Sydney startup Cascade raises $40 million Series A to rethink business strategy

Sydney startup Cascade has raised $40 million in a Series A on a promise to get strategy out of boardrooms.

The round was led by former Sequoia investor Mickey Arabelovic’s Telescope Partners, alongside Five V and local VC Carthona Capital.

The cash is earmarked for product evolution as well as expansion in North America and Europe.

Cascade’s customer base include AstraZeneca, American Express, Carhartt, Caterpillar and Toshiba. More than 6000 teams, and 800,000 people have engaged with the platform, creating more than 220,000 strategic plans.

Founder and CEO Tom Wright said the size of the raise was proof that the startup is tackling a huge problem.

“The commitment from both investors and our customers reflect the need to significantly rethink how to approach execution strategy,” he said.

“Our platform frees strategy from static presentations and spreadsheets into a dynamic workspace that workspace that drives alignment, day in and day out.”

Wright said Cascade’s approach turns the old way of doing strategy on its head by combining strategy, project management, KPIs and outcome tracking into a single platform that aligns teams to deliver more tangible ROIs.

“The age-old debate about whether strategy should be top down or bottom-up is finally over. It’s neither. Strategy needs to be dynamic, inclusive and adaptive to the current business environment,” he said.

The problem is a failure to execute – something that happens in an astonishing 90% of strategies Wright said. The bigger problem is a disconnect between the people devising the strategy and those executing it.

Telescope Partners founder Mickey Arabelovic said Cascade had impressive traction to with global companies of varying different sizes and sectors, which speaks to the ubiquity of the problem they are solving.

“Strategy is hard to create and even harder to execute. Cascade’s focus on operationalizing strategic plans drives alignment and focus within organizations unlike any other solution in the market today,” he said.

“Bottom line, Cascade drives better outcomes for its customers. We are excited to partner with Cascade as they embark on this next stage of growth.”