Launchpad Australia
Expanding Innovative Products into Australia & New Zealand
Launchpad Australia is a selective initiative helping a small number of international companies land and grow in ANZ through trusted connections, strategic guidance and on-the-ground business experience.
Get in touchWhat we do
Practical, high-value market entry
We work alongside you to open the right doors and convert them into real partnerships.
Tailored introductions
Warm access to investors, distributors, government partners, financiers, or end users, based on your goals and sector.
Negotiation support
Hands-on help from first meeting to agreement execution: preparation, context, and coordination with counsel when needed.
Real-world traction
Focus on tangible outcomes: pilots, licensing partnerships, investment conversations, and customer acquisition.
Who we work with
Select companies with market-ready products
You don’t have to be a startup by definition, but you do need a product the market can see, touch, and get excited about.
Eligibility
- Physical, tangible products, or technology clearly tied to a physical product or real-world application.
- Market-ready: validated, tested, with capacity to scale internationally.
- Open to a curated, relationship-first expansion path.
Not in scope
- Service-only or purely software/SaaS businesses without a clear physical component.
- Idea-stage projects or unvalidated prototypes.
*Launchpad Australia is invite-only or via recommendation. We onboard a limited number of companies at a time.*
This opportunity is not about investment or acquisition, but about a market-entry opportunity.
Why Australia & New Zealand
Transparent, opportunity-rich markets
A stable, English-speaking environment with strong demand for high-quality, sustainable products, and a gateway to Asia-Pacific growth.
Business-friendly
Clear regulations, strong IP protection, and open innovation policies.
APAC gateway
Ideal launchpad for exploring wider Asia-Pacific opportunities.
Trust & transparency
Relationship-driven culture that values authenticity and delivery.
Demand for products
Real appetite for imported, high-quality physical products.
Who we are
The people behind Launchpad Australia
One of us has spent decades running businesses in Australia and New Zealand. The other has spent more than fifteen years building the network that brings the right companies to the table.
Peter Sardi
He has spent more than 30 years running businesses across Australia, New Zealand and Europe, in retail, tourism, aviation, e-commerce and property. He is based in Melbourne and has built most of his career on the ground in ANZ.
In 1998 he founded Bakalory Pacific Travel in New Zealand and grew it into a respected player in the country's inbound tourism market. Back in Europe he led the Hungarian launch of Koodza, a Decathlon Group retail chain, as Country Manager, and ran the Northern Europe region for Malév Hungarian Airlines.
At Decathlon Australia he helped shape a ten-year store network strategy across four states and advised on five store openings. Today he is Head of Network Strategy at Snooze, looking after expansion, franchising, property and leasing across its 80-store network.
That is the local knowledge he brings to every Launchpad company: how deals, leases and partnerships get negotiated in ANZ, and what it takes to open and run a business there.
"My skills and experience deliver results."
Péter Kovács
He is the founder of NetworkSmith, after more than 15 years building relationships across the global startup ecosystem. His work rests on one idea: companies reach new markets through trusted networks, not cold outreach.
He co-founded three companies and has since exited all of them. Founded in 2013, the Global Startup Awards is the world's largest independent startup ecosystem competition, covering more than 150 countries. IseeQ, founded in 2012, is a specialist headhunting agency for scaleups and large companies across Europe and beyond. Budapest Startup Safari, which he started in 2016, grew into Hungary's largest international startup conference during his years running it.
In Launchpad Australia he works the other side of the move: finding companies with market-ready products and opening the first conversations for them. He also advises founders and innovation programs on market entry and is an angel investor in five companies across Europe and Asia.
"People tend to think they understand a market, but never as well as someone who is local."
Local expertise × global network
We turn curated introductions into concrete outcomes.
Ready to explore ANZ?
If you have a market-ready physical product, or a technology clearly tied to one, let’s talk about fit.
Get in touch