Zendesk launches in Australia with promise to aid start-ups

Software firm Zendesk has launched its Australian office with a pledge to help start-ups through some of the country’s top incubators.

The company, which was launched in Denmark in 2007, has started up its Melbourne with an eight strong team, headed by regional chief Michael Hansen.

Zendesk has 1,200 customers in the Asia-Pacific region, 700 of them in Australia, including Lonely Planet. The company provides cloud-based customer help desk software for businesses.

Mikkel Svane, CEO of Zendesk, says the Australian office will double in size over the next year and will embody an entrepreneurial culture.

“Michael will have the freedom the office as his own start-up,” he says. “We will provide him with all the supports he needs, but you have to do what works for the region you are in.”

“Australia has a very stable economy and it is a great country to do business in. Potentially it can be a very important region for us, more than the 10-15% of our business that it currently accounts for.”

Svane says that he expects more competition in the help desk software space, adding: “We’ve done well because the major players wouldn’t reinvent themselves and we had the freedom to innovate.”

“Companies now realise how important customer service is. It’s now a revenue centre for businesses, if they value their customers properly.”

“Australia is a country that has quickly adapted to the new service paradigm. We expect other businesses to take notice of this space and grow quickly.”

Zendesk has marked its arrival in Australia by offering a free one-year subscription to its service to start-ups involved with various incubators.

“Having been a small start-up ourself, we recognise and are thankful for everyone who helped us along the way,” says Svane.

“To help other entrepreneurs, we are pleased to announce that we are now offering a free one-year Zendesk Plus+ Plan to start-ups affiliated with incubators such as HackFwd, Seedcamp, Startup Weekend and StartupBootcamp.”

For more information on the ‘Zendesk Loves Startups’ program, click here.