Backing CSnet for its next stage of growth
About CSnet and Sefa
CSnet provides case management software for the community services sector, helping organisations collect frontline data, report to funders and understand the difference their work is making.
Through our Backing the Bold program, Sefa worked with CSnet on investment readiness and governance, alongside providing a loan to address immediate capacity constraints.
The finance has supported senior hires, investment in AI, a new website and improvements to internal systems and processes.
When Katherine Leong joined CSnet, she found an organisation facing a good problem, but a pressing one.
After 15 years working with the community services sector, demand for CSnet was growing faster than the team and the systems behind it. The opportunity was there and they had to find a way to meet it, and do so sustainably.
“Our systems and processes and capabilities didn’t quite match the demand for our product,” Katherine says.
CSnet helps community organisations collect and use information about the people they support, from frontline case management through to reporting and impact measurement against their theory of change. The software is used in more than 100 organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
Support designed around their specific needs
Backing the Bold combines tailored capability building with access to impact finance.
During the program, CSnet focused on investment readiness, exploring potential investors and the governance needed as the founder-led company prepared for its next stage.
“What’s really interesting about Backing the Bold is that it’s really designed specifically for where we were at,” Katherine says.
“It felt really inclusive and designed for our needs. That’s very rare because a lot of the capacity programs I’ve seen before would have a fixed schedule of what support you’re going to get.”
Having also been through the process of applying for capacity-building finance before, Katherine really noticed the difference.
“This is a very different approach than other financiers, to be honest.”
For her, having Sefa’s experience available alongside the finance was another important part of the program. “It is so great to have that perspective and depth of experience.”
Putting the loan to work
After completing the capability building phrase of the program, CSnet successfully applied for a loan from Sefa. This allowed to them to act on some of their growth plans straight away.
They began recruiting the senior roles they needed to support growth and hired a Head of AI Strategy to help shape how AI could be integrated into the business. The finance has also supported a new website and brand work, as well as automation and improvements to internal systems and processes.
The aim is to reach more community service organisations and, through them, more people. Kath says there are already more than one million clients represented within CSnet’s system.
Katherine recently visited a homelessness service that uses CSnet, frontline staff shared they could access client information more easily and spend less time on paperwork, while it also can help reduce the narrative burden for clients - someone going through a difficult time may not have to keep retelling their story as they move through the service.
Capability support that helps capital work harder
For Katherine, the big benefit of Backing the Bold was having space to think strategically while also having finance available to put their plans into action.
“We’re just so busy doing the work that it’s sometimes hard to lift up your head above the parapet and have a look around,” she says. The capability support gave CSnet time to work through where it was heading and what investors would expect.
“I think it’s wonderful to have [capability support and capital] together,” Katherine says.
Using debt as a tool for growth
Katherine’s advice to other established impact organisations is not to overlook debt finance.
“Really consider debt finance,” she says. “If you’re already operational, it is a really sensible choice for many for-purpose organisations.”
CSnet is now ramping up outbound sales after years of mainly growing through organisations coming to them. By investing in improving their services, Katherine says they can take greater control of growth and know they can deliver sustainably.
“That confidence of having the capacity sorted out means that we really deliver a great product to new organisations who want to better articulate the impact they make,” she says. “That’s the main thing that I’m looking forward to that we couldn’t have done without this loan.”
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