What Portable does

Portable is an Australian design and technology consultancy founded in 2005 and headquartered in Collingwood, with additional studios in Sydney and Canberra. The firm operates an embedded-consulting model in which technology consultants, researchers, strategists, and designers are placed inside client organizations for engagements typically lasting three months to over a year. Its primary customer segments are Australian government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and impact-focused social enterprises, alongside selected technology companies and universities. Core service offerings include experience design, user research, brand strategy, digital transformation, AWS cloud architecture, and DevOps engineering, with named engagements at organizations such as Bushfire Recovery Victoria, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, BirdLife Australia, the Victoria Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, and the University of Sydney.

Underlying technology capabilities span AWS cloud architecture (landing zone design, multi-account architecture, AWS CDK, CodePipeline, Security Hub, Config), infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps automation. The firm is an AWS Rising Star Consulting Partner of the Year ANZ (2026) and a Certified B Corporation. In 2026 Portable acquired Midnyte City, adding infrastructure, SRE, observability, and DevOps as a fifth delivery team.

Portable monetizes primarily through professional services fees on embedded engagements and, more recently, through Sweep, a consumer-facing wage-compliance platform for Australian retail workers. Sweep combines payslip analysis, award interpretation against the General Retail Industry Award, AI-powered Q&A (AskSweep), employer-conversation prep, and legal referral. Development was funded by an AUD 1.1 million BRII grant awarded in 2024, and the product moved to public launch via iOS TestFlight and Google Play in May 2026. The company is privately held with no disclosed external institutional investors, and ownership remains concentrated with co-founders Andrew Apostola (CEO) and Simon Goodrich.

Name

Portable

Legal name

Portable

Website

https://portable.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Portable is an Australian design and technology consultancy that embeds practitioners inside government agencies, not-for-profits, and technology companies for multi-month digital-transformation engagements, and operates Sweep, a consumer wage-compliance platform for retail workers launched in 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Collingwood

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Embedded Consulting Services: Technology consultants embedded within client organizations for extended periods providing technology leadership, technical uplift and problem solving. Revenue generated through professional services engagements typically lasting 3 months to over a year.
2. Product - Sweep Platform: Wage compliance platform currently in beta with public launch scheduled for May 2026. Potential future revenue through retail workers and employers using the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Portable is a design and technology company that embeds technology consultants, researchers, strategists, and designers within client organizations for extended engagements (3 months to over a year) to deliver digital transformation. Its service practices cover human-centered design, user research, brand strategy, AWS cloud architecture, and DevOps leadership. It also develops and sells the Sweep wage compliance platform, which helps Australian retail workers analyze payslips against awards, identify underpayments, and take action via AI-powered Q&A and legal referral.

Product overview

Portable is a design and technology company operating as both a consultancy and product developer. Its primary owned product is Sweep, a wage compliance platform launched publicly in May 2026. Sweep helps retail workers identify underpayments through payslip analysis and award interpretation. Alongside this, Portable runs multiple service practices including Midnyte (embedded technology consulting for infrastructure, SRE, observability, and DevOps), experience design, user research, brand strategy, and AWS cloud services. The company has approximately 65+ employees across offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, and is a Certified B Corporation and AWS Rising Star Consulting Partner of the Year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sweep: A digital platform for wage compliance that provides payslip analysis, award interpretation, AI-powered Q&A, employer conversation prep, and legal referral for retail workers to identify wage gaps and take action.

Products and services

• Sweep Wage compliance digital platform that helps Australian retail workers verify their pay against the General Retail Industry Award, understand entitlements, and take action on underpayments through payslip analysis, award interpretation, AI-powered Q&A (AskSweep), employer conversation prep, and legal referral.
• Midnyte Embedded Technology Consulting Embedded consulting practice providing senior technology leadership across cloud infrastructure, site reliability engineering (SRE), observability, and DevOps, with practitioners placed inside client organisations for extended engagements.
• AWS Cloud Architecture Services Strategic AWS architecture services including cloud cost optimisation, landing zone design, multi-account architecture, AWS CDK, CodePipeline, Security Hub, and Config-based continuous compliance automation.
• Embedded Digital Transformation Consulting End-to-end digital transformation services combining technology consulting, research, design, and production, with teams embedded within client organisations for engagements of three months to over a year.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Midnyte CitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026Midnyte City, founded by Hannah Browne in 2020, is one of Melbourne's most respected technology consulting practices specializing in infrastructure, SRE, observability, and DevOps. They joined Portable as the fifth delivery team, continuing to operate as their own group with the aim to grow and deepen the team's capability. Midnyte brings technical leadership capability that complements Portable's design and product expertise.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2026AWS partnership for cloud infrastructure, architecture, and DevOps services. Portable won AWS Rising Star Consulting Partner of the Year ANZ for helping organizations make cloud work with faster delivery, cost discipline, and continuous compliance.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Thoughtworks: Global technology consultancy combining engineering, design, and strategy with a strong social-impact orientation, directly comparable to Portable's design + tech + purpose-led model.
• Slalom: Technology and business consulting firm with a local-market, embedded-team delivery model similar to Portable's approach to sustained consulting engagements.
• Nous Group: Australian management and digital consulting firm working extensively with government and the for-purpose sector, directly comparable to Portable's primary customer segments and impact-led positioning.
• R/GA: Global design and technology consultancy blending brand, product, and engineering, comparable to Portable's combined design, research, and AWS-driven cloud delivery capabilities.
• AKQA: Design and technology agency combining brand strategy, experience design, and engineering, overlapping with Portable's design, brand, and digital transformation services.
• Tribal Group: Public-sector digital and education technology specialist with ANZ operations, comparable to Portable's government and education client work and embedded delivery model.
• Employment Hero: Australian HR, payroll, and employee benefits platform targeting SMBs and their workers, directly comparable to Sweep's wage-compliance and worker-engagement value proposition.

Regional players

• Telstra Purple (Telstra Enterprise): Australian technology consulting arm of Telstra delivering cloud, networking, and digital transformation services, competing for many of the same Australian enterprise and government modernisation engagements as Portable.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte Digital (Australia): Big Four digital consultancy with a strong Australian public-sector practice, competing for the same government digital transformation mandates as Portable but at a much larger scale and broader service portfolio.
• Accenture (Australia & New Zealand): Global professional services firm with major ANZ government and cloud transformation practices, providing a much larger but less specialised alternative to Portable's embedded consulting offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/portable

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Portable