lystn

Katherine McConnell, the founder and CEO of Brigte is revolutionising how Australians are financing and decentralising sustainable energy solutions in their homes. A former Macquarie banker, and mother of two, Katherine initially mortgaged the family home to go after the opportunity of becoming the leading consumer finance business in the space. And that she has – Brighte has financed ten percent of the solar installations in Australia and processed over a billion dollar of applications across 90k homes. Recently having secured a $100m funding round, Brighte have driven deeper into the value chain becoming an energy retailer. This is a far reaching conversation, from the business itself being at the forefront of sustainable investing in Australia, to the scaling challenges of remote onboarding at scale, Brighte is a beacon as to what is possible as one of Australia’s fastest private companies. You can follow TDM (linktr.ee/tdmgrowth) and host Ed Cowan (linktr.ee/eddiecowan) across social channels. 

Show notes

2:56 – Brighte founding journey and Katherine’s background

8:27 – evolution of the Brighte business model over time

11:45 – building a revolutionary consumer brand and a consumer value proposition

13:25 – energy marketplace network effects and the impacts for Brighte

15:43 – understanding Brighte’s financing

18:44 – the impact of green investing and financing tailwinds on Brighte

20:55 – scaling challenges in automation and digital capabilities

23:05 – the origin of Brighte’s values

25:25 – evolution of Katherine’s role as a founder, CEO and leader

28:16 – challenges of hiring in a purpose-driven company

30:00 – hiring in a remote / hybrid work environment

31:28 – maintaining culture and enabling productivity in a hybrid environment

33:45 – juggling fast growth and business sustainability at Brighte

35:45 – female founders in the start-up world and how we can empower more as a society

39:38 – maintaining work life balance when scaling a high growth business