SafetyCulture appoints new chief financial officer as business continues to rapidly grow

Former Goldman Sachs executive director, John Blake, responsible for global business expansion.

Global technology company, SafetyCulture, today announced the appointment of former Goldman Sachs executive director, John Blake, as its new chief financial officer who will be responsible for leading the company’s continued growth across Australia, the UK and the US.  

Blake brings to the role over ten years’ experience across public and private capital markets, having most recently led the Private Capital Markets business within Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs & Co in the US. Based in New York, he advised growth-stage and pre-IPO companies within the technology space, including Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, Fanatics, Credit Karma and Bill.com. 

Blake says, “I’m excited to be joining such a talented and innovative team that has driven such phenomenal growth over the last few years. There is a huge opportunity ahead for SafetyCulture and I’m eager to support the company’s ambitious global growth strategy and next phase of scaling.”

As part of his role, John will be responsible for supporting the growth of SafetyCulture’s portfolio of products including its flagship inspection software app, iAuditor – the world’s largest checklist app. In February, iAuditor crossed a milestone of supporting 300,000 paid customers. Blake’s growth expertise will aid SafetyCulture as it continues its evolution to a robust global technology platform supporting organisations to master continuous improvement within their operations. 

He will also be responsible for strategic growth investments through acquisitions. SafetyCulture completed its maiden acquisition last year, acquiring online training app, EdApp, in a deal that values the company at AU$40 million. 

Luke Anear, founder and chief executive officer, SafetyCulture says, “John’s deep expertise across strategic growth investments to initial public offerings puts us in good stead for our future growth plans.”

“He will be a valuable addition to the team as we continue to strengthen our ability to support businesses to do their best work. Our product-led growth strategy continues to drive us forward and we remain open to strategic acquisitions which gain us access to great founders and great technology.”

Prior to Goldman Sachs, Blake worked as a corporate lawyer, working across venture capital, M&A, private equity and public equity capital markets, focusing on initial public offerings (IPOs). 

Hiring trajectory continues 

SafetyCulture also recently appointmented it first Vice President of Talent, Rob Lamb. Having previously led recruitment at Uber and Apple, he will oversee the organisation’s ambitious talent acquisition plans. 

SafetyCulture’s employee base has grown 2.5 times in the last three years. It plans to continue on the same hiring trajectory for the foreseeable future as it rapidly expands its global product and engineering teams. 

SafetyCulture was named as one of the best tech companies to work for in Australia in the 2020 Best Places to Work survey. To explore current roles at SafetyCulture visit https://safetyculture.com/careers/.

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