Edison Growth Fund
Business partners. Reimagined.
Growing businesses as an equity investment partner
Edison Growth Fund provides a unique private equity partnership opportunity. We back you as a minority shareholder, so you can continue to build your business and remain in the driver’s seat.
We understand what businesses need to grow, because we’ve personally grown successful businesses ourselves. In particular, we know that growth is about more than just capital. It is also about having the right experience, expertise and networks to navigate the path successfully.
We invest in businesses where we can add real value beyond the capital we provide. We look to support, not to interfere. To be there for you, when you need us.
WHy partner with Edison?
Partial Selldown
De-risk your personal balance sheet, or transition and evolve the share register, without giving up control of your business.
Fund your growth
Access capital to help your business grow and expand, or to pursue an acquisition.
A partner who can help
Broaden the experience, networks and expertise you have around the table to help navigate the path forward.
Our investment philosophy
What gets us out of bed in the morning is helping entrepreneurs and businesses succeed. The foundations of our investment philosophy are partnership and alignment – standing by you through the ups and downs, and achieving shared success.
People are
our business
We invest in you to grow your business. Relationships are everything.
Value
creators
We invest where we can add real value, beyond just our financial contribution.
Experienced
senior team
We’re entrepreneurs, just like you. We have a unique mix of entrepreneurial, senior executive and advisory experience that we bring to the partnership.
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Over the last 25 years, Shaf has built an impressive portfolio of experience that spans consumer brands, retailing, management, entrepreneurship, international business, investment and transaction services.
He’s held executive roles in brand management at Pacific Brands, Globe International and Rip Curl, as well as investment management for Besen Private Equity. And his entrepreneurial achievements include establishing master franchises for Cacharel, Paul & Joe, Coast and Karen Millen. At the latter, he ran the 70-door, Melbourne-to-Beijing, Asia-Pacific portfolio.
All of this experience combines to make Shaf a trusted insider within the retail and luxury sectors. It also gives him a broad contact base to tap into for M&A, capital raising, partnerships and strategic planning.
Shaf is an industry go-to for his insights and thinking in fashion, luxury goods, home and design, food concepts and multichannel retailing. He wrote RMIT’s Luxury Brand Management course, and has taught both Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He also holds a BA and BComm (Monash) and an MBA (AGSM).
Shaf and his wife have three children. One of his most rewarding accomplishments was completing the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker. In addition to being Principal at Edison, Shaf is also the CSO (Chief Style Officer).
Jason has more than two decades of experience in founding, growing and advising early-stage and fast-growth businesses— specialising in Technology, Food & Beverage and Health & Wellbeing.
His work ethic and business acumen have been a lifetime in the making. As an eight-year-old, he’d wake up at 6am on Saturdays and jump the fence to the local golf course. There he’d find lost golf balls and wash them before selling them back to the golfers on the ninth tee. When he wasn’t selling golf-balls, he was riding a morning and afternoon paper-round for pocket money.
Building on his early ventures and entrepreneurial spirit, Jason established a successful career in the technology industry. He was one of the founding team of ASX-listed Adslot Ltd (ASX:ADJ), Tradeslot and Vertical Talent, which sold to Drake International in 2008.
As a member of the five:am team, Jason played a pivotal role in establishing and growing this Australian organic yoghurt startup. He was a crucial member of the Senior Executive, and later served as an advisor to the Founder in the spectacularly successful sale to P Z Cussons in 2014.
As a business owner, Jason has demonstrated capability in strategy, planning, management and execution. On the transaction advisory side, his experience includes M&A, capital raising and advisory. He relishes working with business owners, their families and their stakeholders – bringing perspective and empathy from his own entrepreneurial experience.
Jason now channels his passion for entrepreneurship into supporting entrepreneurs through Edison. He is also a current member and sitting Board Director of the Entrepreneurs Organisation. He holds a BA, BBus (Banking & Finance) and MBA (Melbourne & ESADE, Barcelona).
Jason is married, with one child. He loves travel, golf, the Tigers, and conspiring with his identical twin brother to confuse all and sundry.
In Oliver’s 12 years as a CFO in the challenging, ever-changing retail environment, every executive team he’s been involved in has delivered EBIT dollar growth. This has even been the case in years of declining sales.
Oliver was a Chartered Accountant for 6 years at Ernst & Young before moving into the retail sector for 17 years. He spent 12 of these as Chief Financial Officer at Country Road Limited (also Executive Director), Spotlight Retail Group, Witchery Group, Country Road Group and Forever New Group.
At Oliver’s core is an uncompromising commitment to using customer and data insights to maximise enterprise value, cash flow and return on capital employed. This commitment has helped him to deliver some seriously impressive results, including:
● playing a central role in Gresham Private Equity’s sale of Witchery Group to Country Road Limited (~$172m)
● privatising Country Road Limited to Country Road Group (~$200m).
Over the years, Oliver’s responsibilities have extended beyond Finance, Treasury, Legal/Company Secretariat and Risk, into Strategy, Transformation, IT and Supply Chain.
More recently, he moved into Management Consulting and Board Advisory roles. There, he has advised organisations such as Mecca Cosmetics, Hawthorn Football Club, Limestone Coast Wines, Hinkler Books, Mustad Australia and Silk Laser Clinics. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA), a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (F Fin). He also holds a Bachelor of Business (Acc) from RMIT.
Oliver and his wife have three young children. His passions include Hawthorn Football Club, wine, horse racing, golf, weekend trips to Bunnings and hovering over his Weber BBQ on a Saturday afternoon.
Truman’s passion is unlocking the potential in people and business, and he brings a strong analytical mindset and thinking to help him do it.
With a background in mathematics and finance, Truman enjoys applying his problem-solving skills in a business context, deriving business solutions and market insights grounded in numbers and data.
During his studies, Truman held the role of President of the Actuarial Students’ Society, where he enriched the university experience for actuarial students, and mentored those with similar aspirations. Currently, his efforts are directed toward a social impact NFP organisation, where he leads a project that evaluates potential solutions to overfishing in the coastal regions of Australia.
Truman will be graduating with a BCom (Finance, Actuarial Studies) and a Diploma in Mathematical Sciences (Statistics & Stochastic Processes) from The University of Melbourne.
Truman is also an aspiring wine collector, who loves nothing more than sampling the best wines straight from cellar doors all around Australia. Next stop – Chile!
Michael has 12 years of experience in private equity, funds management and corporate M&A advisory. Previously, he held roles as Investment Director at:
● Archer Capital, one of Australia’s oldest and most successful private equity firms
● Livingbridge, a leading UK private equity firm. headquartered in London, which holds $3 billion in capital under management and focuses on expansion capital investing.
When it comes to private equity, Michael has considerable experience across all facets of the discipline. This includes deal sourcing, investment appraisal and approval, transaction execution, capital raising, investee supervision, investee exits and investor reporting.
Michael represented both Archer Capital and Livingbridge on the Board of investee companies. He also provided additional executive assistance to support growth initiatives and key projects. His investing experience spans several sectors including Health & Wellbeing, Retail & Consumer, Food & Beverage and Services.
Michael has experience as an operational executive and as a business owner. He served for six months as General Manager of Franchising at Craveable Brands – a business with 600 stores and over 200 franchisees – during Archer Capital’s ownership. Michael has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia.
Malcolm is a widely respected business leader with a successful track record of venture capital investing, corporate business development and startup experience. He is highly regarded as a trusted investor representative and an experienced company board director.
Malcolm spent 12 years with Starfish Ventures, a leading Australian Venture Capital fund manager with over $400M in funds raised and 60 companies invested in. Malcolm was a member of the Investment Committee for Starfish Technology Fund I and Starfish Technology Fund II, and represented the Funds on 13 investees boards.
More recently, Malcolm was the Head of Corporate Development of ANZ for Cisco. There, he was a member of the Senior Leadership Team and sat as an Investor Representative for its ANZ portfolio. Malcolm was previously a Director of the Australian Investment Council, where he served on the Venture Capital and the Research Committees.
Malcolm holds a BAppSc (QUT), MAppSc (QUT) and an MBA (Melbourne).
Ben was a visionary. Ben was an adventurer. Ben was an enthusiast in everything he did.
Ben never failed to inspire, both in business and in life. He paved his way as an M&A lawyer at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank, Rothschild & Co and Gresham Partners. He then stepped away from investment banking to co-found, launch and operate Anaconda – the camp, hike and adventure megastore – before founding Edison Partners in 2006.
Ben’s legacy is one of impeccable standards, quality and excellence. We remember our business partner and great friend with love and fondness.