HealthTech software startup Cérge poised to rapidly scale as it seeks capital along with high profile senior appointment
Australian healthtech startup Cérge has ambitious growth goals to make a positive difference to the lives of the 4.4 million Australians with a disability. It has recently signed a series of national clients, is about to embark on raising capital to fund future expansion and has appointed tech entrepreneur and C-suite leader, Matt Von der Muhll, to Chief Operating Officer.
Husband and wife duo, Chris and Victoria Kerrisk, founded Cérge in 2019 to improve the lives of the one in five Australians living with a disability by preventing inadvertent discrimination and ensuring empathetic experiences during every day shopping experiences, participating in sport and recreation or when travelling.
The solution enables participating venues to promote their accessible features so customers can “know before you go” improving confidence and participation. Customers with a disability, parents, carers and support workers are also able to discreetly inform service staff before arrival of essential information about them to personalise experiences which leads to more independence, improved mental health and delivers life changing outcomes.
Given that Cérge has firmly established its market fit and secured committed clients on multi-year licenses, Chris Kerrisk recognised the need to engage Von der Muhll to expedite the scaling of the business. Von der Muhll was selected due to his track record of steering successful early-stage ventures through business expansion and international growth.
“We’ve been blown away by the take-up of the Cérge technology to date and today have a presence in every state in Australia as well as New Zealand. With Matt’s extensive experience in innovative tech startups we hope to further accelerate this growth trajectory. We are in active discussions with venture capital firms who have an interest in for-purpose tech companies and are inviting conversations with other impact investors,” he said.
Von der Muhll has led innovative technology firms as Founder and has overseen commercial activities and investments in various roles, including VP Commercial and Corporate Development at Track160, Director APAC at Respondology, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Place Capital, and Executive Director at Unlockd, SpotXchange, and Adconion.
Cérge has signed more than 100 venues across industry sectors including sports, leisure and recreation facilities, hospitality and tourism businesses, supermarkets and retail stores. It’s clients include notable brands such as IGA supermarkets and Belgravia Leisure which operates more than 200 sporting and recreational facilities in Australia and New Zealand.
Von der Muhll said, with a year-on-year growth rate of 341% and a potential market of 1.8 billion people globally, Cérge offers a promising investment opportunity and he is looking forward to helping to drive it forward and achieve unprecedented social Impact on a global scale.
“Given the prevailing market challenges confronting startups and the economic landscape, Cérge presents investors with an enticing opportunity to participate in a solution that commands attention not only from governmental bodies, exemplified by recent announcements regarding the NDIS overhaul, but also through initiatives like the National Autism Strategy,” said Von der Muhll.
Cérge’s industry award winning technology offers social and economic benefits to local councils, large enterprise, retail, hospitality, sporting, allied health and tourism businesses. With over 70% of all disability being invisible, Cérge provides an extra level of awareness to service staff so they are better informed and equipped to warmly welcome everyone whether they are in a wheelchair, experience social anxiety, or where communication is a barrier.
“Through technology, Cérge addresses the primary obstacles encountered by individuals with a disability by showcasing accessibility information about destinations to give them greater confidence thus enabling their full participation in community activities. It also improves confidence of service teams to support their customers by giving them greater awareness of their needs. It really is a dream win-win scenario as a free solution for people with disability and simple and cost efficient platform for business that delivers genuine social impact and brand differentiation to ultimately foster greater equality,” concluded Kerrisk.
