500-JOB TECH VISION
Rising tech co takes on the world
IT was a few years ago that LiveTiles marketing lead Nick Rameka found himself at a major Microsoft event, knocking up the booth from which the emerging software company was showcasing itself to the tech world.
It was a humbling moment for the company’s global vice-president of marketing.
“I was watching other brands at a big Microsoft event come in with all these third parties and build these beautiful booths,” Mr Rameka told a forum in Geelong this week.
“And I am standing there building this thing with a drill from Bunnings!”
The experience was all part of a rollicking ride, working with the rapidly expanding company that is on a promise to create 500 jobs in Geelong over the long haul.
Two of those have started and a third starts on Monday as LiveTiles prepares to move into its new 450sq m base in Federal Mills Park.
The Geelong team is earmarked to provide digital marketing, sales, technical and operational support to help drive the company’s expansion in the AsiaPacific.
The exciting move adds an ASX-listed company with a head office in New York and presence around the world to Geelong’s evolving technology hub.
Founded by Melbourne pair Karl Redenbach and Peter Nguyen-Brown, LiveTiles mainly provides a one-stop interface to Microsoft’s SharePoint and Office 365 corporate collaboration products.
It provides intelligent workplace solutions by giving developers and business users the tools to create dashboards, employee portals and corporate intranets.
Mr Rameka said the company employed about 30 people some two years ago, but that figure had rapidly increased in the US and attention had turned to launching and building the Geelong-based operation.
It is sure to be a frenetic trip if LiveTiles continues to replicate the hyper growth of recent years, with Geelong guaranteed to be at the epicentre of growth on this side of the world.
“We have around 170 people now and we are