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Luke Anear, the founder of Townsville-founded $2.5 billion workplace safety software group SafetyCulture, will transition out of his current CEO position from the start of next year with US real estate management executive Kelly Vohs set to fill his shoes.
The Sydney-headquartered double-unicorn closed a $165 million capital raise this year with the funds aimed at fuelling a deeper push into global markets, building on a user base of two million that spans some 85,000 businesses.
In his new role as executive chairman, Anear will focus on further developing the long-term vision and shaping the company’s strategy, working closely with investors while providing strategic advice to Vohs and the senior leadership team.
Vohs joins SafetyCulture from his most recent role as CEO of the US-based real estate company, LivCor, and brings a decade of leadership experience working at Blackstone portfolio companies in the USA including Beam Living and Hilton.
The incoming CEO is currently based in New York and will "spend his time where he’s needed most", but plans to be in Sydney for an extended period during the first half of 2025.
Business News Australia has sought clarification from the company as to whether Vohs will relocate to Australia or lead the company from the US.
"I am deeply honoured to accept this role and excited by the clear mandate I’ve been given to drive the company forward towards its next big milestones," says the incoming CEO who starts on 1 January 2025.
"I’ve seen firsthand the potential SafetyCulture’s platform has to completely transform workplaces, help teams improve and keep people safe. I’m ready to tackle the challenge of helping even more customers start that journey."
Anear says now is the right time to transition into the role of executive chairman, claiming the business "has never been in a better position".
"I’m incredibly confident in Kelly and the senior leadership team's ability to continue to build a world-changing company that improves the lives of hundreds of millions of workers every day," he says.
"I couldn’t be any prouder of the impact SafetyCulture has had on the world to date, but we are just getting started, and it still feels like we are 1 per cent of the way there. In 2022, I set a goal to 100x the business by 2032, and just two years on, it’s now only 50x to reach that goal.
"We are very fortunate to have such a large opportunity in front of us and we have all the foundations to execute on that opportunity."
Anear says building a "world-changing company" takes time and requires a long-term commitment.
"We are continuing to invest in artificial intelligence, and in addition to our software, we now provide 75,000 consumable products to our customers," he says.
"To complete the loop, we can also provide insurance that underwrites our customers' risks. What we are doing is building several multibillion-dollar revenue businesses at the same time, and we will start to see the compounding effect of this strategy come into play in the years ahead."
The recently closed capital raise, led by AirTree Ventures as its largest ever initial investment, values SafetyCulture at $2.5 billion with the company signalling its ambition to continue creating regular liquidity events for shareholders and employees.
SafetyCulture now has 900 employees working from its six offices worldwide, representing an increase of 100 on staff numbers reported in September.
The company’s growth has been aided by the launch in October last year of a new workplace operations platform, which offers capabilities in training, asset management, sensors and IoT (internet of things) functionality.
SafetyCluture introduced AI-enhanced features to its platform last year, including mobile-first training course creation and instant inspection template generation from prompts, images or files. Anear says he believes AI offers even more potential to change the lives of frontline workers.
Anear, a former private investigator who is said to have seen first-hand the tragedy of workplace incidents, founded SafetyCulture in 2004 with a vision to assist frontline workers. He established the company in the northern suburbs of Townville, initially with a team of just three people.
Today, SafetyCulture’s mobile application, iAuditor, is said to be the most widely used auditing app in the world – allowing workers to participate in real-time data collection and reporting in order to quickly recognise and improve workplace safety.
The company aims to reach 100 million users by 2032.
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