Lakeba’s disruption potential attracts global investor

Sydney tech firm Lakeba Group has welcomed a heavyweight global investor to its board.

The man responsible for taking global investment manager T. Rowe Price global, Todd Ruppert, is now part of the team.

Lakeba has positioned itself as a start-up studio focused on the development and rapid commercialisation of digital solutions and the company’s co-founder and chief executive, Giuseppe Porcelli, said Mr Ruppert’s international experience would be a key asset.

“Todd’s real-time global insights and his experience with start-ups around the world in smart securities, on-demand insurance and crowd-funding will be invaluable as Lakeba grows,” he told The Australian.

Mr Ruppert, who was chief executive of T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services and co-president of T. Rowe Price International, is a venture partner at Greenspring Associates, a US venture-capital firm with more than $5 billion under management. He is also a senior adviser to financial services industry accelerator Motive Labs, as well as SenaHill, a merchant bank focused on the financial services industry.

Lakeba is not Mr Ruppert’s first foray into the Australian technology scene. He has a board position at recently listed marketing tech start-up Mobecom.

The company has also won the backing of Sydney’s Tulla Private Equity Group, the investment vehicle of the Maloney family.

Mr Ruppert said he was attracted by Lakeba’s potential as an industry disrupter and hailed the studio as a quiet achiever in the Australian innovation landscape.

Source: Lakeba’s disruption potential attracts global investor – The Australian