VentureCrowd Appoints AI Expert Jesse Arundell to Advisory Board to Drive Next-Gen Investment Vision

VentureCrowd Jesse Arundell appointment is a big step forward for the platform’s AI-first strategy. Arundell, the Head of AI Solutions at Optus, joins the Advisory Board to speed up the use of agentic AI tools on VentureCrowd’s digital capital raising platform.

Arundell is widely regarded as one of the country’s prominent enterprise AI leaders. At Optus, he leads the design, development and scaled adoption of new Artificial Intelligence products, platforms, systems and experiences to the people and customers of one of Australia’s largest telecommunications, media and technology organisations. Prior to this, he was the Head of Emerging Technology at CommBank.

As part of Arundell’s role, he will oversee VentureCrowd’s agentic AI approach to capital raising and investing, helping founders access capital more efficiently, with an ambition to speed up the process and reduce the capital raising timeframes from 6-12 months to 3 months.

Jesse Arundell, says, “Coming from a financial services background and operating in a highly regulated environment, I’ve long admired VentureCrowd’s mission to open up and democratise private market investment.”

“What VentureCrowd is building with agentic AI tools has the potential to redefine how private capital is raised, allocated and scaled. I’m excited to help guide the next phase of its evolution,” concludes Arundell. With a lot of experience with new technologies from working at Optus and CommBank, VentureCrowd Jesse Arundell brings enterprise AI knowledge to change the way private market investing works.

Since inception, VentureCrowd has raised over $330 million for more than 150 projects, with over $30 million in income returned to investors. By 2027, the company plans to help over 3,000 founders and businesses each year in raising capital, fueling innovation and contributing to a thriving ecosystem.

Steve Maarbani, CEO of VentureCrowd, said Arundell’s expertise is pivotal in realising the full potential of agentic AI in capital markets. “Jesse brings an enterprise-grade understanding of AI applications that few in Australia can match.” 

“We are building investment infrastructure for the future. As we continue embedding intelligent agents into every part of the VentureCrowd experience, his input will be invaluable in helping us build a smarter, more scalable investment platform that is globally relevant” Said Maarbani.

The appointment comes as VentureCrowd strengthens its focus on its AI-first product strategy, in order to support a more open and dynamic financial ecosystem in Australia. Arundell will be instrumental in guiding how the company will embed AI agents across the full capital raising lifecycle. From campaign creation to investor engagement and post-raise compliance, the tools streamline a traditionally fragmented and costly process into a seamless digital experience.

VentureCrowd is investing heavily in technology and AI solutions to build a one-of-a-kind digital capital raising platform for founders, and a next-gen investment platform for alternative assets.

The VentureCrowd Jesse Arundell partnership makes the company’s goal of using AI-driven innovation to make raising money easier, more scalable, and smarter stronger.