Jon Brett and Alan Chonowitz, the founders of the Stridecorp Group (Stride), have been involved with private equity and investing in small to medium businesses, including startups, dating back over 30 years, both in Australia and offshore.
As prolific investors in startups and reflecting on their skills and experience, both in selecting investment opportunities and, importantly, working with the relevant management teams to fulfill their aspirations, Jon and Alan decided to create a platform to bring suitable opportunities to a wider network of investors, both wholesale and retail, and StrideEquity was born.
Since the early 2000’s Jon was part of the very successful team at Investec Wentworth Private Equity, and Alan was on that board as well as being a director and executive of Investec Bank in Australia.
Since leaving Investec in 2014 Jon and Alan started Stride and advised companies on investments, arranged co-investments, and directly invested in several companies, including startups.
A very successful example was the role played working together with James Spenceley when he founded Vocus Communications, which was listed via a cash shell controlled by Jon and Alan. Jon was a member of the Vocus board and continued to invest alongside James in several other successful startups/scaleups.
A key point for Stride is to continue adding value to the businesses it supports and help them along their journeys to achieve their aspirations.
Our experience and ongoing support are what we see as a key distinction from some of the other platforms that operate in Australia.
