KPMG’s High Growth Ventures wants to hear from startup founders about their mental and physical health as part of its annual checkup

KPMG Australia’s High Growth Ventures is conducting its annual research into the physical and mental wellbeing of startup founders and is keen to hear from them as the sector prepares to gear up for 2021.

Amanda Price, Head of High Growth Ventures, said the personal performance of founders is a major factor for the success of a startup, so identifying ways to support them is critical.

This will be the third “Fitness, Fulfilment and Foresight” report by KPMG High Growth Ventures and will canvas a challenging year for the sector and Australian business in general. The 2019 report concluded that there was a lack of focus on the physical and mental wellbeing of founders, despite the high stress they work under. The findings of the 2020 survey will  once again be shared with the wider ecosystem to improve support accross the sector.

You can fill out the 2020 survey here.

Price said that with the disruption caused by the pandemic, tracking the performance of Australian startups and the health and wellness of their founders is more important than ever.

“We hope the findings will help all of us re-imagine the support founders receive from the startup ecosystem in the ‘new normal’,” she said.

“As ecosystem leaders, we need to help founders achieve resiliency, navigate through difficult economic tides and successfully transition to high-performance scaleup leaders.”

KPMG High Growth Ventures Australia is also reaching out to VCs, co-working communities and other organisations supporting the startup ecosystem to provide responses.

The 2019 report surveyed 167 founders and 35 VC firm representatives and revealed that while 40% of founders were satisfied with the progress of their startup, only 22% were satisfied with their stress and mental wellness. Just 20% had seen a counsellor or therapist in the past year, and 70% had spent zero on mental health.

The results helped shape the conversation around founder wellbeing and its link to startup performance and past editions helped VCs review their portfolio and improve support to founders.

The 2020 Fitness, Fulfilment and Foresight survey closes on 30 November, 2020, with the report due to be released in early 2021.

To take part in the survey click on this link.