This Aussie Tech Startup’s Growth Began at a Co-Working Space
Introduction
Applying for a traditional auto loan is mired in risk and uncertainty – but a Sydney startup is changing the game. In partnership with Desk Space, Driva’s co-founder unpacks the business’s rapid growth and how much of its early success sprang from its co-working space.
Stroll into a car dealership and you might just walk out with a lacklustre financing deal. Even worse, you could apply for finance and wait weeks, only to find out you’ve been turned down – adding a negative mark to your credit report for years to come.
That’s exactly what happened to Scott Montarello, who had just started a new job in 2017 and couldn’t be approved for financing for exactly that reason. But he didn’t know that, and neither did the employee at the dealership. That disconnect inspired Montarello and William Brown to start Driva in 2019.
“We realised it’s a super clunky manual process for most consumers trying to get financed through a dealership,” says Brown. “The combination of the [personal] customer experience [Scott] had and the industry experience we had through our jobs is what led us to quit our jobs and tackle the car finance market.”
Just four years later, Driva has a staff of 65 in Australia and close to two dozen overseas. Brown and Montarello knew each other from their time at the University of Western Australia a decade prior, and they consolidated their respective experiences in investment banking and consulting to create a smooth digital platform that matched car loan seekers with the right lenders. There’s no annoying wait and no lingering credit blemish either.
“For customers who are eligible, we’ll tell them exactly which lenders are going to give them the best rate,” Brown says. “Then they can apply seamlessly through our online platform, which will then share information with the chosen lender once we’re confident they will be approved.”
It’s essentially like a mortgage broker for car loans. Brown drew directly on his stint in investment banking, working with lenders and insurance companies in the financial services industry. The idea was there, but the pair needed a workplace to really allow the business to blossom. Enter Desk Space, the Darlinghurst co-working space that offers a nurturing hub for growing tech startups and all manner of other fledgling business concepts.
“We worked out of Scott’s spare bedroom for as long as we could,” Brown says. “We checked out a bunch of different spaces and found many of them to be a bit corporate and not as flexible. That’s when we stumbled across Desk Space, which was quite boutique.”
Moving into Desk Space’s multi-tiered facilities after Driva scored its first customer, Brown and Montarello were joined by Viktor Shlapkin, now head of engineering. In the new office, the team grew from three to around 30 in less than three years, making organic connections and creating community with fellow companies. Driva enlisted the talents of website developers Woolly Mammoth and other small businesses also working at Desk Space, partnerships that were made possible from working side by side in the space
