Our Team
From our experience, we’ve learned that we’re better together - strength and success come from working as a team.
Peter Hammond
Peter is a managing director of EXTO Partners. He has successfully invested in and co-founded more than a dozen companies. Peter played key leadership roles in the successful commercialisation of many innovative products that are now selling throughout the global market.
Peter has advised biotechnology, financial services, manufacturing, consumer services and technology companies in Australia and the USA. Peter has assisted companies through a wide range of growth paths and transitions, including early stage financing, launching new products in global markets, and large-scale mergers.
Peter is on the board of Airtasker and the Chair of Hey You, Sensear and Ondek.
Prior to establishing EXTO Partners, Peter spent seven years in New York as a senior executive with KPMG Consulting advising top-tier clients across global capital markets on risk management, customer relationship management, product pricing, business process re-engineering and large scale merger integration.
Peter is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a B.Bus. from the University of Technology Sydney.
William Deane
Will is a managing director of EXTO Partners and has co-founded, invested in or been a director of more than a dozen high growth, global businesses. He has successfully managed IPOs, mergers and acquisitions for Exto’s portfolio companies. Will has played a key role in re-envisioning business models, developing global growth strategies, and delivering exits. He’s been involved in transactions ranging in size from a few million dollars to several billion dollars.
Will is currently Chair of Tuned Global and Zetaris and is a director of RedHill Education (ASX:RDH) and Tribe.
Before EXTO Partners, Will was a corporate lawyer, having worked in Australia with Ashursts and in New York with Sidley Austin LLP and Skadden, Arp, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP. He advised corporations on capital raising, stock exchange listing (NYSE, NASDAQ and ASX), mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
Will is admitted to practice law in Victoria, Australia and New York, USA and has an L.L.B. (hons) from Bond University and a B.A (hons) from the University of Sydney.
Exto's guidance is so valuable. Sometimes as management you get caught in the weeds but they're able to see what's coming and guide us through it because they've done it before.
Jules Lund - Founder
Exto's guidance is so valuable. Sometimes as management you get caught in the weeds but they're able to see what's coming and guide us through it because they've done it before.
Jules Lund - Founder
Our History
We've been building businesses for 17+ years. Here's our story:
2001
In the wake of the World Trade Centre disaster, EXTO’s founders decided it was time to start working on projects they’re passionate about.
Peter worked on the 62nd floor of Tower Two for Morgan Stanley and Will had many friends in the buildings. When the planes hit, they were both just a block away - ready to start their day. Instead, the tragic loss sparked a desire to only work on projects they were passionate about and so, from the rubble, EXTO was born.
2003
EXTO Partners begins by building businesses from scratch.
EXTO’s founding ethos was to only work on projects we were passionate about. To begin with, that meant founding and building businesses from the ground up. We were pretty good at it, if we say so ourselves. We started 6 businesses - most of which have gone on to deliver successful exits.
2013
And then came the VCs
Supporting businesses was still in our veins and so after a decade of building businesses, we decided to back companies with our experience and capital. EXTO formed its first fund which went on to back 3 of Australia’s top 50 tech companies, with assets under management of over $100 million.
2020
But there was still a gap
Australia is developing some incredible technology companies but many need to provide liquidity for founders, employees and investors while they get on with growing their business. There’s a distinct lack of liquidity solutions for startups in the Australian funding market so EXTO launched the country’s first direct secondary fund to plug the funding gap and help local entrepreneurs build global businesses.
Our Values
We build business for the future and don’t accept taking shortcuts. We believe in:
Robust Conversations
By continuously challenging ideas, constructively, you make better decisions.
Leadership for Performance
We know business success depends on the right leadership.
Relationships Anchored in Trust
We prioritise honest dialogue to build strong partnerships.
Innovation with Rigour
We distinguish true innovation based on analysis.
Genuine Guidance
We commit to sharing our experience to create future success.
Talk to us
If you think we could be a great business partner for you, we’d love to chat.