Investors will travel to Tamworth and Goondiwindi this November to sit down with rural business owners, as the Invest Rural roadshow brings capital and conversation to country towns.
Invest Rural comes to Goonoo Goonoo Station, Tamworth, on Tuesday, 10 November, sponsored by Investment NSW. The roadshow then moves on to Goondiwindi on Thursday, 12 November and Toowoomba on Friday, 13 November.
Invest Rural was started by Jo Palmer, Claire Bull and Dave Lillo-Trynes. The idea is to bring investors out to rural Australia to meet the people building businesses there.
The trio came to it through a series of innovation events in rural towns, run with Investment NSW, Charles Sturt University and Spark Festival. The same story kept coming up.
“We were meeting business owners running solid, financially sustainable businesses with lots of staff who had never heard of venture capital, private equity or angel investment, let alone met an investor,” said Co-Founder Jo Palmer.
Many had also never heard of the R&D Tax Incentive. They had grown on bank debt and hard work alone.
“That is not a shortage of ambition or of good businesses. It is a shortage of access,” said Ms Palmer.
The first Invest Rural event, held in Bathurst in 2025, sold out with 50 businesses and seven investors in the room.
The centrepiece of each stop is a full-day workshop for business owners and decision-makers. It includes a session on getting a business investment-ready, a session on telling the business story, and a session on the R&D Tax Incentive. A funder panel then lets owners ask their own questions about crowdfunding, angel investment, venture capital, private equity, private credit, impact investment and bank lending.
Investors stay for the whole day, and long networking breaks are built into the program.
“Investors are in the room for the whole day rather than dropping in for a ten-minute talk,” said Ms Palmer.
Investors are briefed to come and listen and learn about rural business, not to sell. Ms Palmer said the approach turns the usual pathway on its head.
“The traditional pathway asks a rural business owner to go to the city, pitch a slide deck to a stranger and hope. We do it the other way around,” she said.
In the evening, an Ecosystem Dinner brings in councils, chambers, universities and local leaders. That means the connections reach beyond the workshop.
“If you are not working directly in a business, the evening Ecosystem Dinner is the best event for you,” said Ms Palmer.
The organisers say the day is open to anyone who owns or helps run a business, and is not limited to those planning to raise money soon. It is industry agnostic, with opportunities seen across agriculture, manufacturing, health, tourism, hospitality and professional services.
Reckless Brewing is one example of what is possible. The business raised $513,000 through crowdfunding on Birchal.
Ms Palmer said crowdfunding can also keep the benefits close to home.
“Equity crowdfunding means a business’s own customers and neighbours can become shareholders, so the returns stay in the town as well as the jobs,” she said.
For business owners who have never considered outside investment, Ms Palmer had some clear advice.
“Start learning before you need the money. The worst time to work out your options is when you are under pressure,” she said.
Ms Palmer also urged owners to build their networks and know their numbers, with clean financials, clear ownership and good records.
“Most investment conversations start with an introduction,” said Ms Palmer.
Invest Rural is now an annual event, and each year the roadshow visits a different part of rural Australia. Once it leaves New England, it will not be back for some time.
Tickets for the Tamworth and Goondiwindi events are available at investrural.com.au.
Ms Palmer said success comes down to two things. One is building confidence in rural businesses. The other is changing how city investors see them.
“Every investor who travels with us sees it first-hand: these businesses are well and truly worth investing in.”
For more information or to register visit the Invest Rural website.
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