Wollongong founded and Silicon Valley headquartered Accelo has signed a lease that will allow it to more than double its space in the Illawarra.
Accelo is moving the the MMJ building in 8 Regent Street, Wollongong in early 2019.
The move comes off the back of a record year of growth that has seen Accelo increase its Wollongong-based team by 21 in 2018.
The 75 per cent from in the size of the workforce since the start of the year comes as the business plans to double the number of its employees in the Illawarra.
Co-founder and chief executive Geoff McQueen said the new space is needed to accommodate such rapid growth as its team of designers, software developers and product quality specialists.
"While our headquarters are in Silicon Valley, our Wollongong office is still the largest in the company, and without doubt the engine room for our technology", Mr McQueen said.
"While 2018 has seen the fastest growth in our history, we're not planning on slowing down, and this new space will help ensure we can hire more amazing people in the years ahead".
Accelo is moving into two floors at 8 Regent St which has undergone significant renovation. MMJ director of commercial leading Michael Croghan said Accelo’s commitment was exciting.
“Accelo are a tremendous local business success story, and exemplify exactly how this region is evolving,” he said.
“They are exactly the type of business this region needs to embrace."
Launched as AffinityLive in 2011, Accelo has raised over $15 million in venture capital from investors in New York, San Francisco and Sydney. It has more than 100 staff globally. Other US offices are located in San Francisco and Denver.
Co-founder Eamonn Bell said it was really special to be working on a Silicon-Valley quality product from Wollongong.
“It might sometimes feel like Wollongong is a long way from the global technology industry, but every day here we're working on a platform used by tens of thousand of people that creates more than a billion dollars of value a year for our clients," he said.
“In addition to working closely with the University of Wollongong - almost 90 per cent of the local team are UoW graduates. The last 12 months have demonstrated the attraction of the Illawarra as a global destination. With Accelo hiring experienced developers from larger markets like Sydney. As well as people from backgrounds as diverse as China, Germany, India, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam”.
People and Operations manager Carrie Ball said when it came to selecting a new office the business’s rapid growth meant it needed to have both a quality location and a good relationship with the landlord.
“The Regent Street building has had a lot of upgrades”.
And with its close links to transport and other developments in the area, we're excited to have a new base where we can work closely with the building owners and managers, MMJ, who are just a few floors away".
Mr McQueen has lived in the US for more than seven years and is l always amazed every time he comes back to Wollongong.
“It is wonderful to see the talent that Wollongong creates, attracts and retains," he said.
“Our team is unquestionably world class, and our base in Wollongong has become our X-factor. We are excited to keep growing in the Illawarra and can't wait to double the business again over the near couple of years."
Accelo, Inc.
- Accelo, the pioneer of Service Operations Automation (ServOps), streamlines operations from prospect through to payment through their integrated, cloud-based platform.
- Thousands of businesses use Accelo to run their critical client service delivery, boosting revenue and productivity and doubling profit margins.
- Accelo is headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Wollongong, Australia.