Steve Baxter (entrepreneur)
Steve Baxter is a investor and entrepreneur from Brisbane. He is one of the Sharks on Shark Tank AU.[1]
Personal life
Steve Baxter was born in the remote town of Cloncurry and raised in Emerald in the State’s Central Highlands Region. He left school at 15 and joined the Army, enlisting in its apprenticeship program. There, he became an engineer working in the field of electronics, telecoms and guided weapon systems.
In the past three years he has become a major early-stage investor in Australian start-ups, helping to launch a host of companies which together boast a valuation of more than $100 million.
Steve is married and the proud father of an 18-month-old daughter.
Career
In 1994, at the age of 23, Steve put his life savings of $11,000 on the line to launch his first start-up, the pioneering internet service provider SE Net, from the spare room of his Adelaide home.
Servicing more than 35,000 customers, SE Net was eventually acquired by Ozemail/UUNet under the stewardship of its founding Director and now Federal Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.
In 2001, Steve teamed with a schoolmate to launch his second start-up, PIPE Networks. Eight years later they sold it to the TPG Group for $373 million.
Steve spent a year working with Google in California in 2008, leading a project to deliver high-speed telecommunications systems across North America.
Two years ago, Steve launched River City Labs in Brisbane, a leading co-working community to encourage entrepreneurs in Queensland. In 2013 he co-founded Right Pedal Studios, a mobile gaming accelerator, and StartupAUS an advocacy group for Australian tech startups.