Trans-Pacific partnership helps startups to survive 'Valley of Death'

Sydney-based company Monevation and New York-based TechSuite have joined forces to reduce failure rates in startups by combining financial assessment tools with an application development model that supports both technology and growth.

Graham Chee, Monevation chief executive officer, says that the statistics show over 80% of startups fail somewhere between product creation and customer traction.

"Founders simply don't gain the momentum they need to survive what's known as the Valley of Death," Chee says.

Chee is the developer of Monevation's iBop, an interactive business operational planning tool that's used to assesses a startup's concepts and conducts due diligence on their ideas.

TechSuite is an application development company that uses lean methodologies to makes it fast and affordable to take startups to market.

"I was looking for solutions for my own clients when I found out about TechSuite," Chee says.

"I decided to go to their New York offices and found the best process for development I'd ever seen in my work with over 200 startups over the past four years."

Chee has leveraged his existing ventures, MyMoney and Local Knowledge.

MyMoney is a financial services marketplace for self-management of financial services.

Local Knowledge is an accounting firm with 20 years' experience advising business startups, including taxation, intellectual property management, accounting, research development and information technology advisory.

The company is a corporate authorised representative of Global Mutual Funds that holds an Australian Financial Services and Credit License with ASIC, which enables it to manage capital raising.

The company was named as a finalist in the Australian Accounting Awards 2017 for boutique firm of the year and innovator of the year.

"We give the startup founder broad insight across all the areas they need to be successful, with the ability to customise and tailor the mix to give the most appropriate options," Chee says.

"The partnership with TechSuite gives us immediate global reach, with both groups now be able to share knowledge of our respective local markets.

Mitchell Sapoff, TechSuite co-founder and COO, shared his enthusiasm for the partnership and for the opportunity to learn more about the Australian market.

"The collaboration will essentially allow both parties involved to significantly broaden the impact of our toolkits while offering a comprehensive set of services," Sapoff says.

"TechSuite will assist Australian startups in the areas of product strategy, rapid prototyping, and MVP development, whereas Monevation will provide American startups with business development and funding resources.

"The goal is to help startups and businesses grow on an international level and further develop their offerings and professional networks.