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Xero

SoftwareFounded 2006
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Xero?

Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards · Founded 2006 · HQ today: Wellington, New Zealand

Who founded Xero?

Xero was founded by Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards in 2006 in Wellington, New Zealand. It is now led by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.

Founders
Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards
Founded
2006
Headquarters
Wellington, New Zealand
Number of founders
2
Current CEO
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (since 2023)
Where was Xero founded?
Xero was founded in Wellington, New Zealand in 2006. wikidata.org
When was Xero founded?
Xero was founded in 2006.
Who started Xero?
Xero was founded by Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards.
How old is Xero?
Xero is 20 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards started Xero in Wellington in 2006 to move small business bookkeeping off desktop software and into the browser. The product was built around automatic bank feeds and a single online ledger that a business owner and their accountant could both work in. Xero listed on the NZX in 2007, well before it had meaningful revenue, and used that capital to build the product and expand into Australia and the UK.

Rod Drury

Background

Serial software founder with a background in enterprise software and email archiving before Xero.

Role at Xero

Rod Drury is a New Zealand software entrepreneur who co-founded Xero in Wellington in 2006 and served as its chief executive until 2018. Before Xero he built software businesses including AfterMail, which he sold to Quest Software. As CEO he took Xero public on the NZX in 2007, added an ASX listing in 2012 and led its expansion into Australia, the UK and the US.

Rod Drury was born in 1966. Education: Napier Boys' High School; Victoria University of Wellington.

Sir Rodney Kenneth Drury was born in 1966. He made his first fortune with Glazier Systems, a New Zealand software consultancy sold in 1999, and later founded the email technology company Aftermail.

Hamish Edwards

Background

New Zealand accountant and entrepreneur.

Role at Xero

Hamish Edwards co-founded Xero in 2006 alongside Rod Drury. Working as an accountant, he was deeply furious at how incredibly terrible, slow, and outdated legacy desktop accounting software was. He provided the absolute critical accounting expertise to ensure Xero's beautifully designed cloud software actually complied with complex global tax regulations. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Xero: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

Chief Executive Officer

2023 – Present

Under her leadership revenue grew from ~$812 million (NZ$1.40 billion) in FY23 to ~$1.59 billion (NZ$2.75 billion) in FY26, and Xero moved from a net loss to a net profit.

Rod Drury

Co-Founder & Former Chief Executive Officer (2006-2018)

2006 – 2018

As Co-Founder and legendary CEO, he was the absolute visionary who completely revolutionized the deeply boring accounting software industry by making the software beautiful, cloud-native, and highly integrated with banking APIs.

Compare Xero Leadership With Competitors

Xero vs Microsoft Corporation Leadership →Overview
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Keep researching Xero

Who Founded Xero? FAQ

Who were the founders of Xero?

Xero was co-founded in 2006 in Wellington, New Zealand, by software entrepreneur Rod Drury and chartered accountant Hamish Edwards.

What was Rod Drury's career before founding Xero?

Rod Drury was one of New Zealand's most successful tech founders, having created software consultancy Glazier Systems (sold to Advantage Group in 1999) and email archiving pioneer AfterMail (sold to Quest Software in 2006 for $15M).

What was Hamish Edwards' contribution to Xero's inception?

Hamish Edwards was Rod Drury's personal accountant; during a client review, the two lamented the inefficiency of sending desktop MYOB files back and forth, prompting Edwards to co-author the initial accounting workflows for Xero.

Why did the founders name the company Xero?

Originally launched as 'Accounting 2.0,' the founders rebranded to Xero because it was short, memorable, phonetically clean globally, and signified 'zero data entry' and 'zero software installation.'

How did the founders finance Xero's early development?

Drury used his personal proceeds from the AfterMail sale, teamed up with New Zealand tech angels, and executed an early NZX listing in 2007 to fund engineering without giving away control to foreign venture capitalists.

What prestigious honors did Rod Drury receive?

Rod Drury was named New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 and inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame, recognized as a national hero who built a global tech champion from Wellington.

What is Hamish Edwards' role today?

Hamish Edwards served as founding director and international development executive, later stepping back to invest in and mentor emerging Australasian cloud and fintech startups.

What was the founders' enduring legacy on the global software industry?

Drury and Edwards proved that world-class cloud software could be conceptualized, built, and scaled to global dominance from outside Silicon Valley, transforming New Zealand into an admired tech innovation hub.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.