The Young Rich Listers who have a combined estimated wealth of $122 million say the environmental impact of their business is important.
"We have a purpose outside of just business,"says Taylor.
The friends met when they were teenagers playing rugby and started different businesses separately.
"The idea for Koala came about as I had an online furniture business and we saw a huge opportunity to revolutionise the furniture industry using a customer-centric approach,"Taylor says."Really doing things from that first principle,not looking outside for inspiration but more looking within."
Taylor says Koala has achieved success by providing a 120-day trial,taking out the need for people to visit retail stores,providing convenient delivery windows and live tracking on delivery.
"There are all these pet peeves and hates for traditional furniture retailers we wanted to take out of our product,"Taylor says."Our products have to be built to last,high quality and made from sustainable materials where possible."
Koala employs 90 people and turned over $40 million last year with a loss after tax of $8.9 million,up from $4.3 million in 2016-17,this year it has a run rate of $90 million turnover.
Mr Taylor says the loss was due to"growth expenses"including investment in new products,entry into Japan and hiring more staff.
"It requires working capital and a lot of resource for this growth,"he says.
Beyond mattresses
Taylor and Milham are working to extend the range of products sold by Koala with new additions including a sofa and bed base. Next on the cards is storage,book shelves,a media unit,a sofa bed,day bed,dining table and chairs.
"As a company everybody knows us for mattresses but the idea for Koala was always furniture,but the mattresses was easy to start with,"Taylor says."We are still growing like crazy. We are focusing on the big and bulky items where our business model challenges the status quo of traditional retail."
Koala has expanded to Japan,where Taylor says the market was"screaming out for a new mattress buying experience"with the move from futons to Western-style mattresses.
"China and Japan can be a graveyard for a lot of brands but I think we have grown at a comfortable rate for us and have looked at opportunities and seized them without taking big risks,"he says.
Standing out from competitors
Taylor hopes Koala's focus on environmental causes help the start-up differentiate itself from its competitors in the"mattress in a box"space which include Sleeping Duck and Ecosa.
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"I hope we are a good example of corporate social responsibility,you see what happens with the banking royal commission if you get things wrong and just focus on profit,"he says."We can show Koala can be a profitable successful high-growth business and donate successfully to conservation initiatives. We want to prove this business model does work."
Calum Russell,head of sustainable business at the World Wildlife Fund,says the environmental group has a"great relationship"with Koala.
"It's great example of how corporates can have a conservation impact,"he says.
Russell says the World Wildlife Fund is careful businesses are not just"green washing"by associating themselves with environmental groups.
"One of the first things we do in considering any partnership is look at their impact and consider where their biggest impact is in their supply chain,that is what we want to focus on,"he says."Green-washing is something we are obviously very sensitive to and there is a range of companies we will not work with unless they address their impact."
Russell says there is a growing interest from businesses in the environmental impact of their practices.
"We are seeing a lot more companies engaging in sustainability and thinking about their impact,"he says."We are seeing a lot of passion around corporates and individuals involved but there is always room for more."
Despite Koala's focus on turtles,Taylor says there are no plans for a name change for the start-up.
"Koala is a great name for a brand like ours,our aim is to be a global furniture brand and what better name and what better Aussie icon than a koala?"he says.
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