GBEA winner – Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Shannan Gove

Shannan Gove’s biggest learnings have come from helping others and from the belief that if you don’t win, you learn.

This mentality has seen the visionary grow his business from a small startup into an industry-disrupting software platform in demand by the world’s biggest sporting events.

The Geelong local has now been awarded the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by Deakin University.

The award recognises the entrepreneurial achievements of a business professional aged between 16 and 40 years who demonstrates leadership, vision and success.

“The judges were impressed with Shannan and how at a young age he had the thought of developing products which help people and organisations,” chair of the judging panel Simon Flowers said.

In 2010, Gove co-founded Spark Event Group – then Event Workforce Group – which sought to connect students and graduates around Australia with event managers who needed a temporary workforce.

The concept was inspired by his own struggles to find work experience at the completion of his university degree.

It is now one of the leading staff management companies in Australia, used by the AFL, Cricket Australia and the Melbourne Marathon, along with many other major sporting and entertainment events.

But as the venture took off and its database grew, Gove and his co-founder Bennett Merriman found themselves needing to find a better way to manage their mass workforce.

With the help of friend Chris Grant, the trio ditched the spreadsheets and built a specialised online platform to streamline their process.

This lay the foundation for the emergence of Rosterfy in 2015, an end-to-end workforce management platform that assists charities, events and non-profit organisations to recruit, train and reward volunteers.

The company is now a global leader in volunteer management solutions and is used by more than 3 million volunteers and staff globally.

In 2022 alone, the platform managed more than 10 million hours of volunteering.

Locally, the Geelong Yacht Club, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the Starlight Children’s Foundation have all benefited from the service.

The judges were blown away by the growth of these products into major businesses.

“Rosterfy now has 52 staff spread across Australia, the UK, Dubai and USA and operates in 26 countries,” Mr Flowers said.

“Clients such as the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, Salvation Army UK, Lifeline Australia, just among a few, is impressive in its own right.”

To find out more, head to rosterfy.com

Sponsored by Deakin University.

Deakin University, sponsor of this year’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, is at the forefront of preparing graduates for the careers of tomorrow.

As one of Australia’s most progressive universities, Deakin leads in the innovative use of digital technologies and online learning.

It blends this capability across four distinctive and strategically located campus precincts in Geelong, Melbourne, and Warrnambool to provide inclusive education.

The university places a strong emphasis on experiential learning and, through its enduring partnerships, provides its students with real-world opportunities, including business internships and international study tours.

Balancing excellence in research and innovation with an education experience that is consistently held up as one of the best in the country, Deakin has been rated number one for student satisfaction in Victoria for 14 consecutive years.

The achievements of more than 300,000 Deakin alumni worldwide are a testament to the university’s ability to equip graduates for success.

deakin.edu.au