“Australia builds Nobel-prize science. We invest in the companies that carry it to market.”
Every investment passes through three filters.
Patented, hard-won, or otherwise difficult to replicate. We back companies built around research that took years to mature — not features that took a sprint.
We look for total addressable markets in the billions, with clear distribution paths into Asia-Pacific. Niche unit-economics that don't scale internationally rarely make sense for an ESVCLP fund.
Investing pre-seed to Series A means our hold periods stretch into the next cycle. We optimise for founders who think like operators, listen like scientists, and update fast on data.
What we hold to be true — in long form.
Australian science has been underpriced by global capital.
Fifteen Nobel laureates. World-class research institutions. A federal commitment to a A$15B National Reconstruction Fund. And fewer than 12 active deep-tech VCs. The capital intensity of deep tech keeps generalist funds out, and the technical depth keeps software-trained associates from underwriting. That gap is the opportunity.
The next decade belongs to teams that go to Asia first.
For thirty years, Australian startups went to the US first. The economics changed. With rising mid-incomes across Southeast Asia, Greater China's industrial buyers becoming receptive to non-US technical partners, and the diversified backgrounds of today's founders, we expect the next generation of Australian breakouts to land in Asia first and the US later — if at all.
Founder backgrounds, in plural, are an underrated asset class.
Some of the strongest founders in Australia are immigrants, first-generation Australians, scientists who pivoted, or operators whose path looks nothing like a CV template. Their networks compound. Their disadvantages teach them resourcefulness. We don't optimise for pedigree — we look for the founder whose backstory is the moat.
Empathy from the founder's side of the table changes how a fund acts.
Most of our team have been founders. We've raised, hired, fired, shut down, and rebuilt. That perspective shapes everything from how we structure terms to how we deliver bad news. We do not subscribe to “the one with the money is the dad.” The relationship is peer.
Real value creation is the only metric that compounds.
We will not invest in a company because the deck is clever, or sell a company because the multiple is attractive at this exact moment. We will not produce reports nobody reads, or run meetings to confirm what a memo could have said. If something doesn't create value for an LP, a founder, or the ecosystem — we stop doing it.
Three things no other Australian deep-tech fund can claim.
Operating relationships with Australian university tech-transfer offices and the Greater China industrial-buyer network mean we see deals at formation — not from broker emails.
Our partners include a former bio-pharma operator and an FDA-listed inventor. We don't outsource the technical assessment that decides whether the science is real.
A Shanghai partner network running structured market-entry support, not a referral arrangement. Our portfolio companies get walk-in meetings, not mailto introductions.