About us

We’re here to make a difference.

Our mission

Tackle the absence of structure in social contracting, which frequently results in stress and uncertainty for those involved.

In everyday language, we just want to make sure you get your stuff back without having awkward convos with friends or family. No one wants that.

At Kontrak Social we take pride in being the pioneers in recording and tracking Social Contracts. We believe trust is earned and still carries value today.

Our aim is to create a widespread, accessible, and reliable system that fosters trust between people. Kontrak Social will support those who need it most by strengthening relationships, while promoting financial stability and resource accessibility for people across all communities.

Why we started

The idea behind Kontrak Social was born the same way all great ideas come about – through necessity. Our Founder, Blake, had given an acquaintance a personal loan to start a small business. A considerable amount of time went by and Blake, being the nice guy he is, hadn’t pressured this person to pay back for fear that he might harm the relationship.

However, the time came when he needed the money back and so came the awkward conversation of repayment. And from that conversation came the spark behind Kontrak’s existence: “But you didn’t set terms.”

Terms were set, repayments began, and Blake pondered; “Why isn’t there anything around to help with this?” (There was possibly some swearing as well).

BOOM! The lightbulb blazed brightly in his brain and the ideas started to flow. Approaching Mat, our now Co-founder, with the idea (he was hooked instantly by its brilliance) and they got down to work. Fleshing out the concept, bringing on new founders from specialised backgrounds, and with help from the Mullumbimby-based Deprogram, the build commenced in Australia.

Where we’re going

One of the things we discovered as we started to build out the concept was how limitless it is. Everyone, all around the world, make social contracts every day. From little things like borrowing a book or helping a friend with chores, to lending a mate $20 for lunch. We want to be the little helper in everyone’s pocket helping them navigate simple agreements, strengthening (and saving) relationships, but also giving people with limited resources the opportunity to grow without being beholden to large, uncaring corporations. You know who we mean.

Our founders

Blake Mckensie

Blake Mckensie
Founder & CEO

Blake McKenzie co-founded the IPN Valuers network and leads the offices for IPN Valuers South Coast, Southval, and the Australian Capital Territory. He saw a gap in the valuation market for regional offices and jumped in to fill it. Blake’s been in the property game since 2012, building up a solid set of skills to help various clients with their unique valuation and consulting needs. Thanks to his leadership, IPN Valuers has become a trusted name in the industry. 

But that’s not all—Blake is also the brain (and CEO) behind Kontrak Social. He’s driving the design and development of this app aiming to pioneer the market of Social Contracting with innovative concepts. 

Mat Peden

Mat Peden
Founder & COO

Mat’s career started quite humbly, delivering mail in a large publishing house in Sydney. From there his career rapidly blossomed and many high-volume and increasingly senior production roles followed. He (and his partner) decided to leave big city corporate life behind and moved to the NSW South Coast to raise a family and start a small studio that soon became very successful. Mat specialises in taking projects of all shapes and forms from concept through to distribution and market delivery.

The day Blake bounded into his office with a crazy idea was something he leapt at immediately and now as Co-Founder and COO of Kontrak Pty Ltd, Mat is finally stepping out of the shadows and is applying his vast media experience and production capabilities to something he genuinely believes can make a difference.

Bek East

Bek East
Co-Founder & CCI

Bek is a PhD trained market and social researcher. She has over 18 years’ experience working across government, not for profit and commercial sectors, helping clients to uncover the secrets of what makes their customers tick in order to ensure offerings are aligned to customer needs and desires.

She enjoys delving deep into data, conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups to understand underlying behaviours, preferences, and pain points and acts as a bridge between the customer and Kontrak, translating raw data into actionable insights.

Jay Pring

Jay Pring
Co-Founder & CCO

Jay Pring is a veteran of business management and start-up commercialisation, having worked with some of the world’s leading brands to monetise operations and increase shareholder value. As Chief Commercial Officer, Jay is tasked with commercialising Kontrak and establishing the company’s shareholder and market valuation. He has successfully worked with brands including R.M.Williams, Salesforce, Genting Resorts, Samsung, News Limited and others to restructure operations to achieve greater commercial success, through cost reduction and revenue enhancement, and improved customer outcomes.

Mark Curach

Mark Curach
Co-Founder & CTO

Mark has over 20 years experience delivering and running top-tier data storage and multimedia solutions, with a proven track record with complex Microsoft Azure Cloud migrations.

His leadership has grown a local start-up into a software and services business that boasts an impressive list of customers. By partnering with vendor FotoWare, he has provided Digital Asset Managment systems for some of Australia’s leading Corporates and Cultural Institutions, as well as Government departments at Local, State and Federal levels.

Mark’s unique blend of qualifications in IT, Accounting and Law equips him to devise comprehensive technology strategies, ensuring he can tackle both the overarching vision and the intricate technical challenges to drive consistent success.

Sustainability

One of the driving reasons behind why we’ve created Kontrak Social is sustainability. Every day we hear more and more stories about too much going into landfill or worse being left as litter to wash in to oceans and rivers.

A part of this is people can be reluctant to borrow a perfectly good item from a friend or family member and instead go an purchase something that they may only end up using a couple times. This is a waste of both money, resources and, energy and the embedded carbon emissions that come with it.

Before you go to the shops ask yourself if you really need to buy that new bicycle, sweater or power tool and think if someone in your social circle already has the same thing. Introduce them to the benefits of Kontrak Social and how it helps not just with the circular economy and future sustainability but getting the most out of everyday items.

“I can’t count how many times I’ve lent out things like cookware, books and clothes and haven’t gotten them back. Kontrak Social could be a great help!“

– Dinesh G