# NextPlay

> Real hiring intelligence. Find startup ready talent in minutes. Just describe who you need.

NextPlay is a hiring intelligence platform built for Australian startups and scaleups. The dataset is narrow by design — every Australian startup and scaleup, and every person who has worked at one — going deep on one sector rather than shallow on the whole world.

Based at the Peregian Digital Hub on the Sunshine Coast, we work with Australian scale-ups and high-growth companies to build exceptional teams.

## Team

- **James Jennings** — Co-Founder. Former recruiter turned founder whose last startup was acquired by SEEK. Building NextPlay's AI-driven hiring platform. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesjennings1/)
- **Kris Owens** — Co-Founder. 13 years in recruitment. Helps founders define what the "right hire" really means while preserving the human touch. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisowens/)
- **Greg Freeman** — Co-Founder, CTO. 3x CTO who's led teams through two exits (one over $100M). Rethinking talent acquisition with a non-recruiter lens. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gfreeau/)

## Sections of the homepage

### Plan your team (Company Intelligence)

Go deep on any company in the market. Every stage, every hire, every signal — so you can plan your strategy with evidence, not instinct.

### Find your people (Talent Access)

Deeply enriched profiles for everyone who's worked at a startup or scaleup, searchable in natural language. Describe who you need and see high-fit candidates in minutes.

Example natural-language queries showcased on the homepage:

- "AI engineers who've built and shipped real LLM products. Comfortable with the model layer and the product layer."
- "Backend engineers who've rebuilt a payments core, not integrated Stripe, actually designed the ledger."
- "Series A climate-tech companies in Australia building hardware products."
- "Founding engineer who owned the full deployment model from day one. Infra, cost, multi-region."
- "B2B SaaS companies in Sydney or Melbourne, Series B, shipping AI into enterprise workflows, hiring product engineers."
- "Senior backend engineers in Sydney who've worked at a fintech that scaled past Series B."

### Hire with conviction (AI Researcher)

Deep research on any candidate, in real time, against your exact role. Know exactly who's worth your time before you book the interview.

### For critical and executive hires (NextPlay Search)

The NextPlay search team uses the same intelligence on every engagement.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is NextPlay for?

Founders, hiring managers and recruiters at Australian startups and scaleups. If you're hiring into a high-stakes team and every decision matters, you're who we built this for.

### What can I search for?

NextPlay covers every Australian startup and scaleup and every person who has worked at one. You can search by stage, sector, tech stack, team composition, hiring history, role type and more. The dataset is narrow by design. We've gone deep on a specific sector rather than shallow on the whole world.

### How is this different from other hiring platforms?

Most hiring platforms are built for breadth. They give you access to hundreds of millions of profiles across every industry and geography. NextPlay is built for depth. We cover one sector and we know it better than anyone. For hiring into Australian startups, that depth produces sharper matches and fewer false positives.

### Is this only for Australian companies?

The dataset is Australian. You don't have to be. If you're hiring into Australian roles across functions, including engineering, product and GTM, NextPlay is for you. We'll expand to other markets in time.

### When can I start using it?

NextPlay is currently working with a small group of startups and scaleups. We're rolling out access in waves to maintain quality. Apply for access and we'll be in touch about the next intake.

## Status

Launching soon. Join Australia's top startups, scaleups and VC's making critical hires in NextPlay.

## Links

- [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy)
- [Terms & Conditions](/terms-conditions)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/nextplayco/)