The rise of Rebotify.
When the team behind Rebotify entered the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) in 2017, they had one enterprise client. Today, they have eight major contracts secured.
For Rebotify’s founders Han Ma and Jack Qian, it’s been a whirlwind twelve months with some outstanding achievements, but it’s been their personal growth, as much as professional, that they believe speaks to the true richness of their MAP experience.
“When we entered MAP, we came from a very different background to most of the other founders. We were both from a technical, rather a business background, and English is our second language so we came with a lot of questions,” said Jack.
“We were constantly hearing new business words and we weren’t quite sure what they meant, but it’s such a friendly and supportive place that everyone made sure we felt comfortable to ask.”
Friends and colleagues for over 10 years, Han and Jack had originally set up Rebotify to target small-to-medium businesses as they believed their limited budgets and small teams would greatly benefit from an AI chatbot to manage their customer flows across each platform.
What, however, the MAP program helped them realise was that whilst their heart may have resided with the SME market, it was the enterprise audience who were really pining for their services.
They decided to shift their focus and were soon on the path to success. It was a very savvy business decision and now sees them with an ever growing client list that featuring names including AGL, Open Universities Australia, Tiffany and Co, BUPA and many more.
“Before we entered MAP a lot of our decisions had been driven by intuition. It was simply our thoughts and instincts,” said Han.
“What MAP taught us is that every business decision needs to be driven by data. They helped us see that the enterprise clients were where our greatest opportunity lie, and it was why we shifted our focus.
It was the right decision.”
To help Rebotify navigate this new path, the MAP team connected Han and Jack with a number of mentors whom they would meet with regularly to discuss strategy, tactics and whatever challenges they were facing.
Among these mentors were Sam Pratt, Guy Givoni and Elena Kelareva, who each represented expertise across key focus areas of Rebotify’s business.
“Sam helped us with the B2B world and how we present at an enterprise level, Guy made us think more deeply at a B2C level, and then Elena is an ex-Googler so she comes at problems from a technical background just like us,” said Han.
“They really helped us with our strategy, and understanding how to sell into businesses and were a big help with our sales pitch and how we should present ourselves.”
The team believes being part of the MAP program really helped them during their negotiations and became a key part of their presentation to prospective clients.
“When we met with partners we told them we were part of the University of Melbourne’s Startup Accelerator, and I think that really helped us a lot,” laughs Han.
The team have become strong advocates of the program, and really part of the furniture at MAP where they have remained in the offices of the city location long after the conclusion of the 2017 program. They are greatly loved for their energy and positive attitude, and are all too happy to help the other startups whilst continuing to grow their own business.
Asked why they love it so much, Han provides two simple reasons.
“One, it’s such a friendly and supportive place. There’s lot of people with different backgrounds and skills so we often get a lot of help from them, and we can help them as well.
“Secondly it such a fun and competitive environment. There’s 10 teams, so if another team has a new customer every month it makes us want to make sure we have two. That peer pressure pushes us in a fun way every day,” laughs Han.
It’s almost a year since Han and Jack submitted their application for the MAP Startup Accelerator and they have some simple advice for others considering applying to be part of the MAP18 Startup Accelerator
“Just apply. Even if you have an idea and you don’t think it’s that good, the MAP team may see opportunities you haven’t even considered and they can help you get the most of out your thinking.
“Whatever your idea and business is today, it might be different tomorrow, so just give it a shot as the MAP program will sharpen your thinking and the community you’ll become a part of is incredible.”
To learn more about Rebotify visit their website, and to apply to be part of the MAP 18 Accelerator Program visit the website to learn more today.
