BRISBANE EDU STARTUP WINS $1M FROM BAXTER & VC

A RHODES scholar, doctor, lawyer and engineer form the magic team behind Brisbane training software startup GO1, which has just scored a $US1 million investment deal from Steve Baxter and venture capitalist fund Tank Stream Ventures.

It's classic case of Baxter investing in people and a needs-based idea - an online portal that businesses can use to train their staff.

But co-founder Andrew Barnes (pictured left with doctor co-founder Vu Tran), an economist who is completing his Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, is firm that GO1 isn't an education software like Blackboard.

It's offered at a margin of the price of its seeming predecessors too, starting from $1 per user per month compared to tens, or hundreds, of thousands of dollars in ongoing investment. 

Barnes, who is completing a master in education technology, says GO1 is taking online education into the modern era, and the Queensland Government, National Australia Bank and Seek are all backing this campaign as clients.

He says, with GO1's 150,000 users across six continents and counting, it's clear that as long as there is a need for training, there will be a desire for new ways of delivery. 

"GO1 is transforming both small and large sized companies - from startups through to enterprises, organisations and government services," says Barnes.

"It's not just a glorified file sharing system - absolutely everything is stored electronically on a cloud-based system, which obviously cuts across all devices so when you annotate a document, for example, you won't have a chance of losing that data. 

"Studies have consistently pointed to the importance of quality training in determining overall staff satisfaction."

Tech investor Steve Baxter says GO1 is a 'brilliant startup concept' with 'huge market potential'.

"It also has a strong team of entrepreneurs behind it, with each of the co-founders bringing a unique and advantageous skill-set to the table," Baxter says.

Managing partner of Tank Stream Ventures, Rui Rodrigues, agrees with Baxter on GO1's potential.

"It is one of those rare untapped business opportunities, solving a huge enterprise problem," says Rodrigues.