Deloitte adds Fusion Labs to its strategy consulting division
Deloitte Australia has made its third local purchase since April, this time adding Sydney-based innovation, strategy and venture building consultancy Fusion Labs for an undisclosed sum..
The 21-strong Fusion team will officially join Monitor Deloitte on the 12th of next month, including current CEO Matthew Adendorff and fellow founding partner Patrick Crooks as Deloitte Consulting partners. It marks the firm’s third Australian acquisition in as many months, and Monitor Deloitte’s first in Australia since its inception eight years ago.
“Innovation is on the agenda of every executive and board and is part of Deloitte’s DNA,” said CEO Adam Powick. “When done well, it can create new market opportunities, establish competitive advantage and deliver improved customer and business outcomes. Adding to our existing and strong capabilities in this space, this is a bold and exciting investment for our firm and we are very excited to their team.”
Established in Sydney in 2013, with a further office since opened in Melbourne, Fusion Labs provides a range of services around the innovation ecosystem, including in respect to systems, capabilities, projects, strategy and venture building. Fusion counts some of Australia’s most recognised names among its clientele, including Westfield, Suncorp, Lendlease, Telstra. Newscorp, and the Commonwealth Bank.
“Bringing together strategy, business design, digital and engineering capabilities, and working with our clients to develop their innovation portfolios including building, commercialising and scaling high potential ideas, Fusion Labs is an excellent fit for our business,” said Deloitte Consulting managing partner Ellen Derrick. “New business models, solutions and ventures can help unlock additional sources of growth, and innovation needs to be central to this.”
Marking its tenth acquisition overall since the beginning of 2019, the purchase of Fusion Labs follows that of Canberra-headquartered Salesforce specialist Soda Strategic in the last week of April, the bolt-on adding 30 consultants to Deloitte Digital, which sits within the Deloitte Consulting wing. Earlier in April, Deloitte’s Financial Advisory business also picked up leading Australian actuarial consultancy Rice Warner.
“In 2013 we saw this wave of global disruption coming from afar,” said Crooks, a one-time Arthur Andersen business consulting manager, in response to the sale. “Australian corporates needed to tackle this uncertainty and ride the wave, rather than get swamped by it, and we believed we could lead this change. We were not an overnight success, but we had already proven our corporate venturing model in many markets around the world.”
In Australia, Monitor Deloitte is led by Jeremy Drumm. Last year, Monitor Deloitte was named one of the country’s leading strategy consulting firms, alongside the likes of the MBB, the other Big Four-owned strategy houses, and specialist players as Corporate Value Associates and Port Jackson Partners.
