Meet the judges for the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund

LAST UPDATED: Jul 30, 2024

The entries are rolling in for the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund and we’ve been thrilled by the response. Supporting and celebrating small businesses is at the core of our purpose and we look forward to helping another 28 organisations this year as they achieve the next level of success. 

Today, we’re excited to reveal the country and global judging panels who will help select the winners of the 2024 Xero Beautiful Business Fund. Our judges are made up of leaders across accounting, small businesses, nonprofits and some of our amazing global and local partners. 

The country judging panel will help us select four winners from each country. Each country winner will receive NZD $20,000 in funding (or local equivalent). Then four global winners will be selected from the pool of country winners. Learn about the judges along with some tips for getting started with your entry and how you can make it stand out.

Don’t miss the 27 August deadline

A big thank you to everyone who’s entered the Xero Beautiful Business Fund so far. You have a few more weeks to get your entry in before the deadline on 27 August 2024 at 5:00pm NZT.

Australia judges

• Theo Konstantas – Sales Director, Australia, Xero 
• Kathy Wilson – Co-founder, Suitcase Records
• Natalie Lennon – Founder & Director, Two Sides Accounting
• Deep Banerji – Chief Product Officer, Deputy
• Syarna Gilmour – Senior Account Manager, Xero 

Tip: There are four funding categories with no limit on how many of them you enter. If you think you qualify for each of them, go all out. You just need to complete an entry form and upload a video for each category you wish to enter – each video must be specific to that category.

New Zealand judges

• Bridget Snelling – Country Manager, New Zealand, Xero 
• Madeleine Hakaraia de Young – Director, Māoriland Film Festival
• Jenny Rudd – Founder, Dispute Buddy
• Manoli Aerakis – Director, Malloch McClean
• Andrew Punnett – Senior Engineer, Xero

Tip: When creating your pitch video, tell us about yourself and how you got into business. We’d love to learn more about you as a business owner and your founding story.

Singapore judges

• Koren Wines – Regional Director, Asia, Xero 
• Ken Leong – Director, 361 Degree Group
• Vicky Hwang – CEO, ATLAS – Chyau Fwu Wine & Spirits 
• Lee Yee Fung – Chief Smart Technologies Officer, Singapore Business Federation 
• Matilda Chong – Onboarding Specialist, Xero 

Tip: Need inspiration for your video entry? Learn about our 2023 winners to see what other businesses are doing.

UK judges

• Kate Hayward – Country Manager, UK, Xero 
• Vangelis Kyriazis – Co-founder and CEO, Syft Analytics
• Ravi Shah – Partner, Vinod Shah & Co
• Michelle Ovens CBE – Founder, Small Business Britain
• Nabeel Nauzer – Commercial Operations Analyst, Xero

Tip: It’s important to be future-focused in your pitch video. In each category, we’re looking for businesses or organisations with a clear path forward that demonstrate how they will use the funds. We want to hear how it’s part of your long-term business strategy or goals and how the funding will help your aspirations. The more specific you are with future plans and ideas, the better!

South Africa judges

• Colin Timmis – Country Manager, South Africa, Xero
• Rushaan Toefy – Owner, Rushaan Toefy Financial Services
• Bulelani Balabala – Founder, Township Entrepreneurs Alliance
• Susan van der Valk – Partner, MGI Bass Gordon
• Sarah Minns – National Account Manager, Xero

Tip: Don’t worry, your pitch video doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be as simple as a self-recorded video on your phone. Check out some of our tips for creating your video.

US judges

• Ben Richmond – Managing Director, North America, Xero
• Claire Van Holland – Founder and Principal, CV Ledger
• Shahir Daud – Founder & Executive Producer and Shivali Gulab, Operations Director, SuvaNova
• Sarah Prevost – Founder, Mintage Labs
• Krista Simpson – Operations Specialist, Xero

Tip: In your video, keep it genuine, keep it fun and most importantly, just be yourself!

Canada judges

• Ben Richmond – Managing Director, North America, Xero
• Tony McGregor – CPA, Partner, Freelandt Caldwell Reilly LLP
• Melissa Lenos – Founder, King Business Solutions Inc
• Jeff Blundell – Director of Communications, SciMar
• Sid Bhattacharjee – Senior Product Designer, Xero

Tip: Show us how the funding will impact your business or organisation. We want to see how your business is aligned to the funding category you’ve selected. Having concrete examples in your video will help show the judges how you’ll make your mark as a winner of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund.

“As a business owner myself, I understand the challenges of wearing so many hats and experiencing the highs and lows of running a business. I’m excited to support and celebrate exceptional founders who have trusted themselves to take a leap to start something new. That’s a huge accomplishment in itself.”

Melissa Laurie, Founder & Managing Director of Oysterly and 2024 xero beautiful business fund Global judge

Global judges

We have also selected a global judging panel. Our global judges will select four global winners from the pool of country winners from around the world. Those global winners will each receive an additional NZD $50,000 in funding (or local equivalent), in addition to their funding awarded at a country level. 

• Sukhinder Singh Cassidy – CEO, Xero
• Mike Cohen – Global Head of Partnerships, Square
• Kate Dundas –  Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Australia
• Melissa Laurie – Founder & Managing Director, Oysterly
• Lara Brennan – Partner, Advisory & Outsourcing, Forvis Mazars
• James Bergin – EGM, Technology Research & Advocacy, Xero

Melissa Laurie is the founder and managing director of Oysterly, a social video agency that specialises in creating user-generated content (UGC) for leading brands and a 2023 winner of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund in the ‘Trailblazing with technology’ category. She’s a judge this year and shares what it means to her and what she’s looking forward to seeing from the entries: “As a business owner myself, I understand the challenges of wearing so many hats and experiencing the highs and lows of running a business. I’m excited to support and celebrate exceptional founders who have trusted themselves to take a leap to start something new. That’s a huge accomplishment in itself.”

“Having been an applicant last year, I know how challenging it can be to stay within the 90-second time cap because you naturally want to share so much about your business,” Melissa adds. “I had to think carefully about how to make my message stand out. I’m looking forward to seeing how this year’s applicants tackle this challenge and clearly outline the impact they’ll make with the prize money. I also look forward to seeing their passion and understanding how the business owners intend to use the Xero Beautiful Business Fund.”