ACS has three innovation labs in Australia – Harbour City Labs in Sydney, River City Labs in Brisbane, and Bay City Labs in Melbourne.
‘A Look in the Labs’ is an Information Age series profiling the high-growth startups based in our labs – what they do, their ambitions, and the advantages they’ve gained being based at the ACS Innovation Labs.

This week, we talk to Matt Brennan, CEO of TradeNow.

Business TradeNow

Established 2019

CEO Matt Brennan

Based at River City Labs, Brisbane

Online at Website

What does your business do and how does it help people or other businesses?

TradeNow enables all qualified trade businesses to offer customers ‘pay later’ finance for their services to provide a flexible payment option to customers and improve invoice payment to businesses.

How did the idea for your business come about?

Since leaving school I’ve worked in the trade industry and saw businesses and customers face the same problem for more than 13 years. I was sitting down for lunch with fellow tradies one day talking about these same issues and the TradeNow journey began.

Was being an entrepreneur always one of your life’s goals and what have you learned about being an entrepreneur?

Not a goal as such, although it became something I found myself returning to – a new problem and a new idea. Along the way, I learned to never stop learning.

What has been the biggest challenge and the biggest milestone for your business so far?

As a startup the challenges keep on coming. Since achieving the milestone of launching our MVP [minimal viable product], we now face the challenge of growth and scaling our businesses as projected.

Where would you like your business to be in two years?

I’d like TradeNow to have reached our growth and financial targets within Australia and have begun expanding into other countries.

What is the best business or life advice you’ve ever been given?

Don't wait to perfect the idea before you launch, or someone else will beat you to it.

What made you decide to move into the ACS Innovation Labs and how has it assisted your business?

Working with River City Labs in Brisbane has provided a great opportunity to continue growing TradeNow by accessing mentors and training sessions.

For more information on the ACS Innovation Labs, visit the websites of Harbour City Labs in Sydney, River City Labs in Brisbane, and Bay City Labs in Melbourne.
If you're interested in joining successful Australian businesses in the ACS Innovation Labs, email scale@acs.org.au for details.