Queensland Reds welcome digital consultancy Niltech as sponsor

The Queensland Reds have welcomed Melbourne-based digital consultancy Niltech on board as a sponsor on the eve of the Super Rugby Pacific season, driven by its founder’s passion for the sport.

Niltech Consulting has become the latest boutique advisory to get behind a team in one of Australia’s international footy codes – almost literally in this respect, signing on as the back-of-shorts sponsor of the Queensland Reds ahead of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.

While Niltech is headquartered south of the ‘Barassi Line’ in Melbourne, founder and chief executive Nilesh Singh was raised in Fiji and is a passionate supporter.

“I grew up with rugby and still remember the public holiday in Fiji when the country won the Rugby World Cup Sevens for the first time in 1997,” Singh enthused. “The connectiveness that the sport offers is special to me. Niltech has supported rugby in Fiji and I see a positive relationship ahead with the Queensland Reds. Right team, right culture. The humility and cultural fit for us is very important, and it feels like we’re home in that sense.”

Having kicked off his career as an accountant with Ernst & Young in Suva, Singh has since worked in various roles across the region, including in Brisbane and Christchurch, before being appointed regional consulting director for TechnologyOne’s Victorian operations in 2016. Singh altogether spent just shy of a decade at the enterprise software firm prior to launching Niltech the following year, with several former colleagues having joined him since.

Now the rugby-mad technology entrepreneur will get to see Niltech’s logo grace the shorts of both the Queensland Reds men’s and women’s team throughout the current Super Rugby season, with the men thumping its rivals the NSW Waratahs (which counts global digital consultancy NRI as a principal partner) in their opening round fixture and the women kicking off their campaign against the Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua next month.

While the men’s squad heads to Fiji to take on Drua in May, the new partnership will also see Niltech bring a number of current and former Reds to Fiji for coaching clinics and fan engagement in the back half of the year. One likely stop is Suva Grammar, a breeding ground for Fijian rugby talent where Singh attended school, with Niltech also sponsoring the First XV and rugby union in Suva not to mention the A-League’s Brisbane Roar.

“From the moment we started speaking with Nilesh about the opportunity to partner with Niltech, it was clear that our organisations had aligned values, with a love of Rugby at the heart of them,” stated Queensland Rugby Union’s commercial & content head Pete Fairbairn, with the deal announced following the Red’s ‘Long Lunch’ season launch. “We’re thrilled to welcome Niltech Consulting to our outstanding partnership network,” Fairbairn added.

Niltech’s sponsorship continues a recent trend of some of Australia’s smaller consultancies backing leading teams across the country due to fandom and community pride, and comes at a time when the Melbourne Rebels have been struggling through administration. For example, Canberra firm Parberry is a major sponsor of the Raiders NRLW team, while Seven Consulting is now synonymous with Australia’s national women’s soccer and basketball.