Matilda Migration co-founders Damian Png and Niamh Mooney say Australia’s visa application process is ripe for disruption. Afterwork Ventures, Wollemi Capital, EverywhereVC, Co-ventures, and Startmate agree.
There are three million visa applications submitted to the Australian government each year. The approval process is protracted, complex, and opaque, according to applicants.
It’s a problem Australian tech entrepreneurs Niamh Mooney and Damian Png knew they could leverage AI and automation to fix.
“Visa applications are highly administrative,” says Mooney, who worked as a lawyer before becoming a company founder.
“Partner visas can require more than 50 items of evidence that are currently manually collected and documented. Employer-sponsored visas are processed via email with the applicant and sponsor doing most of the leg work.”
Mooney was born in Ireland and came to Australia with her parents when she was two years old. In 2020 she left the legal industry and founded Software, a skin care telehealth clinic associated with Eucalyptus. For her new venture Matilda Migration, Mooney partnered with fellow Melbourne entrepreneur Damian Png. He too had experience with Australia’s immigration system, and had a startup under his belt, having founded Hearables 3D in 2019.
“Damian had a painful experience sponsoring a team member in his previous role and marveled at how archaic the process was,” says Mooney.
“It wasn’t until we started doing our due diligence, interviewing hundreds of migrants and migration agents, that we realised the extent of the problem. That was the real lightbulb moment, the trigger for both of us to go all in,” she says.
The solution, they decided, was to use AI to innovate the cumbersome process.
“Immigration is one of those classic, heavily regulated markets which has seen very little innovation over the decades,” says Png. “We saw a significant opportunity to disrupt this stagnant industry by introducing modern technological tools and premium service standards.”
The Matilda platform
The opportunity to disrupt a sector stuck in the past attracted capital from some big names in Australian VC. Matilda announced a $1 million pre-seed funding round this week, led by AfterWork Ventures, with co-investors EverywhereVC, Co-ventures, Startmate, and Robyn Denholm’s Wollemi Capital.
“Applying emerging technology and harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to reduce the administrative burden, allows all parties to focus on what’s most important throughout the process, easing stress and complexity,” Wollemi says of the investment.
“We’re focused on supporting founders whose mission is to make a positive impact and apply technology in new and unique ways – we know this is exactly what Niamh and Damian have set out to do.”
Michael Batko, the CEO of Startmate, Australia’s most successful startup accelerator, and an investor in Matilda, has a personal connection to the problem the company is solving. He sees enormous opportunity for the technology platform.
“Matilda is a game changer for Australia. Take that from a half-Austrian/Polish who has been on five visas to date to be able to work and stay in Australia,” Batko tells Forbes Australia.
“Australia attracts incredible talent globally, but the process is insanely expensive and time-consuming detracting thousands of people from ever trying. Matilda will fundamentally change the future of Australia for the better.”
“It’s an industry rife with exploitation and inefficiency. For many migrants this is their first experience with ‘Brand Australia’.”
Matilda Migration co-founders
The founders say improving the visa application process will also improve Australia’s reputation internationally.
“It’s an industry rife with exploitation and inefficiency. For many migrants this is their first experience with ‘Brand Australia.’ It deters skilled talent from relocating and is a major concern for businesses and governments who recruit talent to fill skills short wages and meet longer-term strategic needs,” a company statement reads.
The vision is to use AI to make applying for visas more streamlined and efficient, without taking humans out of the process altogether.
“We will never entirely replace migration agents or lawyers,” says Mooney. “Matilda will be a two-tiered offering: self-serve for straightforward clients and high-touch guidance from experts for those who want it.”
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