From Startup to Scale: How This Canberra Founder Built a Million-Dollar Tech Service in Three Years

Walking into the refurbished warehouse space on Lonsdale Street in Braddon, you'd be forgiven for thinking you've stumbled into a Melbourne tech hub rather than Canberra's thriving startup corridor. Glass partitions, standing desks, and a wall lined with industry awards tell the story of a business that's grown faster than most entrepreneurs dare dream.

Sarah Chen's digital marketing and automation firm, established in 2023, has quietly become one of Canberra's fastest-growing service exports. What started as a one-person operation offering social media strategy to local professionals has expanded to a team of twelve, with revenue projections exceeding $1.2 million for the current financial year.

"Canberra has this reputation for being sleepy, but that's the advantage," Chen says of her decision to stay based in the capital rather than relocate to Sydney. "The cost of operations here means we can undercut Sydney agencies while still maintaining margins that allow us to invest in our people and tools."

The business model is straightforward but effective: Chen's team helps mid-sized regional and national companies automate their marketing workflows, manage customer relationships more effectively, and build sustainable growth systems. Clients range from professional services firms in Civic to agricultural exporters across the ACT and southern NSW.

What's notable isn't just the business itself, but how Chen has positioned Canberra as a genuine advantage. By maintaining her base in the capital—her team works from the Braddon office and remotely—she's tapped into a growing trend of clients seeking services from smaller cities where expertise meets accessibility.

The Canberra Chamber of Commerce has taken note. Chen was recently recognised in their Emerging Business Leaders program, one of twelve nominees selected from over eighty applications this year. She's also become a mentor for other entrepreneurs through the Business Centre ACT, sharing lessons learned from bootstrap years.

"What we're seeing with businesses like Chen's is validation that Canberra can be a production base for services that compete nationally," says David Pratt, Chief Executive of the Canberra Chamber. "The city's reputation for stability and expertise attracts quality talent and clients alike."

For Chen, the trajectory is about more than personal success. She's deliberately building a business that keeps talented people in Canberra, offering competitive salaries and the kind of workplace culture that typically requires a Sydney postcode. With plans to double the team size by 2027, she's betting that Canberra's next generation of entrepreneurs can thrive right here in the nation's capital.

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