Funder Type: Individual
Funder Location: Australia, Victoria
Funder Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadstephens1/
Funder URL:
Funder Overview:
Along with my best friend, Chris Koch, I founded 1Form.com in 2006, an online tenancy application platform, and grew it to have more than 90% market share in Australia before exiting to REA Group in 2014.
We then founded Fillr.com, the world's most intelligent autofill, and integrated our tech into some of the largest FinTech and eCommerce apps globally, before exiting to Rakuten Inc. in 2020.
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I was always passionate about startups and knew one day I'd have my own business. After a few false starts, and a lot of grit and determination, I had my first successful exit with 1Form, selling to ASX listed REA Group in 2014.
I started 1Form with my best friend and then housemate Chris Koch. After filling in numerous tenancy agreement forms with the same information we thought "surely there's a better way?" There wasn't. So we created one.
When we launched 1Form out of our living room, we were already out of money, in debt from our failed business attempts. We sold everything we owned, from our cars to our CD collections and moved back home with our respective parents... Only an unwavering belief in our idea kept us going.
After almost 8 years, 1Form became Australia’s leading online tenancy application platform servicing over 2.5 million tenants (and still growing), and more than 90% of the Australian real estate market. After being approached by a range of companies looking to acquire the technology we eventually sold to REA Group so we could focus on our next form filling project, Fillr.
We spent another 6 years developing Fillr, the world's most intelligent autofill, before eventually being acquired late in 2020 by Rakuten Inc. The acquisition solidifies the continuing relationship between Rakuten and Fillr. The companies are longstanding partners with strong product synergies and mutual goals of accelerating transactions, boosting conversions and growing customer lifetime value. Fillr autofill is integrated into the Rakuten iOS and Android mobile apps.
As Fillr's co-founders, Chris and I continue to lead the Fillr team from Melbourne.
After 2 amazing startup journeys and 2 successful exits, it's time to give back. I now enjoy investing in and advising startup founders.
Investments/funding events:
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