INTERVIEW
held strong. “That led to one of the biggest
lessons. We weren’t willing to devalue
the people who had backed us [from the
earlier days].”
The funding was timed to coincide
with granting of a patent over what is now
Nexba’s core asset, its sugar-free sweet-
ener. The capital raising was supported
by a personal friend, Steven Maarbani, a
co-founder of the equity investor platform
VentureCrowd. That was also seen as the
ideal time to expand its executive team and
the business itself. An advisory board was
put in place, including Phil Baldock, former
managing director of Jim Beam Asia Pacif-
ic, Paul Zahra, former David Jones CEO,
and John Bacon, Link Healthcare founder.
Despite its rapid growth, Nexba is
nowhere near the scale of its major com-
petitors. What is the end game? Could it be
bought by a multinational player, as many
beverage start-ups have been in the past?
“We should be able to maintain accel-
erated growth for the next three to five
years, so long as we add value to retailers,”
says Douglas. “Over that time, diet and
sugar-free categories should die. If we can
create products that taste like sugar but
are naturally sugar free, then we should
become the dominant percentage of the
category. That would be a seriously
exciting place.
“The great thing is to build a business.
We are more energised than we ever have
been. The value proposition, going to the
UK and winning Sainsbury’s, happened
very quickly. We want to continue doing
that, but what is the best way? Should we
consider serious growth capital partners?
We could use the Australian business in
2020 and lift our debt to fund our invest-
ment into the UK. We are also being
approached to meet potential growth capi-
tal partners, whether they are private equi-
ty, trade, or something else. It’s a matter of
finding the best people who want to join
the journey for the right reasons.
“I believe in collaborative partnerships.
For us to make genuine impact on scale, we
ultimately need partners, at the right time
in the right markets. The exciting thing for
us is that it has taken us nine years to get to
where we are today in Australia. Now we
can go into a new market and do it there
within a few years. That’s the opportunity,
and that is there because we are working
with big partners.”
Sugar-free future ... Troy Douglas sees exciting
possibilities for growing the business.The great thing is to build a business. Now it’s
a matter of finding the best people who want to
join the journey for the right reasons. GEORGE FETTING