Sydney start-up heads for the US

A Sydney-based company that produces short-form TV content for young people is hoping to break into the US market.

SNACKABLETV has been chosen to be a tenant at global innovation hub RocketSpace in San Francisco as part of a start-up landing pad program.

Founder and CEO Kate Edwards said she was “thrilled, terrified and highly emotional” when she got the news.

“I’m sure we will be exhausted when we come back — if we come back. People have been saying to us: ‘Be prepared you might end up staying there’, which is a bloody wonderful challenge to be faced with.”

Edwards said that she would not have had this opportunity without a $300,000 loan from the NSW Government-backed Jobs for NSW and support from NSW Trade and Investment.

“We were lucky enough to receive a loan from Jobs for NSW, who then introduced us to NSW Trade and Investment. We discussed all our growth plans, which included looking to the US.

“NSW Trade and Investment were able to provide us with some really great advice on how to enter the US market and connected us with people on the ground in LA and San Fran, which lead to an introduction to Austrade and the Landing Pads program,” she said.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business and Skills John Barilaro said SNACKABLETV will spend 90 days in the geographical and cultural heart of the global tech boom.

“The local neighbourhood is peppered with start-ups, technology investors and established companies, giving SNACKABLETV, which creates short-form TV content for young people, a chance to break into the US market,” he said.

Edwards said she is keen to “kick over into the next iteration of SNACKABLETV”.

“The only way we win is to continue to create best-in-breed original content, much like Netflix. Our intention is to use the learnings of Netflix and create episodic content that’s high quality and highly engaging,” said Edwards.

Pictured: Kate Edwards.

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