SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear is to step down as chief executive of the $2.5 billion SaaS business to be replaced by US-based Kelly Vohs.
With the online workplace safety monitoring business on course for an IPO, the change of leadership firms the likelihood that SafetyCulture will be listed in the US.
SafetyCulture raised $165 million on a $2.5 billion valuation in September, down from $2.7 billion a year earlier but confirming it as one of Australia’s leading venture-backed technology companies.
Focused on growth, SafetyCulture recorded a $36 million loss for the 2024 financial year. The company now employs more than 900 people globally.
Anear, who will become executive chairman, is still SafetyCulture’s largest investor holding just under 25% of the company. Blackbird Ventures is one of the company’s largest investors.
Airtree Ventures led the September investment round making its biggest ever initial investment. Airtree partner Kell Reily said the investment was being made at an “inflection point” in the company’s progress.
Vohs, who will take over as chief executive on 1 January, has spent ten years leading Blackstone portfolio companies. He was most recently chief executive of real estate business LivCor.
Vohs said he was “excited by the clear mandate I’ve been given to drive the company forward toward its next big milestones”.
Anear said that 20 years after founding Safety Culture in the garage of his Townsville home, it was the right time for him to pass on the leadership role.
“The business has never been in a better position and I’m incredibly confident in Kelly and the senior leadership team’s ability to continue to build a world-changing company that improves the lives of hundreds of millions of workers every day,” he said.
Image: SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear with Kelly Vohs who will take over as chief executive in the new year.