A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY EMERGED for JobReady to create a market leading SaaS business in Australia’s education and technology sector. The challenge was that not all the shareholders had the same objectives. One wanted to retire, the other wanted an investment partner to help accelerate the growth of JobReady.
Marc Washbourne, CEO of JobReady, talks about working with the team at Pemba Capital to deliver a creative
solution that satisfied all shareholders. As well as how the business has developed since he chose to partner with a
leading technology investor to execute his growth strategy.
For over 20 years JobReady has developed SaaS solutions for the education and employment sectors. These platforms are mission critical operating systems that sit at the heart of vocational education and training, apprenticeship and government funded employment service providers. JobReady’s cloud-based SaaS solutions now support over 300 customers across Australia.
Marc commented: “In 2016, my business partner of 17 years approached me and explained he wanted to retire. I felt I could take JobReady much further. We had approaches from many buyers over the years but Pemba Capital stood out. They had a deep understanding of our sector and clearly understood our plans for growth. Mark Summerhayes and Tom Matthews took the time to introduce us to their other investee companies so we could learn about how they partnered with management.
Most importantly, the Pemba Capital team were very flexible around options as to how to structure the transaction to meet everyone’s objectives. The final transaction, which we completed within six weeks, allowed my business partner to fully cash out and the rest of the team, who were not shareholders previously, to invest alongside me and Pemba Capital.”
Their Story is a series of interviews between Pemba Capital Partners and the people we partner. In these conversations we explore our working relationships and how, with Pemba Capital Partners’ support, the businesses we invest in are achieving their growth strategies.
