Antler Australia

Antler Investor Memo Series: Balo is creating a 24/7 help desk for enterprise software users

- September 26, 2024 4 MIN READ
Balo cofounders Michael Joo and Yomi Joseph

Early stage investment company Antler Australia recently backed a new cohort of startups as part of its ongoing program to build great local tech companies.

Startup Daily is sharing the details of each venture in the “Antler Investor Memos” series, which is designed to give you a quick, sharp understanding of the startups and people involved, with many seeking follow up capital following Antler’s initial pre-seed investment.

Company: Balo

Founded: April 2024
Stage: Pre-seed
Founders: Michael Joo (CEO) and Yomi Joseph (CTO)
Current investors: Antler
Currently raising: Yes

The Business

The enterprise software market is enormous, with some of the biggest players, including Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP, commanding a large share of the global market. The market for these software services is projected to grow from over USD$230B today to USD$500B by 2030 – bolstered by advancements in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.

Despite this massive demand, companies of all sizes struggle to get timely, affordable, and high-quality support for the complex systems they rely on daily.

Traditionally, when enterprise software users need help, they have limited options. They can seek assistance from internal teams, which may lack specialised expertise; use vendor support, which often has long lead times; or turn to expensive third-party agencies, consulting firms, and freelancers. This fragmented, time-consuming, and costly process leaves companies underserved and screaming for better solutions.

Enter Balo, a company pioneering a new category called Expert-Driven Help Desks (EDHD). Balo’s 24/7 Enterprise Software Help Desk connects users to the top 1% of vetted experts globally. Launching for Salesforce initially, Balo will expand into the other enterprise software markets.

CEO Michael Joo has over 13 years of expertise in the Salesforce ecosystem, with experience spanning from developer to building Salesforce agencies. Working client-side and at agencies, he has spearheaded over 200 Salesforce implementations, giving him unparalleled insight into customer pain points.

CTO Yomi Joseph complements this with over 10 years of technical experience, building digital products for major Australian brands like Target and Tabcorp. The two came into the Antler residency with the same startup idea and the rest is history. 

Balo’s pay-as-you-go model ensures companies only pay for the time they need, providing a cost-efficient, scalable solution that co-exists with traditional methods.

Balo’s real-time view of experts’ availability also allows users to connect with someone immediately to get the timely support they need. This significantly reduces the friction and expense of accessing specialised support at the highest quality.

Antler investment thesis

“Balo’s business model solves an urgent pain point in the Salesforce ecosystem and sets the stage for Balo’s expansion into other enterprise software ecosystems, such as Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP,” says Mike Abbott, Partner at Antler in Australia.

“What also stands out to us is the calibre of the founding team. Michael and Yomi bring deep expertise and complementary skill sets, solving a large gap in software support they know intimately from their own experience.”

Traction/milestones

Since launching in April, Balo has attracted over 350 users eager to access their service, demonstrating a clear demand in the market for fast, affordable Salesforce support.

From their research, they found that 40-50% of these enterprise software customers are Small-to-Medium Businesses who struggle to maximise their software investments due to reasons such as limited budgets, the expensive costs of outsourcing, and hiring and retaining top employees.

Balo is already curating a high-quality talent pool ready to deliver specialised support to these software users, with over 460 top-tier Salesforce experts on the waitlist and 32 Salesforce agencies signed up to pilot Balo’s platform. These early adopters will provide early validation and customer feedback as they refine their product. 

To ensure users can trust they will always get high quality support, Balo has implemented a rigorous vetting process to identify top experts. This includes a final interview with a member of the Review Board before being accepted into the platform.

Latest funding

Pre-Seed from Antler

Use of Funds

Balo’s primary focus is to get its MVP to market, with a launch set for the end of October 2024. 

A significant portion of Antler’s investment will be used to build the platform’s technical infrastructure, ensuring it can scale as demand grows. The founders aim to develop a seamless, easy-to-use interface for users and experts alike, with built-in AI capabilities and integrations directly into Salesforce and Slack.

A smaller percentage of the funds is reserved for marketing and customer acquisition.

Balo’s strategy includes working closely with its pilot agencies to refine the product and generate early case studies, while also expanding its user base through targeted outreach in the Salesforce ecosystem.

The founders say

“Antler’s ongoing involvement and support post-investment has been invaluable for us as the team is always available to answer any questions and connect you to the right people when needed,” says CEO Michael Joo.

“We learnt through the residency there is a lot more to building a VC-backed company and the teachings have guided us to make the right decisions, especially in the early stages of building the business. 

“We’ve seen firsthand how difficult it is to get timely, high-quality support in the Salesforce ecosystem, and we know that solving this problem will help businesses unlock more value from their software investments.

“Our vision at Balo is to unlock every enterprise software with a 24/7 help desk powered by the top experts in the world. We also expect this new category we coined ‘Expert-Driven Help Desks’ to contribute significantly to the evolution of the gig economy.”

What’s next?

Antler, a global early-stage VC, is revealing its latest investments in ambitious Australian founders and startups. With over 120 investments in early-stage companies, Balo is one of its most recent portfolio companies.

 

  • StartupDaily is the official media partner of Antler in Australia.