Tidal Ventures

Wendell Keuneman is a Managing Partner at Tidal Ventures with over 20 years of experience in engineering and product management. He has co-founded and led multiple companies through growth and exit, including Carbon Twelve (acquired by BroadSoft), Inference Solutions (acquired by Five9s), and Atlassian. At Tidal Ventures, he works with early-stage founders from seed through growth stage.

Alvin Yeap is Head of Data & AI and Backend Engineer at Tandem, with over 10 years of experience in data science and analytics. He has built and led data functions at Trello, Atlassian, Equifax, and AIMIA across technology, finance, and marketing sectors. His technical expertise spans Python, SQL, TypeScript/JavaScript, cloud platforms including AWS and GCP, and generative AI technologies such as LangChain and GPT models.

Anthony Justice is Managing Director at 11eight and an experienced C-suite executive with an MBA from INSEAD. He has held leadership roles in the energy and financial services sectors, with demonstrated expertise in strategy, team development, and stakeholder management across government and partner organizations.

Asheesh Chacko is Chief Executive Officer at Hey You App. He has experience scaling technology businesses and managing international teams across sales, account management, and customer service, with a background in financial operations.

Callan Schebella is CEO and co-founder of SlateCX and an investor at SecurePII. Previously, he served as executive vice president of product management at Five9 from 2021 to 2025, overseeing product portfolios in AI, contact center as a service, workforce engagement management, and digital channels. Before Five9, he founded and served as CEO of Inference Solutions, an IVA development platform that Five9 acquired in 2020.

Collin Li is an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Melbourne teaching economics. He previously worked as a strategy consultant and startup advisor in web3, healthtech, and edtech sectors, and held a Business Operations & Strategy role at Culture Amp during its growth to unicorn status. Li holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and has founded ventures that achieved profitability and external funding.

Derek Ho is a Principal Data Scientist at Atlassian and an Accredited Statistician with over 20 years of experience across high-growth companies in multiple industries. His work focuses on statistical analysis, online experimentation, and business analytics, with particular expertise in scaling A/B testing practices and establishing measurement standards. He has led efforts to develop measurement frameworks that inform stakeholder decision-making.

Doug Stuart is an Australian executive with experience in cybersecurity, cloud computing, and critical infrastructure. He co-founded Stratsec, a cybersecurity consulting firm acquired by BAE Systems in 2011, and serves as Chief Operating Officer of Instaclustr, which provides managed services for open source big data technologies. Stuart holds an Associate Diploma in Electronics Engineering from Canberra Institute of Technology and an MBA in Information Technology from Charles Sturt University, and currently serves as Director of the ACT Brumbies.

Ed Hooper is CEO and co-founder of GXE, which provides financial infrastructure for fund managers, syndicates, and family offices. He is also a venture capitalist at Cardinia Ventures and previously co-founded Omny Studio, which was acquired by Triton Digital. His investment portfolio includes companies such as Chronosphere (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Select Star (acquired by Snowflake), and Thriday (acquired by Tyro), among others. Hooper studied at the University of Melbourne and Stanford Graduate School of Business, and held prior roles at Microsoft, Funding Circle, Groupon, and ANZ Bank.

Henry Innis is co-founder of Mutinex, where he leads product and operations. He has a background in software engineering and digital strategy, with expertise in solution architecture, analytics, and Python and Ruby programming. Innis also serves as director at Exit Capital, focusing on investments in data and database businesses.

Hugo Sterin is Chief Technology Officer at Budgetly, where he works with small and medium businesses on expense management solutions. Previously, he held a position at Amazon Web Services focused on cloud technology adoption. Sterin co-founded Rezdy, an online booking platform for tours and activities, which he grew from a two-person operation to a 90+ employee company before its 2023 exit.

James Rusconi is an Investment Associate at Tidal Ventures with a background as a quant, data engineer, and systems builder. He focuses on founders building technology and on how software systems are designed and scaled. He previously worked at Savana Asset Management.

Jeremy Gupta is Chief Technology Officer at Camplify Holdings Limited (ASX: CHL). He has technology background experience spanning SaaS businesses and marketplaces, with career highlights including launching Autotrader's classifieds marketplace in Australia, scaling Loopit to market leadership across three regions, and establishing product and engineering operations for Tigerspike in New York during a period of significant growth from 12 to 250+ employees across nine offices.

Josh Abulafia is a co-founder of Morgan, an AI platform for insolvency and restructuring. He is a repeat entrepreneur who has also invested in and advised early-stage startups.

Kanchana Wickremasinghe is VP & Field CTO at WSO2 and a founder and angel investor. He advises clients on technology strategy, enterprise architecture, and solution design across cloud computing, enterprise application integration, and data analytics, with a focus on open source technologies.

Mark Kalajzich is an operational investor and director with 25 years of experience applying technology to business challenges across financial services, telecommunications, technology, property, and sustainable aquaculture sectors. He is a co-founder and serves as Executive Director at Conduet, working with organizations of various sizes on operational and strategic problems. He holds the GAICD credential.

Maxim Shklyar is co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer of InstantScripts, an Australian telehealth company that reached one million patients within five years before its 2023 acquisition by Wesfarmers. With over 25 years of experience as a software architect and developer, he has founded multiple startups and delivered more than 150 commercial digital projects for organizations including the AFL, Deloitte Digital, and SBS. Shklyar serves as an advisor, mentor, and strategist focused on technology, product development, and startup execution.

Murray Bleach is a co-founder and Chair at Tidal Ventures with more than 30 years of experience in investment, banking, and fund management. He has served on several boards, and his prior roles include positions at IFM and Macquarie.

Oliver Rees is co-founder of Signal Alliance with over 25 years of experience in customer data analytics. He previously built and exited Torque Data, which was sold to Velocity Frequent Flyer and delivered a 5X return to investors within five years, and served in senior executive roles driving data strategy and value creation through multiple corporate transactions and restructures. His background includes five years in advertising and marketing agencies and experience working with private equity firms on data-driven corporate growth initiatives.

Oliver Shapleski is Chief Operating Officer at Tidal Ventures, where he works on the firm's operational infrastructure and governance. He has more than 25 years of experience across law, venture, and company building. His prior roles include Russell McVeagh, Hoegh Capital Partners, and ANZ.

Paul Jones is Chief Technology Officer at Prehab Zone and serves as a founder and advisor. He has development experience across multiple programming languages including Java, Ruby, Scala, Erlang, C#, Python, Go, and Elixir, and has worked in the international education technology sector.

Paul Slade is co-founder and CTO of Roev Software and previously worked at Atlassian, where he contributed to the development of cloud products including Jira and Confluence. He has experience scaling engineering teams and holds expertise in cloud infrastructure, developer tools, and identity systems. He currently serves as advisory CTO at New Energy Transport, focusing on electric vehicles and energy systems.

Pete Lilley is a company director at DataMasque. He previously founded and served as CEO of Instaclustr and has held director and investor roles in high-technology startups.

Peter Everingham is a Non Executive Director and Chair of the Investment & Capital Committee at Medibank. He holds an MBA and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia (GAICD). His experience spans strategy, investments, performance, governance, and culture.

Phaedon Stough is CEO and Co-Founder of Innovation Bay, Australia's longest-running network for tech founders and investors. With over 20 years in Australia's tech startup ecosystem as a founder, operator, and investor, he works with founders on scaling strategies and market expansion into the US and European markets, leveraging networks across Australian, San Francisco, and European venture communities. Stough maintains an active investment portfolio and provides mentorship on go-to-market strategy, investor introductions, and hiring decisions.

Roger Venning is Vice President of Engineering at Five9, following the company's November 2020 acquisition of Inference Solutions. He has experience leading engineering teams and establishing operational processes across telecommunications, internet services, and enterprise software domains, with particular expertise in network architecture, VoIP systems, and OSS platforms.

Romilly Blackburn is co-founder and CEO of Operata, a CX observability platform serving enterprises across pharma, software, healthcare, financial services, industrials, energy, and government sectors. With over 20 years of experience building and leading software companies, Blackburn has held CEO, COO, CMO, and CPO roles, including prior positions as CMO and CPO at Smooch.io (acquired by Zendesk) and co-founder and COO at Whispir (ASX:WSP). Blackburn is also an active early-stage investor through Founderfounder, which he established in 2016 to invest in software and AI startups.

Sally Tobin is a founder and operator with three business exits across commerce and marketing technology. She co-founded XPO, a retail media and commerce marketing agency with proprietary MarTech capabilities, which was acquired by Mountaingate and Mars Agency in 2022, subsequently scaled to over 1,000 employees, and became part of Publicis Groupe in 2024. She currently leads AiPX Venture Studios, which develops AI-native platforms for underserved industries, including TRAiDMIN, an AI-native quoting platform for the trades and construction sector.

Sarah Mills-Krutilek is CEO of Pathmint, a management consultancy and investment firm that advises and invests in high-growth startups. She previously led global recruitment teams at Twitter and Dropbox, and currently invests in and mentors startups operating in the US and APAC regions.

Sascha Reuter is the founder of Questmate, a software platform focused on environment, health, safety, and quality management. He previously founded tape.io in 2011, which developed doctape and was acquired by Atlassian in 2014 to enhance attachment and link capabilities across Confluence, JIRA, Bitbucket, and Trello. Reuter has experience building and scaling global teams and developing end-to-end software solutions.

Stefan Cordiner is Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder at Kismet Healthcare. He has experience in mergers and acquisitions, roll-ups, and business scaling, and serves as an angel investor and advisor to other ventures.

Tash Keuneman is co-lead of the Keuneman Foundation, which supports climate action through clean energy advocacy, legislative change, and initiatives focused on women's education and family planning. Previously, she served as Head of Design at Sonder, a workplace and student care technology platform, and held design roles at Atlassian, Intuit, and Shippit. She holds degrees in journalism and fine arts and has written about product frameworks and creative practice.