners

TechNation Australia editor Kim Heras was able to meet with Southern Cross Venture Partners Managing Director John Scull on John’s recent trip to Sydney. Southern Cross Venture Partners are a strong supporter and sponsor of ANZA, and it is good to see John share his expertise on how Aussie tech start-ups can better position themselves for success both in Australia and the US.  Here’s an excerpt of what John says about the importance of being in Silicon Valley. ANZA TechNet members in the audience at this year’s Gateway to the US Summit will recognize this sage advice as it echoes what John said on our Funding Business Forum:

“I think the fact still remains that Silicon Valley still represents the peak location for tech startups to operate. As such, if you’re going to go to the valley in search of funding, it’s critical to know people who know people. However, it’s important to realise that the networking game is a two-way street. For VCs , relationships give them scale in the search for good investment opportunities. For Entrepreneurs, relationships help you get that all important warm intro.”

You can read the full interview here.

“Perk Me Baby”

Perkler — the online community for loyalty perks and the people who love them — wants your feedback on the public beta version of their product.

According to Perkler CEO Dan Bisa, “we’ve been adding things, simplified the experience, refined search…and now would love for you to check it out and hopefully farm it out to your mates! Refinements and new features will be ongoing so any feedback would still be greatly appreciated. The more people in there the better so I hope you feel compelled to spread the news that “the perks are out there!”

You can deliver feedback through Perkler’s website, so visit the site, find out if your rewards/loyalty programs are in play and let them know what you think. You can also join Perkler’s Facebook group — “Love perks…Love Perkler.com”.

Perkler is a 2008 ANZA Gateway company with big plans for the future.

Puttoo in the News

The Sydney Morning Herald rounds up the best software as a service (SaaS) companies — those that offer applications that are resident on the Internet rather than on computers. We’re pleased to see Puttoo made the list, and that company founder Peter Tapscott was interviewed by reporter Graeme Philipson.

Melbourne-based Puttoo offers a product that allows you to design web forms online and integrate them with your own application — it makes designing and managing web forms simple.

Puttoo is a 2008 ANZA Gateway company. You can read the full SMH story here.

Global Mind Screen Group Tapped as “Aussies Worth Watching”

The Rust Report’s November 28 issue taps Perth-based Global Mind Screen Group as an Australian company worth watching. Global Mind Screen Group (GMS)

provides a mental health assessment tool and associated information to practitioners, specialists, the healthcare industry, government agencies, and the public. GMS is expanding from Australia into New Zealand and the US with more countries to follow. The company’s Mind Screen is a secure, online psychiatric outcome tool that provides structured and compliant screening for all primary care physicians as well as specialists in psychiatry, family medicine, and internal medicine.

Global Mind Screen is a 2008 ANZA Gateway Company with US market plans in its pipeline.