Baby in one arm, business in the other — building a company in lockdown | Making it in Melbourne

Season 2 Episode 3: Sri Venkatesen, Co-Founder of Next XR Group What do you do when you're on maternity leave, COVID hits, and you can't leave the house? If you're Sri Venkatesan, you start a global technology company. Sri, the co-founder of NextXR Group, built her virtual and augmented reality training business from scratch during lockdown - with a newborn in one arm and a laptop in the other. In this episode, Sri talks about combining an IT degree, a fine arts qualification, and a lifelong entrepreneurial instinct into a business that now spans 50+ staff across four countries - all without a single dollar of external funding. She also shares her very particular hiring strategy, how she launched her first Australian project through a mother's group, and what it really takes to build a business when no one will give you a chance without “local experience”. Making It in Melbourne is produced by the City of Melbourne with technical and research assistance from RMIT School of Media and Communication. 🔍 Search 'Making It in Melbourne' on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen on the go.