The People Behind Lumina Ventures
We're Sandi Xian and Marcus Hahnheuser, a Brisbane couple who've spent our careers building operational systems inside some of Australia's most recognised organisations. Now we're bringing that expertise to South East Queensland's essential services sector.
Sandi Xian
Canva | KPMG | Suncorp
Sandi built her career at the intersection of operations and technology. At KPMG, she designed and implemented operational processes for enterprise clients across multiple industries. At Suncorp, she worked across insurance and financial services operations. At Australian Retirement Trust, she gained deep experience in regulated, large-scale service delivery. At Canva, she helped scale operations during one of Australia's most remarkable growth stories, learning firsthand what it takes to build systems that work at scale without breaking.
She brings a rare combination: big-four rigour, financial services discipline, and the pragmatic move-fast execution of a tech company that grew from startup to global platform. When she looks at a trades business, she sees the same opportunities she's spent years capitalising on. Processes that can be streamlined, decisions that can be data-driven, and teams that can be empowered with better tools.
Marcus Hahnheuser
RACQ | Virgin Australia | ATO
Marcus spent his career in technology and operations leadership across some of Australia's most complex organisations. At RACQ, he led technology initiatives serving millions of members. At Virgin Australia, he worked on operational systems for one of the country's major airlines. At the Australian Taxation Office, he gained experience in large-scale government technology and process transformation. At Swyftx and Elabor8, he brought that enterprise expertise to high-growth and consulting environments.
What these roles have in common: large-scale service delivery, complex scheduling and logistics, regulatory compliance, and the constant challenge of doing more with less. These are exactly the challenges that essential services businesses face every day, and Marcus has spent years solving them.
Why We're Doing This
We've spent our careers making other organisations more efficient. Now we want to do it for ourselves, and for business owners who are ready to hand over the keys to someone who'll look after what they've built.
South East Queensland's essential services sector is full of outstanding businesses built by dedicated owner-operators who are approaching retirement. Many of these businesses could be worth significantly more with the right operational improvements and AI implementation. We want to be the buyers who see that potential and have the proven skills to realise it.
We're not interested in buying businesses to flip them or strip them down. We're looking for the businesses we can operate personally, invest in for the long term, and grow using the enterprise expertise we've accumulated across our careers.
Want to know if your business is what we're looking for?
Check our acquisition criteria or start a confidential conversation.