Birchal Welcomes Kirstin Hunter as CEO to Lead the Next Era of Crowdsourced Equity
Melbourne, Australia – Birchal, Australia's leading crowdsourced equity platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kirstin Hunter as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Hunter's appointment follows Birchal’s recent leadership transition, with co-founder Matt Vitale, still one of the company’s largest shareholders, stepping down after eight years to focus on his health and well-being.
Since its inception, Birchal has facilitated over $218 million in investments across more than 300 successful offers, connecting innovative businesses with a growing community of over 318,000 members. With Hunter at the helm, Birchal is poised to further expand its impact on Australia's crowdsourced equity landscape, creating new opportunities for both founders and investors and becoming a critical piece of capital raising infrastructure much like its counterparts in the UK and US.
Bringing a wealth of experience in the startup and investment sectors, Hunter previously served as co-founder and CEO at Future Super and Managing Director (NSW) at Techstars, the world's largest pre-seed technology investor. Her diverse background also includes roles in ethical investment, startup mentoring, and law, equipping her with a unique blend of entrepreneurial, strategic, operational, and legal expertise.
Of her appointment, Hunter says, “Crowdsourced equity has a crucial role to play in building a thriving innovation ecosystem in Australia.”
“As Australia’s market leading crowdsourced equity platform Birchal is already well known for providing wealth creation opportunities for retail investors. What really excites me is crowdsourced equity increases the economic power of retail investors by taking business funding decisions away from a small number of professional investors and placing it in the hands of the community,” she continues.
As Managing Director at Techstars, Hunter was responsible for selecting and mentoring promising startups, providing them with pre-seed investment, and accelerating their growth through a 13-week mentor-driven accelerator program based in Sydney. Under her leadership, the 2024 Techstars Tech Central Sydney accelerator achieved a milestone with 83% of its startups having at least one woman founder, reflecting her commitment to diversity and inclusion in the startup ecosystem.
“As the new CEO of Birchal, I’m thrilled to leverage my experience as co-founder of Future Super combining people and financial power to change the superannuation sector, and more recently shaping the next generation of innovative business leaders as an investor at Techstars Tech Central Sydney Accelerator.”
“I’m so proud of the impact I’ve had as Managing Director of the Techstars Tech Central Sydney Accelerator, and I will be continuing to support Techstars and the new Managing Director to ensure that the 2025 accelerator is an even bigger success,” Hunter says.
Now with over 80% of the crowdfunding market, Birchal has announced its busiest start to the calendar year to date. With the incredible success shown in Q4 2025 - notably Birchal’s own $2m raise and the launch of the Birchal First Syndicate funding $2.5m to hardware technology founders - the opportunity ahead is vast.
Vitale concludes, “I’m proud of the impact that Birchal has made over its first eight years. Starting a new industry from ground zero is never easy, and I have loved every minute. With the announcement of Kirstin Hunter as Birchal’s CEO, I have deep confidence that Birchal’s best days are ahead. I remain one of Birchal’s biggest champions and look forward to supporting Kirstin with anything she needs to set her and Birchal up for success.”
ABOUT BIRCHAL
Birchal is Australia’s leading crowd-sourced investment platform, facilitating 75% of all equity crowdfunding activity in the country. Since being among the first seven platforms licensed by ASIC in 2018, Birchal has raised over $218 million for Australian startups and SMEs through 300+ successful crowd-sourced funding (CSF) offers, supported by over 130,000 investments. The platform has a growing community of over 318,000 members, including more than 79,000 active investors.
