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Founder & CEO
David A. Collard
David A. Collard is a Manhattan-based global business CEO and entrepreneur running companies that operate across multiple industries with a focus on advanced manufacturing and innovation generating products and services for the B2C, B2B, and B2G markets.
Transition to the U.S.
At 26, David relocated to PwC New York as a Manager within its Banking and Capital Markets practice. This group is highly competitive within the firm and has produced the three current and former U.S. and Global PwC leaders. The group’s clients include such firms as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and American Express.
David went on to specialize in investment banking and capital markets, with a focus on financial instruments, traditional and alternative asset trading platforms, corporate governance and tax structuring, portfolio valuation, and strategic initiatives (M&A and JVs), which included mastering the complex world of U.S. regulations coming out of the financial crisis reforms in the early-2000s.
Admission to Partnership
David became the youngest Partner in PwC New York headquarters’ history at the age of 32 where he was soon signing opinions on some of the world’s largest broker-dealer clients and building his executive network through interactions with c-suite and presentations to his clients’ boards. He developed a trusted advisor relationship with a number of New York’s well-known banking-sector titans through his consistent communication and ability to see strategic opportunity or risk.
Taking calculated risk
A desire to always be challenged saw David take his biggest, yet calculated risk in 2019 when he withdrew from his partner position with PwC, to pursue his entrepreneurial passion. David is a rare breed of entrepreneur, one who combines visionary foresight and creativity with business discipline and a proven ability to execute at the highest level in U.S. and international markets.
This drive saw David acquire an Australian company on the verge of insolvency - quickly turning it around in 2019, then scaling that business to be able to capitalize on new market opportunities.
In 2020, David founded his second portfolio company, building his vision for Scale Facilitation® by taking a micro-sized company to the globe, supplying health products and other commodities during the height of the pandemic – including winning contracts to supply the State Government of Victorian in Australia along with the State’s police force as well as entities across the U.S.
The company’s recent contract award with the State of New York to supply health and safety-related commodities for a standing 5-year term, was pursued by David in part to provide opportunities to other Australian companies.
Since then, he has patented his own emerging technology platform, within RE-OPEN.COM INC., which integrates with his supply contracts, and has provided notable Australian research institutions, including Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute, the opportunity to scale into the U.S. market with minimal risk.
David now has dozens of companies across multiple continents, hiring close to 100 people with more coming on board every day. He is removing the barriers he faced as a young entrepreneurial thinker, making it his mission to champion innovation for those in Australia who might otherwise find global markets and opportunities out of reach.
New offices in Australia and the U.S.
Scale Facilitation® established an innovation office in Victoria in 2021 and has since filled the initial 30-person footprint. The innovation office is a hub for collaboration with Australian Research Service Providers helping strengthen the pipeline of projects being facilitated. Scale Facilitation® recently committed to an additional office footprint in Victoria which will employ an additional 70 Australians.
David has also secured a multi-year lease for a full upper floor of the World Trade Center complex’s iconic Freedom Tower. This Manhattan base of operations will allow for continued growth and expansion of Scale Facilitation® projects and will also serve as hub to foster and strengthen the US-Australian alliance.
Scale Facilitation® is born
In the process of creating these companies, building secure supply chains, navigating regulation for others, and building a global client base, David has seen first-hand the barriers that companies face, especially ventures in start-up and seed stage.
From funding to exports, from challenging regulatory approvals to bad corporate actors, these obstacles (and the successful navigation of them) led David to pull his enterprise under one offering, a suite of services managed under the firm’s Scale Facilitation® umbrella.
Scale Facilitation® captures the entire innovation continuum from fostering an idea, to early-stage R&D, providing established channels for scaling and commercialization. With a novel funding model influenced by his New York banking sector experience, he brings his unique skill set and experiences, established global networks, and a team of highly skilled scale operators who recently transitioned from the U.S. Special Operations and Australian Special Forces. Scale Facilitation® reduces barriers to commercialization, and most importantly, facilitates pairing the right innovators with the optimal strategic partners who will adopt, and truly scale their innovations.
Access New York™
David’s and his team launched the Access New York™ program, which facilitates Australian revenue stage, small to medium size companies to access the US market. The program involves engaging US MBA students in the Access New York™ program from several leading US academic institutions who provide market analysis and develop market entry strategies for incoming Australian companies.
An independent Economic Impact Analysis (EIA) is conducted on each Australian company and partnerships facilitated with government, research institutions and talent pools. The MBA’s are also exposed to career-defining networking, job opportunities and international business exposure.
Friend Shoring™
David and his team at Scale Facilitation® also have facilitated large- scale advanced manufacturing and innovation partnerships between Australia and the U.S. Recharge Industries™ is a recent example - a large-scale lithium-ion battery cell battery production facility coupled with a bilateral state-of-the-art research partnership. Recharge Industries™ is a ‘Priority Project’ of the Australian Government and has successfully negotiated an industrial relations agreement with the Australian Workers Union. David’s team facilitated numerous talent visas in both Australia and the U.S. to support the project and successfully secured intellectual property and technical know-how from the U.S. to enable a sister manufacturing facility to be established in Australia. The intellectual property portfolio is valued at over USD $500 million.
Recharge Industries™ and Scale Facilitation® also played a major role in securing a competitive AUD $50 million funded research and development program in Australia, along with supporting its U.S. research and technology partner to secure USD $67 million in research funding from the U.S. government.
David and his team have several similar Friend Shoring™ projects underway involving large-scale critical industries such as semiconductors and rare-earth magnets, that will see sister facilities of the U.S. primary facility, established in Australia.
For the U.S. manufacturing and technology firms involved in Friend Shoring™, David has opened access to Australia’s abundant supply chain, including its critical minerals, along with providing alternative sources of capital, healthy union and workforce relations, government support and research partnerships.
Philanthropic
David has established the Scale Facilitation Transition Foundation, a non-profit with arms in both Australia and the U.S. aimed at supporting individuals and communities going through a period of adjustment.
David established the ‘Millionaire 101’ program at his former high school in Australia, funding the education for over 50 students and embedding a business skills and entrepreneurship pathway for a cohort of 200 students each year.
Credentials
David earned his CPA with the University of the State of New York and Chartered Accountancy from the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants. He also holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Banking, Corporate Finance/Advisory, Wealth Management from Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He also holds several other business and accounting degrees.
To connect with David, please click this link to send an email.