Vocus founder James Spenceley inducted into CommsDay’s Hall of Fame Telecom Industry Awards

SYDNEY, Australia, 31 May 2018 - Vocus founder and former CEO James Spenceley was inducted into the Hall of Fame at The Edison Awards this evening in Sydney, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Australian telecommunications industry as the founder of Australia’s 4^th largest telco, Vocus Communications. Spenceley, alongside Bill Morrow the CEO nbn, joins previous inductees Ziggy Switkowski and Bevan Slattery in receiving this prestigious award.

Spenceley founded Vocus Communications in 2007 and led the company to a $25million listing in 2010. When he stepped down as CEO in February 2016 it had 1,500 staff, annual revenues of $1.8billion, and a market capitalisation of $5billion. In addition to twice being an EY Entrepreneur of the Year winner, James debuted on the BRW's Young Rich list in 2011, and is one of the youngest people in Australia to have launched and run a billion-dollar company.

CommsDay founder and CEO Grahame Lynch, said, "James is one of the tech sector's brightest entrepreneurs, starting Vocus from literally nothing a decade ago and building it into a multi billion-dollar powerhouse that energised the Australian telecom market. He thoroughly deserves to be included in the pantheon of industry titans.”

Spenceley said, “It’s a great honour to be so highly recognised in an industry I have loved and been a part of for the past twenty two years.

“Having spent over two decades in the Australian Telecommunications Industry means the line between work and life blurred a long, long time ago. I’ve made the greatest of friends, worked on amazing projects and seen the evolution of the Internet from a toy, to a utility.

“There is something really special about playing a role, during such an evolutionary period for the industry, and I am thankful for the opportunity it has given me to do what I love every day.”

As someone who thrives on challenge, James has also given a hand-up in the sporting arena, rescuing struggling basketball team the Illawarra Hawks when it went into voluntary administration in 2014. He financed it as a passion project until February 2018, during which time the NBL team went from 8th in the league to grand finalists in the 2016-17 season, thanks to this support.

Following his time with Vocus, James co-founded MHOR Asset Management, an Australian small caps investment fund. MHOR has returned more than 30% since February 2016 and Morningstar has rated the fund in the top quartile every month in the 12 months to February 2018.

As a thematic investor, who is keen to support the ideas and trends that are most likely to reshape the economy and have relevance into the future, James is an avid VC investor including in businesses such as Airtasker, where he is Chairman, to futurist superannuation fund, Spaceship, online food delivery service, Marley Spoon, urban agriculture concept, Sustenir, and Integrated Green Energy Solutions (ASX:IGE), which uses patented technology to be the first in the world to turn unwanted plastics into road ready fuel.

This week he was also appointed as the Non Executive Chairman and Director of Silver Heritage Group (ASX:SVH), a company that is pioneering the South Asian casino and resort market with their world leading, quality integrated Tiger Palace resort.

ENDS 

Download a high res image of James Spenceley here https://bit.ly/2IUYrTi