About Vanillah
We build solutions
that return on investment.
Vanillah is a Melbourne software consultancy: private AI platforms, custom software, and HubSpot CRM for Australian B2B firms, with deep specialisation in finance and CRE. Everything we build is built for you, with you - and measured by the return it delivers.
How we got here
Two threads, one practice.
The enterprise years.
I started in enterprise consulting with Capgemini, working with international businesses - Amex, Aon, Aviva, American Family - on systems at global scale. It was a thorough education in how the world's biggest firms deliver technology, and in what gets lost between the steering committee and the build.
The practice.
First Five Eight was the deliberate opposite: a small, senior, multi-skilled team close to the work. We built HubSpot CRMs, automation, and custom software for Australian B2B firms - premium skillsets across design, development, product, and marketing, without our clients having to hire for each one.
The Wefund chapter.
Then came Wefund. We built the CRE funding platform's first version through the First Five Eight team; I joined as CTO and co-founder, went fully dedicated, and ran it. Years inside document-heavy lending operations - the deal packs, the financial, the hours - from the owner's side of the table, not the consultant's.
The lesson.
Building product as the owner changes how you decide. Speed to delivery matters; speed to validated return matters more - a product the business keeps because it pays. You don't build because the team or the budget is there. You build because you need it, and because you can measure the difference after.
Vanillah today.
Vanillah brings those two threads together: the consulting practice & finance experience that has always been here, and commercially minded product delivery strategy. Software and AI are expected for any business today, and the next 24 months will be critical for the survival of many. We're here to help you get there.
Who you'll work with
You talk to the people
building yours.
Founder
Richard Owens
Enterprise systems with Capgemini's international clients. HubSpot, automation, and custom software for Australian B2B. CTO and partner at wefund, where he built and ran the platform. He builds Vanillah's platform and runs the engagements.
Around the build is the Vanillah delivery team - design, development, product, and CRM - resourced to fit the work. Senior thinking where it counts, without senior rates on the routine.
Vanillah is the trading name of First Five Eight Pty Ltd, a software consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia.
How we work
Four rules we follow.
Measured, not assumed.
We validate the hypothesis before we build and measure the return after. You keep what we ship because it pays, not because you paid for it.
Fitted, not configured.
Your templates, your process, your style. We make sure it's working in your business, and your team using it.
Run, not handed over.
We are on the tools, building for you, with you. We don't expect you to run it for us, we take it to production ourselves.
AU-first.
Built for Australian firms, Australian documents, Australian rules.
Why “Vanillah”
TThe rebrand marks an exciting new chapter. We have expanded our capabilities, refined our processes, and embraced the transformative power of AI to deliver even more value to the businesses we serve.
Vanillah is not about being plain. Vanilla satisfies without demanding attention - and that's the software we build: simply satisfying, never bloated like a rocky road. A hammer isn't designed to hit nails; it's designed to hang the painting. Our work is the same. You'll see it in the sales, the efficiencies, and the time you get back for the people you work with.
The software fades. The results don't.
Simply Satisfying Software
See what we'd build for you.
Simply Satisfying Software