"I'm a workaholic - in a healthy way" - Atomic chief executive Jo Haanstra.
"I'm a workaholic - in a healthy way" - Atomic chief executive Jo Haanstra.
The software of a firm run by one of New Zealand’s top former netballers plays a key role in the fight against scams — and it just raised $2.5 million from backers including Rod Drury and Movac to further its push into Australia and Britain.
Atomic makes messaging software for clients including ANZ, BNZ, Westpac, KiwiBank, Mercury, Z Energy, NZTA and Te Whatu Ora.
It lets them contact customers via their apps — which are trusted — rather than via text message, which is a medium often used by fraudsters imitating a real firm.
The firm has multiple crossover points with its longtime backer Drury.
Atomic chief executive Jo Haanstra met Drury — whom she regards as a mentor — in the early 2000s, when he was running Aftermail (which he would sell in 2006, the same year he founded Xero).
She was a semi-professional netballer for the Capital Shakers, supplementing her income as a national sales director for a firm called Duo, which distributed IT security products.
Atomic was founded in 2014 by ex-Xero staffers chief operating officer Alastair Grigg and design director Darryl Gray, and BNZ head of online sales Ben Pujji.
Drury backed their efforts, with early Xero investors Sam Morgan and Rowan Simpson and Xero’s original head of design Philip Fierlinger also chipping in funds. Former Xero chief product officer Anna Curzon joined Drury on Atomic’s board.
Haanstra — who took a top cybersecurity director role with PwC after leaving a long career at Duo — took the reins from Pujji, now chief product officer, last year.
The chief executive spoke to the Herald from Washington DC, where she has been helping her 18-year-old daughter settle in for a basketball scholarship.
While Atomic has a US partner, its immediate focus is on Australia, where it’s at the proof-of-concept stage with a major bank - yet to be named - and the UK, where a deal is in the works with a major banking platform, whose identity is also still under wraps.
“It’s going to be a pretty big deal for us,” Haanstra says.
She and Drury have also met Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins about creating a “one government” secure, trusted messaging app that people could use to communicate with multiple government agencies — but the project is still at the whiteboarding stage.
“Last year, New Zealand citizens lost $2.3 billion to scams,” Haanstra says, quoting a Netsafe survey.
Rod Drury is backing Atomic.
“Jo is the perfect leader for Atomic’s next phase of growth,” Drury told the Herald.
“It’s exciting to see new leaders emerge who have taken their time to build their careers and create value.”
Asked about her achievements post-sports career, a difficult bridge that not everyone crosses, Haanstra — who also has an 11-year-old — says she is “a workaholic, but in a healthy way”, though she tries to balance work with other commitments.
The comparatively paltry pay from professional netball encouraged her to apply herself to honing her sales and management skills with Duo as she effectively worked two jobs.
Those who follow Drury’s social accounts know he has long groused about the practical limitations of text, let alone its susceptibility to social engineering by the bad guys.
Kiwibank in-app messaging, powered by Atomic.
“I’m very excited about Atomic, they’ve built a fantastic toolset that easily connects enterprises and Government departments to their customers, so it’s poised to ride the next wave of digitising experiences,” he says.
The $2.5m round got top-ups from various existing shareholders. It was led by Drury, with support from Movac, Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1, Xero co-founder Hamish Edwards and others.
It was billed as an extension to a $4.5m Series A raise in 2022, led by Movac and supported by Drury (who is the largest single shareholder according to an April 7 Companies Office update, with a 27% holding, followed by Movac on 20%; others are in single digits.)
The raise was at an undisclosed valuation — although Haanstra concedes that, in keeping with the temper of the times, it was “slightly down” on 2022.
“It’s been a tough year, to be honest, I think for everyone,” she says.
“But we did sign seven new customers last year, including Z and Farmlands. We’re still winning accounts, but to get scale, we really need to go offshore.” Deal news out of the UK and Australia is pending. The US is the next target.
Revenue last year was around $3.5m. Haanstra hopes the firm will get into the black within two years. “We’re aiming for 30% growth this next financial year,” she says.
Atomic has 15 staff, and piling on more is not central to the expansion plans.
“We’re a small team. But, I like it that way because I’ve come from a sporting background of driving at a high-performing team with clear communication, strong collaboration, trust and being laser-focused on results.”
Trust in the team’s culture means everything, she says, sounding for all the world like she’s about to head back out on the court.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
