{"id":38510,"date":"2023-10-20T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/slingshot-appoints-karen-lawson-as-its-new-ceo-to-guide-the-corporate-accelerator-through-a-new-phase-of-growth-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:57:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:57:00","slug":"slingshot-appoints-karen-lawson-as-its-new-ceo-to-guide-the-corporate-accelerator-through-a-new-phase-of-growth-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/slingshot-appoints-karen-lawson-as-its-new-ceo-to-guide-the-corporate-accelerator-through-a-new-phase-of-growth-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Slingshot appoints Karen Lawson as its new CEO to guide the corporate accelerator through a new phase of growth – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Slingshot has appointed former CareerOne boss Karen Lawson as its new CEO as the corporate accelerator prepares to enter a new phase of growth.<\/p>\n

Slingshot\u2019s program connects startups with larger corporates and has now seen 50 early-stage, high-growth companies pas through its doors with a combined market cap of more than $60 million.<\/p>\n

Lawson, who was formerly the CEO of online job marketplace CareerOne and has more than a decade\u2019s experience of working in the tech space, previously served as the head of innovation at Slingshot.<\/p>\n

Thirty-three startups have been incorporated in the Slingshot program with 27 of these still operating.<\/p>\n

Lawson says this proves the accelerator has now validated its model and is set to rapidly ramp up its growth plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a shadow of a doubt what the company has proved is that the program works,\u201d Lawson tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a phenomenal strike rate and they have some absolutely incredible teachings and practices that are world-leading.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to reach more corporates and help more startups and scale-ups. There are a lot of different channels and levers we can move to do that at scale. We\u2019ll be expanding nationally and taking this model global.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slingshot\u2019s program supplies large corporates with innovation strategies and is currently working with the likes of NRMA, ING Direct, HCF and Simplot.<\/p>\n

The organisation, which was founded three years ago, recently acquired Melbourne-based accelerator AngelCube<\/a> and announced plans to inject up to $10 million into the local ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Lawson says most of her career has centred on connecting businesses of different sizes and she will be bringing this to her new role.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften different agendas or businesses come through in a way so that you create something truly remarkable that wouldn\u2019t happen without that partnership,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of startups is that they\u2019re rule-breakers and rule-makers. That\u2019s precisely why new ideas come through them \u2013 they don\u2019t have any restrictions and move at a completely different speed to corporates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson says Slingshot\u2019s offering is unrivalled in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that we do that\u2019s really unique in the ecosystem is that we have a formal program that is directed and funded from the corporate with a specific theme around innovation that the corporate is actually looking for,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just an investment \u2013 that can run out very quickly. We\u2019re using these two enormous market forces for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of aggression between corporations and startups, who are wanting to take over the world. But there\u2019s an innate beauty with what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a corporate sitting behind us and we\u2019re completely agnostic of sector. We work with all corporates across all sectors to give startups of Australia the greatest chance of success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slingshot chairman Gary Flowers says the accelerator\u2019s new CEO will help guide the company through a period of rapid growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaren\u2019s appointment further strengthens Slingshot\u2019s market positioning as Australia\u2019s leading accelerator and business generator,\u201d Flower says.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe will bring invaluable guidance and expertise to the role, having transformed complex organisations and created new platforms and marketplaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur accelerator programs, scale-up initiatives and corporate partnerships will flourish under her stewardship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,<\/em>LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slingshot has appointed former CareerOne boss Karen Lawson as its new CEO as the corporate accelerator prepares to enter a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38510"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}