Young  Rich  lister  Jack  Delosa  has  $2m  for  profitable  businesses  that  will  ‘move  civilisation  forward’  

Published 12 February 2015 21:41,

Updated 13 February 2015 12:31  Jack Delosa . . . ‘Yes the numbers are

important and we want the companies

we invest in to have begun showing

some profitability, but really we invest

in people.’

Founder  of  The  Entourage  business  school,  Jack  Delosa,  has  joined  the  ranks  of  successful  entrepreneurs  seeking  early  equity  in  up-­‐and-­‐comers.    Delosa  and  his  two  silent,  minority  partners  in  The  Entourage  have  pooled  $2  million  with  which  they  intend  to  take  20  per  cent  to  30  per  cent  stakes  in  between  five  and  eight  businesses.  Delosa  was  valued  at  $25  million  by  the  2014  BRW  Young  Rich  list.    The  fund’s  first  investment  is  a  2014  graduate  of  The  Entourage’s  flagship  “Scaleable  and  Saleable”  course,  Jade  Green,  with  her  recruitment  firm  Velocity  Consulting.    Having  previously  opened  new  offices  for  two  other  recruiters,  Green  launched  Velocity  three  years  ago  and  has  bootstrapped  since.  She  will  use  the  Entourage  investment  to  hire  more  staff  in  Sydney  and  open  a  Melbourne  office  this  year,  with  a  target  of  being  the  largest  specialist  sales  recruiter  in  the  Asia  Pacific  region  by  2021.    “I  like  to  think  we’re  not  typical  suit-­‐and-­‐tie  investors,”  Delosa  says.  “Yes  the  numbers  are  important  and  we  want  the  companies  we  invest  in  to  have  begun  showing  some  profitability,  but  really  we  invest  in  people.  We  want  them  to  align  with  us  as  a  values-­‐driven  organisation,  to  have  a  sense  of  purpose  about  moving  civilisation  forward  with  whatever  they  do.”    While  technology  companies  won’t  be  excluded  from  his  radar,  Delosa  says  they  are  well-­‐served  by  other  investors  –  he  namechecks  Blackbird  Ventures,  Startmate,  BlueChilli,  Dominet  Digital  and  Pollenizer  –  and  he  will  lean  toward  businesses  in  other  sectors.    Delosa’s  private  investment  portfolio  includes  stakes  in  life  sciences  company  QBiotics  and  a  pre-­‐IPO  investment  in  Martin  Jetpack.    Potential  investees  can  apply  to  the  Entourage  Growth  Fund  here.