Australian entrepreneur Ned Dwyer has cause to rejoice, after Nice Query, the San Francisco-based startup he co-founded in 2020, raised $20 million (US$13 million) in enterprise capital funding.

And the Sequence A spherical has additionally prompted Dwyer to replicate on his experiences as an expat in Silicon Valley, and what has modified since for fellow Aussies making the leap to the US.

The funding represents the biggest funding spherical so far for Nice Query, a platform that helps firms run, analyse, and share buyer analysis.

The spherical was led by Canada’s Inovia Capital, with Y Combinator, January Capital and Character Capital additionally contributing.

Talking to SmartCompany, Dwyer says the funding will assist Nice Query construct its go-to-market efforts and attain a broader buyer base.

“We have now a variety of Fortune 100 prospects, like ServiceNow and Intuit, amongst others fast-growth firms like Canva and Brex and Gusto,” he says.

“However outdoors of these people, and people groups that have gotten a variety of UX researchers, the innovators, the folks on the forefront of expertise, no-one is aware of, so lastly we are able to get the phrase out.”

The funding may even assist Nice Query develop its synthetic intelligence technique: the startup says AI instruments can assist prospects analyse quantitative person knowledge, and even deal with analysis duties as soon as undertaken by human moderators.

“With that AI moderator, you’re in a position to recruit [research participants] in about 20 minutes to go, anybody out of your present buyer database, after which in one other 20 minutes, you possibly can run as much as 1,000 concurrent AI moderated periods and analyse the outcomes,” says Dwyer.

“And so it means one thing that’s taken historically, eight weeks previous to AI, late final 12 months we bought it down to 5 days. Now we’re speaking a few matter of hours.”

These instruments cite the unique interviews, provides Dwyer, that means human researchers can make sure the AI just isn’t hallucinating or producing AI slop.

Classes for Aussies looking for US tech careers

The funding spherical is a milestone for Dwyer, who departed Melbourne for San Francisco in 2012 whereas constructing Elto, a platform connecting non-technical founders to Shopify and WordPress builders.

Elto was acquired by area registration firm GoDaddy for an undisclosed quantity in 2015.

Dwyer says the Silicon Valley startup surroundings is completely different for Australian founders at the moment, and these variations could not directly profit these looking for a tech profession within the US.

“After I first came visiting to the States over a decade in the past, there was a big Australian inhabitants, and there have been common occasions that had been simply targeted on Australians,” he says.

“And and I feel that it’s nice, as a result of it makes it a bit of bit simpler to go and meet folks you’ve bought a bunch in frequent with, and already speaks the identical cultural language.

“I’m seeing much less of that sort of exercise now, much less Australian-specific occasions.”

Whereas fewer overtly Australian occasions may look like a draw back for Antipodeans overseas, Dwyer says it’d truly push these expats deeper into the startup scene.

Newly-landed Aussies are “surrounded, not a lot by Australians, however by all these different folks from all all over the world and the nation, who’re doing a few of their finest work on the most important stage for expertise firms,” he says.

Those that do strive making their mark in Silicon Valley should still wrestle with credentialism — the place recruiters and buyers favour candidates with recognized portions on their CV, whether or not that be a Stanford enrolment or a stint at Meta.

Dwyer, who outlined these considerations in 2018, says credentialism is “nonetheless an issue”, with proficient tech employees nonetheless required to show themselves with out counting on high-profile names on their resume.

“You might need a College of Melbourne diploma, , a high 50 college on this planet,” he says. “No one cares.”

“You might need labored for some huge startup in Australia that by no means escapes Australian shores.

“However by popping out and discovering smaller firms who’re in search of that expertise that’s possibly a bit of bit unpolished, after which leveraging that to go and work in bigger and bigger alternatives, appears to be the playbook that almost all of individuals have success with.”

After all, not each bold tech employee wants to go away the nation to make their mark.

Akin to its Sequence A elevate, Nice Query itself is hiring product and engineering employees throughout Melbourne and Brisbane, deepening its roots in Dwyer’s first residence.