September 26, 2023 • 18 mins
What can be done to bridge the gap between regional startups and angel investors?
Elisha sits down with Sam Almaliki, a strategic business leader, board director and expert advisor for early-stage businesses. From overseeing the growth of Settle Easy to securing over $100 million in revenue at Acusensus, Sam's journey is nothing short of inspiring.
With a successful track record across multiple industry sectors, he has a unique combination of skills in strategic planning, fundraising, commercialisation, operational execution and relationship building.
But what truly stands out is his passion as the Founder & Facilitator of the Regional Angel Investor Network (RAIN) and his commitment to changing lives, driving prosperity, and delivering societal benefit through startups.
Born in Iraq, Sam came to Australia as an eight year old refugee, and spent eight months in the Villawood detention centre, learning English and then acting an an interpreter to other refugees.
Dive in as they discuss the challenges faced by startups and the role of angel investors.
This episode was recorded in June 2023 at the Tropical Innovation Festival in Cairns QLD https://www.tropicalinnovationfestival.com.au/ .
Reach out to us on our socials below to continue the conversation:
For The Creatives Podcast https://www.instagram.com/forthecreativespodcast/
Sam Almaliki https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-almaliki-9a043945/ https://regionalangels.com.au/
Elisha Taderera https://www.instagram.com/nachyoafro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey listeners.
Welcome back to another episodeof the, for the creatives podcast
today, I'm thrilled to be sittingdown with Sam Almaliki from the
regional angel investor network.
We're here at the tropical innovationfestival here in Cairns in the beautiful
far north Queensland and we're divinginto the world of angel investing and
the challenges and opportunities that liethere, especially for regional startups.
(00:24):
Sam, welcome to the show.
Hi Elisha, great to be on your program.
I'm the founder and facilitator ofthe Regional Angel Investor Network.
In simple form, weconnect regional startups.
With regional investors and helpthem get access to the capital
connections and counsel they need togrow and accelerate their businesses.
That is amazing and I'll have a fewmore questions for you in a moment.
(00:45):
But my next question is, so if youneed to transport a rhino to the
top of a mountain, how do you do it?
I would look to recruit an army ofpeople to help me to do that as I do
with everything that I do in life.
Get the right people on board andno challenge is inconquerable.
It's a
very wise advice for awacky question, so thank you.
(01:06):
Now with the, is it R A S N, RegionalAngels, did I get that wrong?
It's RAIN.
RAIN, RAIN, R A I N.
How did you come aboutrunning that, starting that?
Yeah, so Elisha, over the last five to sixyears, I've been co founder and also head
of commercial of two different startups,as well as CEO of one of those businesses.
(01:29):
So I've had a great exposureto the startup ecosystem.
And to develop a level of empathy withboth founders as well as investors.
And in addition to being involvedwith those two startups, I was
also a facilitator of the GeelongAngel Investor Network, GAIN.
Okay.
And with COVID and the fact thatwe'd moved to virtual meetings, it
(01:50):
became quite apparent that therewas a great opportunity to be able
to expand GAIN well beyond Geelongand right across regional Australia.
And that's how we've come about with RAIN.
So we've gone from GAIN to RAIN, and welaunched earlier this year, and it was
really that experience, that exposure,and that alignment, that geography really
should not be a limitation to being ableto connect regional startups with regional
(02:14):
investors right across Australia, andwe're very excited to be doing that.
That is amazing.
what do you think from your experiencein this field and running, a couple
of businesses, being a CEO, what doyou think is one of the challenges
that a lot of startups face otherthan geography with maybe approaching
angel investors or getting funding?
I think it's about being able to accessthe right networks, yeah, irrespective
(02:37):
of what geography you're in, particularlyfor underrepresented founders.
I don't come from a family of wealth.
I come from a refugee family that Livedin southwestern Sydney no access to a lot
of family wealth or networks to be able toleverage when I first started my business.
Yeah.
So you're really relying on yourprofessional networks and the people
that you might know in your sphere.
(02:59):
It's particularly true of notjust under represented founders.
but also technical founders, youknow, technical founders, particularly
the engineers and the like haveonly ever lived in that realm.
Really?
They're not necessarilynatural networkers.
And I'm, I am making generalizations here.
It's about knowing how you can accessthose networks and those investors
that may be able to help you, youtake your idea to the next level.
(03:23):
And I think that's the important bit.
It's providing access.
And that's what we're trying to dowith RAIN, right across regional
Australia, is to make sure that founders,irrespective of their background
irrespective of where they live acrossregional Australia, we want to make sure
that they're aware that the RegionalAngel Investor Network exists, and
it provides a pathway and access toinvestors right across the country.
(03:48):
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Access and awareness.
Very important.
And you were talking about buildinga network and the people around you.
So if, can we jump back a bit a moment,how did you then start building your
network from going from a refugee familyto now where you are running RAINN?
Yeah, I think it's a great question.
I enjoy buildingrelationships with people.
(04:09):
It's been pretty instinctive and intuitivefor me and probably since actually...
About the age of 14, 15 I've beenestablishing relationships and I
think that's the important thing.
Yeah.
And, and, you know, at RAINN we...
As a team, we really focus ondeveloping deep relationships.
I'm not so much, early on as ayoungster, perhaps I was more
(04:32):
in the mindset of networking.
Yeah.
You know, there was a joke amongstsome colleagues of mine that
I'd give out my business cardat Town Hall Station in Sydney.
Because I was going through my businesscard so quickly as a 19, 20 year old, I
was giving them to anybody and everyone.
But I don't think that's theapproach, really, to developing
long term relationships.
And that's really what I'm interested in.
(04:52):
I'm, I'm far more interested in buildingquality relationships with people
that I want to work with for a longtime, as has been the case for the
overwhelming majority of people that...
I've interacted with throughoutmy career, since I was in fact 15.
There's still people who I'm verygood friends with, who I worked
with, and it's those relationshipsthat really mean a lot to me.
I feel quite rich in that way.
(05:14):
And we do have a strong focus onthat at RAINN, as I mentioned.
And if I can indulge a littlebit one of things we...
apply to every interaction andrelationship we have at RAINN is to
establish, is there value alignment?
Are our values aligned?
And can RAINN add valueto that relationship?
And three, will we, ourselves aswell as the other party, be better
(05:39):
off as a result of the relationship?
And they're the sort of three teststhat we put forward in every interaction
and every conversation we have.
Do our values and the other person's andthe other organisation's values align?
Can we add value to each other?
And will we be collectively be betteroff as a result of that relationship?
(05:59):
And when you've got that clarity ofthinking and clarity of approach,
then it's easier to approach everyinteraction you have and quickly to
establish that perhaps some relationshipsare just not right and they won't be
conducive to that long term outlook.
And I'd rather establish that early on.
For the other person as well asfor ourselves then just to simply
(06:20):
proceed with something where thereisn't that alignment on those three
things.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I like that the financial side of thingsisn't the only the only factor that
you take into consideration early on.
That value alignments and can you addvalue to each other, that mutual benefit.
I like that.
On a more practical level with RAINN,so how do you connect startups, or
is it startups you mainly work with?
(06:41):
Startups
and angel investors, yep.
Yep, how do
you connect startups withthose angel investors?
What does that sort of look like?
Yeah, great question.
So we...
Host monthly pitch eventsacross regional Australia.
Most recently we held a pitch eventat Ballarat Thanks to which was hosted
by our partners runway a terrificorganization in Ballarat And we are
(07:02):
hosting our next pitch event in Geelongon the 26th of June And so those pitch
events through those pitch events.
We invite startups to apply to pitch Weshortlist and pre screen those startups
and get them to then present and pitchto our network of angel investors.
And then the angel investorsexpress in their own individual
(07:24):
right, whether they're interestedin investing in any of the three or
four startups that we might get topitch at each of our monthly events.
We're also rolling out a numberof initiatives over the course
of the next few months, includingregional meetups with the, within
each ecosystem where we go.
So, as I said in June we'll be in Geelong.
In July, we'll be in Warrnambool.
Oh, wow.
And look forward to then going intointerstate, into places like Newcastle
(07:48):
and Wollongong and New South Wales.
And at each of those cities and regions,we'll be hosting pitch events, meetups,
as well as workshops for Angels or thosewho want to become angel investors.
And it's about building that capacityand capability amongst our startup
ecosystem across our regional areas,as well as, of course, our angel
(08:08):
investors, because fundamentally it'sabout providing access to capital for
those startups and helping them taketheir innovations to the next stage.
Yeah, that's great.
One of the things that I'm trying todo on this podcast as well is help.
We've got a lot of younger listeners,a lot of younger creatives as well,
younger aspiring entrepreneurs.
So continue to help define some ofthese terms, which we use all the time.
(08:29):
So, what is an angel investor?
Yeah, Terrific question.
An angel investor isfundamentally a private investor.
Someone who invests on theirown individual right both their
financial and intellectual capital,and I think that's important.
They're often people who meet the highnet worth or sophisticated investor test.
So they generally own about twomillion and a half worth of million
(08:52):
worth of assets, or, or earn anincome of 250 per annum or more.
Certainly over the last two years andyou get that sophisticated investor
certificate from your accountant.
That's what you need to be ableto join our network, for example.
And as I said, they are privateindividuals who enjoy backing and
supporting early stage businesses.
So people who are involved in that seedto series a funding ground generally.
(09:17):
So very early stages, they'reperhaps either at the MVP or just
beyond stage and looking to taketheir business to the next level.
And those individuals might invest, something like 25 K or anywhere up to
a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
It just depends.
Of course, some angelsinvest less than 25 K.
It just depends on their circumstances.
(09:38):
But I think the important thingthat I want to stress, angel
investors understand the high risk.
that's associated with their investments.
It's often, in, in, inmany cases, speculative.
You're backing a founder or a teamof founders with their idea, who
are looking to then take it froman idea to an actual business.
And there's a lot offrisk in that, as we know.
(09:59):
Many start ups don't necessarilygo on to be able to scale and
be post revenue businesses.
And let alone profferable, right?
And so just to go back to my earlierpoint the thing that I want to stress
it's not just the financial capitalthat angel investors bring in but it's
also the intellectual capital and sowhen angel investors put in their money
(10:22):
often They're also keen to be involvedand to support the founding team and
that business to grow and they canimpart their own intellectual capital,
their own experiences to support thatbusiness with its growth journey and,
and I think that's critical becausesome of our angel investors are
highly successful in their own right.
They run medical practices, they runhardware stores they run medtech.
(10:46):
businesses, they've run ed tech businessesand accelerators and incubators.
And they've had many exits themselves.
Some of them are involvedin family offices.
Those kinds of people have all beenand had many different experiences
that they can impart onto a earlystage business, uh, founder and
team that they're investing in.
Yeah, that's amazing.
(11:06):
So there's so much more thanjust the financial value.
Absolutely.
And I think that's not to be missed.
I think there's a lot of value to be.
added and provided throughthat intellectual capital.
What are one of the challengesyou might be facing with rain?
Is there something you couldshare with that or something that
you're navigating through or...
I think to go back to a point I madeearlier about startup founders and
(11:28):
particularly those from underrepresentedgroups or technical founders, that point
around having awareness of and accessto capital, it's something that is
always a challenge for any new venture.
And the same goes for rain.
You know, we're trying to raiseawareness of what it is that we do
and make sure that we've got a clearvalue proposition to the ecosystem.
(11:50):
So it's about raising that awareness.
It's one of the reasons we are hereat the Tropical Innovation Festival.
And it's been fantastic to bepart of this activity and great
celebration of the start up ecosystemhere in far north Queensland.
And I really want tocommend the organisers.
for putting on such a terrific festival.
It's, it's being able to raise awarenessof what we do is certainly a challenge
(12:13):
as well as accessing the right supportand pathways so that we can do what
we're passionate about and that'sconnecting regional startups with
regional investors and helping them.
Get the capital that they need, butalso the council and support that
they can access through our network.
So I, I'd say the challenge thatwe face today is not too dissimilar
(12:33):
that it's faced by most founders.
It's being, raising awareness andgetting access to the support you
need so you can take your venture fur,further forward and that's exactly what.
We're confronted with at the momentwith rain, but we'll get there
because we're getting out and about.
Yeah, no, definitely, andyou're at the right place here,
Tropical Innovation Festival.
I do have one question though around that.
So you mentioned how, you have a bit ofa focus of reaching out to and supporting
(12:55):
as well, maybe underrepresented ordisadvantaged sort of groups of people.
How do you do that?
So you've got your pitch events thatyou run, but how are you trying to
reach those people in those communities.
Is there a strategy for that oris it through your networks or
yeah, it's a very potent question AndI think it's something that we haven't
necessarily solved for completelyto be quite honest because we are in
(13:18):
the early days of setting up rain andbeing developing our core activities
But we are very much focused onmaking sure we find pathways that
will enable us to reach to the mostunderrepresented groups in our community.
And by the very mere fact that we areregional and regionally focused, we are
(13:41):
already addressing and helping provideaccess to investment for a significantly
underrepresented or proportionallydisadvantaged group of people.
Regional people, irrespective oftheir cultural background or their
faith or their demographic backgroundor whatever it may be, whatever
other markers you want to put on it.
Regional people are disadvantaged bythe lack of access that they have to the
(14:07):
kind of resources that city folk have.
And this is not about us and them,but this is about closing the gap.
And creating a rebalancebetween access and opportunity.
And so by the mere fact that weare regionally focused, and we
are establishing partnerships withorganisations that have the same
mission, to bring about access, tobring about opportunity for regional
(14:29):
people, in particular regionalfounders, we will be able to then...
Bring to the surface more underrepresentedfounders and connect them with
our growing network of investors.
I think also having the personal andlived experience is very important and
having also the professional experience.
My historical experience has beenin diversity and inclusion and
(14:52):
community engagement and working withunderrepresented groups, including our
first nations, people, girls and women.
People from refugee background, peoplewith a disability, often when you hear
about diversity and inclusion frankly,we don't hear enough about what's being
done to engage people with a disability.
And how we can make sure that they'regetting the same opportunities to
(15:13):
be able to take their ideas, theirinnovations forward like everybody else.
And so having had that professionalexperience in working with that, with
those broad groups, then also the personalexperience of being a refugee, a migrant
growing up in a low socioeconomic area.
I know firsthand that it's in ourconscience, it's in our DNA as a
team and we're making a concentratedeffort to form the right partnerships.
(15:37):
We'll work with First Nations groups andland councils across regional Australia.
We'll work with ethnic communitiescouncils across regional Australia.
You know, there's the IllawarraEthnic Communities Council, for
example, and there are similargroups right across Australia.
who are helping refugeeand migrant communities.
We want to be embedded and partof what they do to make sure that
(15:57):
entrepreneurship and innovationthrives in those communities.
I love that that's part of your DNA,, and you've got that lived experience
because, you know, sometimes we havethese large companies in different
spaces who would just put like a,an extra program on the end for some
underrepresented group just for that sortof tokenism or to just tick a box off or
something, but it may not be actually,helping or benefiting that community.
(16:18):
So the fact that it's comingfrom lived experience.
It's in your DNA.
It's, a core focus of what you're doing.
I think that's amazing.
And I think the work that you're doingis amazing from hearing all this.
I hope to see more and more ofwhat you're doing in the future.
Thank you.
Appreciate your interestand support as well, Elisha.
As we wrap up, we're here at theTropical Innovation Festival.
As you mentioned, Tara andKate and the team have done an
(16:38):
amazing job putting it together.
I just have a few questions foryou from your time here so far.
If you were to finish thissentence Tropical Innovation
Festival is, what would you say?
The tropical innovation festival isa great celebration of the ecosystem
and also plays an important role inconnecting founders and investors.
(16:58):
What makes the tropicalinnovation festival different?
What makes the Tropical InnovationFestival different is firstly where
it's located, in this incrediblymagnificent region of North Queensland,
and its ability to connect well beyondour capital cities, and I think Kate
and Tara to be commended for theirwork to be able to connect people
(17:23):
far and wide well beyond Cairns.
But importantly within this region,you can see how the Tropical
Innovation Festival is such animportant and hopefully an enduring
feature of the startup ecosystemhere in far North Queensland.
We need more of these kind ofinitiatives to inspire, ignite,
innovation in our regions.
(17:43):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Thank you so much for your time.
thank you for sharing some of whatyou do and some insight into RAIN.
I really appreciate you coming on today.
It's been a pleasure, Elisha.
It was nice to meet you, Sam.
Likewise, thank you.
And hopefully we'll haveyou on again in the future.
sometime.
Happy to come back.
Thank you so much for tuning in today.
If you found value in this episode,please take a moment to leave us a review.
(18:05):
It helps us grow the podcast andreach more listeners like you.
And Hey, why not share this episodewith a friend until next time?
Keep innovating and stay inspired.
Hey listeners.
Welcome back to another episodeof the, for the creatives podcast
today, I'm thrilled to be sittingdown with Sam Almaliki from the
regional angel investor network.
We're here at the tropical innovationfestival here in Cairns in the beautiful
far north Queensland and we're divinginto the world of angel investing and
the challenges and opportunities that liethere, especially for regional startups.
(00:24):
Sam, welcome to the show.
Hi Elisha, great to be on your program.
I'm the founder and facilitator ofthe Regional Angel Investor Network.
In simple form, weconnect regional startups.
With regional investors and helpthem get access to the capital
connections and counsel they need togrow and accelerate their businesses.
That is amazing and I'll have a fewmore questions for you in a moment.
(00:45):
But my next question is, so if youneed to transport a rhino to the
top of a mountain, how do you do it?
I would look to recruit an army ofpeople to help me to do that as I do
with everything that I do in life.
Get the right people on board andno challenge is inconquerable.
It's a
very wise advice for awacky question, so thank you.
(01:06):
Now with the, is it R A S N, RegionalAngels, did I get that wrong?
It's RAIN.
RAIN, RAIN, R A I N.
How did you come aboutrunning that, starting that?
Yeah, so Elisha, over the last five to sixyears, I've been co founder and also head
of commercial of two different startups,as well as CEO of one of those businesses.
(01:29):
So I've had a great exposureto the startup ecosystem.
And to develop a level of empathy withboth founders as well as investors.
And in addition to being involvedwith those two startups, I was
also a facilitator of the GeelongAngel Investor Network, GAIN.
Okay.
And with COVID and the fact thatwe'd moved to virtual meetings, it
(01:50):
became quite apparent that therewas a great opportunity to be able
to expand GAIN well beyond Geelongand right across regional Australia.
And that's how we've come about with RAIN.
So we've gone from GAIN to RAIN, and welaunched earlier this year, and it was
really that experience, that exposure,and that alignment, that geography really
should not be a limitation to being ableto connect regional startups with regional
(02:14):
investors right across Australia, andwe're very excited to be doing that.
That is amazing.
what do you think from your experiencein this field and running, a couple
of businesses, being a CEO, what doyou think is one of the challenges
that a lot of startups face otherthan geography with maybe approaching
angel investors or getting funding?
I think it's about being able to accessthe right networks, yeah, irrespective
(02:37):
of what geography you're in, particularlyfor underrepresented founders.
I don't come from a family of wealth.
I come from a refugee family that Livedin southwestern Sydney no access to a lot
of family wealth or networks to be able toleverage when I first started my business.
Yeah.
So you're really relying on yourprofessional networks and the people
that you might know in your sphere.
(02:59):
It's particularly true of notjust under represented founders.
but also technical founders, youknow, technical founders, particularly
the engineers and the like haveonly ever lived in that realm.
Really?
They're not necessarilynatural networkers.
And I'm, I am making generalizations here.
It's about knowing how you can accessthose networks and those investors
that may be able to help you, youtake your idea to the next level.
(03:23):
And I think that's the important bit.
It's providing access.
And that's what we're trying to dowith RAIN, right across regional
Australia, is to make sure that founders,irrespective of their background
irrespective of where they live acrossregional Australia, we want to make sure
that they're aware that the RegionalAngel Investor Network exists, and
it provides a pathway and access toinvestors right across the country.
(03:48):
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Access and awareness.
Very important.
And you were talking about buildinga network and the people around you.
So if, can we jump back a bit a moment,how did you then start building your
network from going from a refugee familyto now where you are running RAINN?
Yeah, I think it's a great question.
I enjoy buildingrelationships with people.
(04:09):
It's been pretty instinctive and intuitivefor me and probably since actually...
About the age of 14, 15 I've beenestablishing relationships and I
think that's the important thing.
Yeah.
And, and, you know, at RAINN we...
As a team, we really focus ondeveloping deep relationships.
I'm not so much, early on as ayoungster, perhaps I was more
(04:32):
in the mindset of networking.
Yeah.
You know, there was a joke amongstsome colleagues of mine that
I'd give out my business cardat Town Hall Station in Sydney.
Because I was going through my businesscard so quickly as a 19, 20 year old, I
was giving them to anybody and everyone.
But I don't think that's theapproach, really, to developing
long term relationships.
And that's really what I'm interested in.
(04:52):
I'm, I'm far more interested in buildingquality relationships with people
that I want to work with for a longtime, as has been the case for the
overwhelming majority of people that...
I've interacted with throughoutmy career, since I was in fact 15.
There's still people who I'm verygood friends with, who I worked
with, and it's those relationshipsthat really mean a lot to me.
I feel quite rich in that way.
(05:14):
And we do have a strong focus onthat at RAINN, as I mentioned.
And if I can indulge a littlebit one of things we...
apply to every interaction andrelationship we have at RAINN is to
establish, is there value alignment?
Are our values aligned?
And can RAINN add valueto that relationship?
And three, will we, ourselves aswell as the other party, be better
(05:39):
off as a result of the relationship?
And they're the sort of three teststhat we put forward in every interaction
and every conversation we have.
Do our values and the other person's andthe other organisation's values align?
Can we add value to each other?
And will we be collectively be betteroff as a result of that relationship?
(05:59):
And when you've got that clarity ofthinking and clarity of approach,
then it's easier to approach everyinteraction you have and quickly to
establish that perhaps some relationshipsare just not right and they won't be
conducive to that long term outlook.
And I'd rather establish that early on.
For the other person as well asfor ourselves then just to simply
(06:20):
proceed with something where thereisn't that alignment on those three
things.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I like that the financial side of thingsisn't the only the only factor that
you take into consideration early on.
That value alignments and can you addvalue to each other, that mutual benefit.
I like that.
On a more practical level with RAINN,so how do you connect startups, or
is it startups you mainly work with?
(06:41):
Startups
and angel investors, yep.
Yep, how do
you connect startups withthose angel investors?
What does that sort of look like?
Yeah, great question.
So we...
Host monthly pitch eventsacross regional Australia.
Most recently we held a pitch eventat Ballarat Thanks to which was hosted
by our partners runway a terrificorganization in Ballarat And we are
(07:02):
hosting our next pitch event in Geelongon the 26th of June And so those pitch
events through those pitch events.
We invite startups to apply to pitch Weshortlist and pre screen those startups
and get them to then present and pitchto our network of angel investors.
And then the angel investorsexpress in their own individual
(07:24):
right, whether they're interestedin investing in any of the three or
four startups that we might get topitch at each of our monthly events.
We're also rolling out a numberof initiatives over the course
of the next few months, includingregional meetups with the, within
each ecosystem where we go.
So, as I said in June we'll be in Geelong.
In July, we'll be in Warrnambool.
Oh, wow.
And look forward to then going intointerstate, into places like Newcastle
(07:48):
and Wollongong and New South Wales.
And at each of those cities and regions,we'll be hosting pitch events, meetups,
as well as workshops for Angels or thosewho want to become angel investors.
And it's about building that capacityand capability amongst our startup
ecosystem across our regional areas,as well as, of course, our angel
(08:08):
investors, because fundamentally it'sabout providing access to capital for
those startups and helping them taketheir innovations to the next stage.
Yeah, that's great.
One of the things that I'm trying todo on this podcast as well is help.
We've got a lot of younger listeners,a lot of younger creatives as well,
younger aspiring entrepreneurs.
So continue to help define some ofthese terms, which we use all the time.
(08:29):
So, what is an angel investor?
Yeah, Terrific question.
An angel investor isfundamentally a private investor.
Someone who invests on theirown individual right both their
financial and intellectual capital,and I think that's important.
They're often people who meet the highnet worth or sophisticated investor test.
So they generally own about twomillion and a half worth of million
(08:52):
worth of assets, or, or earn anincome of 250 per annum or more.
Certainly over the last two years andyou get that sophisticated investor
certificate from your accountant.
That's what you need to be ableto join our network, for example.
And as I said, they are privateindividuals who enjoy backing and
supporting early stage businesses.
So people who are involved in that seedto series a funding ground generally.
(09:17):
So very early stages, they'reperhaps either at the MVP or just
beyond stage and looking to taketheir business to the next level.
And those individuals might invest, something like 25 K or anywhere up to
a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
It just depends.
Of course, some angelsinvest less than 25 K.
It just depends on their circumstances.
(09:38):
But I think the important thingthat I want to stress, angel
investors understand the high risk.
that's associated with their investments.
It's often, in, in, inmany cases, speculative.
You're backing a founder or a teamof founders with their idea, who
are looking to then take it froman idea to an actual business.
And there's a lot offrisk in that, as we know.
(09:59):
Many start ups don't necessarilygo on to be able to scale and
be post revenue businesses.
And let alone profferable, right?
And so just to go back to my earlierpoint the thing that I want to stress
it's not just the financial capitalthat angel investors bring in but it's
also the intellectual capital and sowhen angel investors put in their money
(10:22):
often They're also keen to be involvedand to support the founding team and
that business to grow and they canimpart their own intellectual capital,
their own experiences to support thatbusiness with its growth journey and,
and I think that's critical becausesome of our angel investors are
highly successful in their own right.
They run medical practices, they runhardware stores they run medtech.
(10:46):
businesses, they've run ed tech businessesand accelerators and incubators.
And they've had many exits themselves.
Some of them are involvedin family offices.
Those kinds of people have all beenand had many different experiences
that they can impart onto a earlystage business, uh, founder and
team that they're investing in.
Yeah, that's amazing.
(11:06):
So there's so much more thanjust the financial value.
Absolutely.
And I think that's not to be missed.
I think there's a lot of value to be.
added and provided throughthat intellectual capital.
What are one of the challengesyou might be facing with rain?
Is there something you couldshare with that or something that
you're navigating through or...
I think to go back to a point I madeearlier about startup founders and
(11:28):
particularly those from underrepresentedgroups or technical founders, that point
around having awareness of and accessto capital, it's something that is
always a challenge for any new venture.
And the same goes for rain.
You know, we're trying to raiseawareness of what it is that we do
and make sure that we've got a clearvalue proposition to the ecosystem.
(11:50):
So it's about raising that awareness.
It's one of the reasons we are hereat the Tropical Innovation Festival.
And it's been fantastic to bepart of this activity and great
celebration of the start up ecosystemhere in far north Queensland.
And I really want tocommend the organisers.
for putting on such a terrific festival.
It's, it's being able to raise awarenessof what we do is certainly a challenge
(12:13):
as well as accessing the right supportand pathways so that we can do what
we're passionate about and that'sconnecting regional startups with
regional investors and helping them.
Get the capital that they need, butalso the council and support that
they can access through our network.
So I, I'd say the challenge thatwe face today is not too dissimilar
(12:33):
that it's faced by most founders.
It's being, raising awareness andgetting access to the support you
need so you can take your venture fur,further forward and that's exactly what.
We're confronted with at the momentwith rain, but we'll get there
because we're getting out and about.
Yeah, no, definitely, andyou're at the right place here,
Tropical Innovation Festival.
I do have one question though around that.
So you mentioned how, you have a bit ofa focus of reaching out to and supporting
(12:55):
as well, maybe underrepresented ordisadvantaged sort of groups of people.
How do you do that?
So you've got your pitch events thatyou run, but how are you trying to
reach those people in those communities.
Is there a strategy for that oris it through your networks or
yeah, it's a very potent question AndI think it's something that we haven't
necessarily solved for completelyto be quite honest because we are in
(13:18):
the early days of setting up rain andbeing developing our core activities
But we are very much focused onmaking sure we find pathways that
will enable us to reach to the mostunderrepresented groups in our community.
And by the very mere fact that we areregional and regionally focused, we are
(13:41):
already addressing and helping provideaccess to investment for a significantly
underrepresented or proportionallydisadvantaged group of people.
Regional people, irrespective oftheir cultural background or their
faith or their demographic backgroundor whatever it may be, whatever
other markers you want to put on it.
Regional people are disadvantaged bythe lack of access that they have to the
(14:07):
kind of resources that city folk have.
And this is not about us and them,but this is about closing the gap.
And creating a rebalancebetween access and opportunity.
And so by the mere fact that weare regionally focused, and we
are establishing partnerships withorganisations that have the same
mission, to bring about access, tobring about opportunity for regional
(14:29):
people, in particular regionalfounders, we will be able to then...
Bring to the surface more underrepresentedfounders and connect them with
our growing network of investors.
I think also having the personal andlived experience is very important and
having also the professional experience.
My historical experience has beenin diversity and inclusion and
(14:52):
community engagement and working withunderrepresented groups, including our
first nations, people, girls and women.
People from refugee background, peoplewith a disability, often when you hear
about diversity and inclusion frankly,we don't hear enough about what's being
done to engage people with a disability.
And how we can make sure that they'regetting the same opportunities to
(15:13):
be able to take their ideas, theirinnovations forward like everybody else.
And so having had that professionalexperience in working with that, with
those broad groups, then also the personalexperience of being a refugee, a migrant
growing up in a low socioeconomic area.
I know firsthand that it's in ourconscience, it's in our DNA as a
team and we're making a concentratedeffort to form the right partnerships.
(15:37):
We'll work with First Nations groups andland councils across regional Australia.
We'll work with ethnic communitiescouncils across regional Australia.
You know, there's the IllawarraEthnic Communities Council, for
example, and there are similargroups right across Australia.
who are helping refugeeand migrant communities.
We want to be embedded and partof what they do to make sure that
(15:57):
entrepreneurship and innovationthrives in those communities.
I love that that's part of your DNA,, and you've got that lived experience
because, you know, sometimes we havethese large companies in different
spaces who would just put like a,an extra program on the end for some
underrepresented group just for that sortof tokenism or to just tick a box off or
something, but it may not be actually,helping or benefiting that community.
(16:18):
So the fact that it's comingfrom lived experience.
It's in your DNA.
It's, a core focus of what you're doing.
I think that's amazing.
And I think the work that you're doingis amazing from hearing all this.
I hope to see more and more ofwhat you're doing in the future.
Thank you.
Appreciate your interestand support as well, Elisha.
As we wrap up, we're here at theTropical Innovation Festival.
As you mentioned, Tara andKate and the team have done an
(16:38):
amazing job putting it together.
I just have a few questions foryou from your time here so far.
If you were to finish thissentence Tropical Innovation
Festival is, what would you say?
The tropical innovation festival isa great celebration of the ecosystem
and also plays an important role inconnecting founders and investors.
(16:58):
What makes the tropicalinnovation festival different?
What makes the Tropical InnovationFestival different is firstly where
it's located, in this incrediblymagnificent region of North Queensland,
and its ability to connect well beyondour capital cities, and I think Kate
and Tara to be commended for theirwork to be able to connect people
(17:23):
far and wide well beyond Cairns.
But importantly within this region,you can see how the Tropical
Innovation Festival is such animportant and hopefully an enduring
feature of the startup ecosystemhere in far North Queensland.
We need more of these kind ofinitiatives to inspire, ignite,
innovation in our regions.
(17:43):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Thank you so much for your time.
thank you for sharing some of whatyou do and some insight into RAIN.
I really appreciate you coming on today.
It's been a pleasure, Elisha.
It was nice to meet you, Sam.
Likewise, thank you.
And hopefully we'll haveyou on again in the future.
sometime.
Happy to come back.
Thank you so much for tuning in today.
If you found value in this episode,please take a moment to leave us a review.
(18:05):
It helps us grow the podcast andreach more listeners like you.
And Hey, why not share this episodewith a friend until next time?
Keep innovating and stay inspired.
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