Aussie cryptocurrency investment platform recruits CMO
- 06 September, 2021 13:24
Australian cryptocurrency micro-investment platform, Bamboo, has brought on its first chief marketing officer as it looks to capitalise on growing interest in the next-generation digital currency.
Former Xero head of digital marketing and sales, Josh Thillagaratnam, has joined Bamboo as chief marketing officer, tasked with leading growth efforts. Thillagaratnam boasts of 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications, largely in tech and fintech companies. His most recent role was as with Zero Latency VR as brand director.
The CMO appointment is one of three made this past month. Former chief marketing officer and global director for Acorns US, Colton Dillion, has also joined Bamboo as a director. His resume includes designing the strategy that helped Acorns, a micro-investing app, grow from scratch to 2 million users.
The third executive appointment is Anna Cheng, former Asia-Pacific growth leader at Spaceship, who will support Bamboo in an advisory capacity. Cheng reportedly played a pivotal role in user acquisition at Spaceship, helping the platform build up over $100 million in assets under management within four months of launch. Today, Spaceship is used by 200,000 Australian investors and has grown to over $1 billion in assets under management.
Cheng also advises another startup, Frendo, and worked as a growth marketing manager at Brighte.
In a statement, Bamboo said it had strategically recruited three team members to bolster its growth efforts and push its exponential user growth rate of 20 per cent month-on-month beyond a six-figure user base. According to the cryptocurrency management company, average user returns have been sitting at 118 per cent since the start of 2021.
“Bamboo has grown its active investors over 11 times in the past nine months. We’ve helped those users save and invest over $9 million in digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum,” said Bamboo CEO, Blake Cassidy. “As we expand, we’re taking our rate of growth up a notch and we see Josh, Colton and Anna to be pivotal in us shifting gears.
“What these three have in common is a track record of growing consumer fintech brands into household names through clever and extremely effective marketing efforts.”
Thillagaratnam said he was looking forward to applying his skill within the digital currency sector.
“I’ve been a big proponent of the role cryptocurrencies will and already are playing in today’s society, so to join the team at Bamboo and lead growth of the brand is the perfect fit,” he said. “It’s always special to be able to work with a company that aligns so closely with your own personal ethos. And when I think about what Bamboo is offering everyday Australians and their long-term investment philosophy, it makes it that much easier to get behind the cause.”
With its platform now firmly embedded, Blake said the next step was achieving scale. Bamboo is in the final stages of a Series A and plans to use the funding to further build local capacity, a self-managed superfund product and to launch into international markets.
“Bamboo has taken years to develop an excellent product, and we’ve seen it deliver incredible results for our users with Now we need to make sure every single Australian hears about what Bamboo is bringing to the table and how we can play a part in their personal finance journey,” Blake added. “I believe wholeheartedly we now have the team to do that.”
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