Fusion Growth Labs Appoints Vanessa Garrard as Chairperson

Brisbane, Australia – 26 June 2025

Fusion Growth Labs is proud to announce the appointment of Vanessa Garrard as Chairperson of its Board, effective immediately.

Ms. Garrard is a highly accomplished entrepreneur, investor, and board leader with over 30 years of experience founding, scaling, and exiting companies across Australia, the US, UK, Hong Kong, and China. She has founded over 25 companies and raised more than $400 million in capital, with her ventures generating more than $1 billion in retail revenues globally.

Vanessa brings extensive boardroom experience, having chaired both commercial and not for profit boards. As Chair of SAAS business, iVvy, she helped restructure the business, supported its path to profitability, and led it through executive team transitions.

She serves as Chair of Bravehearts, Australia’s leading organisation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse, where she leads the strategic initiatives to expand nationally, she also led the organisation through a CEO transition. Her leadership has been pivotal in driving governance, strategy, and impact at scale.

She was the founder CEO & Board Director of Adventure Operations, Australia’s largest outdoor leisure products company, where she oversaw multiple acquisitions, integrations, and a successful private equity exit. She is currently Founding Partner at Landran Ventures, a VC fund backing women led businesses in climate, consumer brands, and sports tech.

“Vanessa’s appointment marks an exciting chapter for Fusion,” said Yazz Krishna, Fusion co-founder. “Her exceptional track record in board leadership, venture building, and scaling high-growth companies will bring tremendous value to our mission and our partners.”

Recognised Leadership

Vanessa has received widespread recognition, including:

EY Australian Entrepreneur of the Year – Industry

AFR 100 Women of Influence

Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year

EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women – APAC

Multiple BRW, AIM, and Lord Mayor’s Awards for entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth leadership

She is also a mentor to national and global entrepreneurship programs, including EY, Telstra, UQ, Google, and others, supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs and executive teams through scaling, restructuring, and exits.

About Fusion Growth Labs

Fusion Growth Labs solves critical problems by partnering with entrepreneurs, industry, universities, and venture capital to build start-ups that drive innovation and deliver high growth ventures. Through a national portfolio of sector focused labs spanning health, space, defence & cyber, Fusion drives the creation of sovereign capable ventures by aligning industry need, deep research, and capital. Its programs include venture architecture, growth labs, corporate engagement, and global landing pads.

For media enquiries, please contact:

James Skinner
connect@fusiongrowthlabs.com