Western Australia is home to a fast-growing, globally connected innovation ecosystem, and international founders are increasingly choosing Perth as a strategic base to explore new markets. Through Perth Landing Pad, supported by the City of Perth, startups and scaleups gain access to local networks, industry partners and mentoring, helping them validate opportunities and build long-term growth pathways in WA.
As part of the current cohort, we’re shining a spotlight on Cruxdata, a data consultancy helping SMEs and scaleups build robust, AI-ready foundations.
Founded by Johan de Beurs, Cruxdata was born from experience working with and for growing companies that lacked visibility over how their businesses were really performing.
“Cruxdata started after working hand in hand with business owners who had hit an inflection point of growth but didn’t have a clear instrument panel for their company,” Johan shared. “They couldn’t link day-to-day operations to their long-term business model, and conflicting numbers, delayed answers and spreadsheet chaos were slowing everything down.”
Since then, the team has worked extensively with Venture Capital-backed scaleups across South-East Asia, helping organisations build data infrastructure, teams and processes that work in harmony.
“Our focus has been helping Series B+ companies create data environments that actually support decision-making, not complicate it.”
Most recently, Cruxdata completed work with its first Australian client, an ASX-listed technology company, designing flexible data models that supported both structured reporting and deep, exploratory analysis.
“We focused on building foundations that allowed people to talk to their data in language they understand,” Johan explained. “Non-technical teams could ask questions in natural language with confidence that results returned were accurate, while analysts could dive deeper using Python and SQL, supported by agentic data analysis.”
That work connects closely with where Cruxdata is heading in 2026, as AI and large language models reshape how businesses operate.
“In a world where AI agents can conduct analysis on your behalf, it’s more important than ever that data foundations are fit for purpose, and that data maturity matches your business maturity,” Johan said. “Extensible data models, rich metadata and high-quality assets are integral to enabling agentic automations that are widening the gap between data-native firms and the rest.”
Finding a Foothold in Perth’s Innovation Ecosystem
Johan joined Perth Landing Pad with a clear goal: embed Cruxdata into WA’s market and ecosystem.
“I was hoping for a step-change in introductions and integration locally, and that’s absolutely happened over the last two months,” he said. “Thanks to the support from the program team, we now know hundreds of builders and ecosystem partners across WA.”
Those connections are already shaping Cruxdata’s longer-term plans in the state.
“Expanding into WA is a long-term investment for us. We’re committed to operating out of Perth and supporting the local tech scene, and the coming year will focus on market discovery and tailoring our offering to what businesses here really need.”
Adapting for a New Market
Operating in WA has also prompted Cruxdata to evolve its product strategy.
“It’s well known the Series B+ VC scene is thinner in Perth than in South-East Asia,” Johan noted. “So our focus here will be different. We’re investing in tooling for earlier-stage companies, helping founders streamline best-practice data setup and reduce barriers to growth.”
That approach aligns closely with Cruxdata’s broader mission: helping startups and SMEs build strong data foundations that scale with them. To learn more about Cruxdata, you can visit their website here, or connect with Johan via LinkedIn here.
Perth Landing Pad is a year-round program supporting international startups and scaleups to explore, enter and grow in WA. Participants receive tailored support including strategic introductions to industry partners, market-entry guidance, mentoring, and access to Spacecubed’s coworking community and wider innovation network.
If you or someone in your network are considering expanding into Australia or the Asia–Pacific region, you can also explore the program and apply directly via our website here.
