Scalare Partners Acquires Planet Startup, With Marc Orchard Staying On As CEO

By Marc Orchard

Marc Orchard's Brisbane-based virtual CFO firm Planet Startup has a new owner. Scalare Partners (ASX: SCP) acquired 100 per cent of the company in a deal announced on 29 September 2025 and completed on 1 October 2025. Under the arrangement, Marc continues as CEO, with Planet Startup becoming the operating brand for Scalare's vCFO service line.

Marc co-founded Planet Startup with Rhys Cupples, both former BDO for Startups employees, and built it into an advisory firm working with technology founders from seed through to Series B. Its client base has included Greaseboss, Orefox, Rainstick, Swyftx, xrecruiter and Nourish'd. The acquisition brings that work inside a listed investment firm focused on the Australian technology sector.

Marc described joining Scalare Partners as a significant step in the company's journey to build a meaningful presence in the Australian tech ecosystem. He also pointed to the practical upside for existing clients, explaining that a key benefit of the acquisition is that Planet Startup's customers will have access to a broader range of services and expertise.

That focus on founder support sits at the centre of how Marc sees the market. He argues that most founders get very little proactive financial or commercial advice, that large accounting firms concentrate mainly on end-of-year taxes, and that a fractional or virtual CFO fills this gap. He states that less than 20 per cent of high-growth, pre-Series A companies in Australia have a full or part-time CFO, a gap his model is built to address.

Marc's background spans founding the BDO for Startups division, serving as Brisbane City Manager at Fishburners and working as Talent Program Director at Swyftx, along with a former role as an Entrepreneur in Residence at UQ Ventures. With Planet Startup now operating under Scalare, that experience informs an expanded platform for the kind of early-stage financial guidance Marc believes Australian founders need most.