Searching in Australia?

February 20, 2026

by Luke Tatone from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Portland, OR, USA

We're working hard to grow the Searchfunder community in Australia. Please take a moment to introduce yourself below. Some questions to consider answering: Where are you based? What is your background? What's your buy box? Have you acquired yet? Where do you need the most help right now? Where can you provide help to others? Anything else on your mind? We'll be able to have much deeper discussions if you can provide as much detail as possible. Be sure to tag (@) when replying to comments to make sure your sub-comments are read. If you know anyone else that should join, please forward this post or invite them with your unique referral link here: https://www.searchfunder.com/feed?openmodal=showrefer Searchfunder is now permanently free in Australia. Please help us grow the community! :-)

Reply by a searcher
from University of Melbourne in Melbourne VIC, Australia

Hi everyone, searcher turned owner here...I've recently closed on my first acquisition, a 20 person machine shop manufacturing precision parts from metals and plastics for a range of industries. We are maintaining and rebuilding Australian industry capability one precision part at a time. My buy box was fairly tight - had to be a manufacturer in Melbourne with greater than $1 million EBITDA. I closed within 10 months from starting my search, mostly broker leads (the sellers show clear intent) and a little proprietary. I have a deep manufacturing, ops, and supply chain background across 5 continents. I'm looking to scale the business through organic and inorganic growth, my ETA thesis remains intact, with a clear and present generational transition underway... Always happy to connect to discuss the journey, specific difficulties within the Australian context, service providers, etc and even just to shoot the breeze on your journey, frustrations, opportunities, and specific challenges. If you know of any parts manufacturers looking to transition then put me in touch.

Reply by an member
from University of Melbourne in Melbourne VIC, Australia

Hi Everyone, Nice to meet you all, I’m based in Melbourne. Background is commerce student at UniMelb with previous few roles with operators and founders in the Aussie SME community. Not a founder but I am interested in this space and building something in the future, but I would love to meet more others in the EtA space.

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