Victoria welcomes eight new VC funds to back early-stage startups

Last Updated: Friday 9 August

Victoria is poised to receive a substantial boost in venture capital with the arrival of eight new VC funds collectively aiming to raise over $300 million, thanks to new backing from LaunchVic, the state’s startup agency.

Australian Medical Angels, Ecotone Partners, Era VC, Flying Fox Ventures, Mandalay Funds Management, Pacific Channel Ventures, SBE Australia, and Synthesis Capital will each secure a $300,000 grant under LaunchVic’s VC Support Program.

LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick said that while the number of startups in Victoria has surged more than threefold since 2017 to 3,500, early-stage venture capital remains a significant hurdle.

“This program is supporting the growth of the local VC sector and placing more capital into the hands of quality founders during those crucial early stages,” she said.

Australian Medical Angels, Australia’s largest network of clinician angel investors with 28 investments to date, will use this funding to launch a new early-stage VC fund focused on the next wave of medtech and healthcare startups.

Led by seasoned venture capitalists Dr Amandeep Hansra and Dr Bi Mian, the fund aims to reach a target size of $40 million and drive capital into the sector.

Other new VC funds will address key investment areas within the startup ecosystem, with Ecotone Partners and SBE Australia concentrating on climate technology and women-led startups, respectively.

Dr Cornick said the VC Support Program would also see more diversity and maturity in VCs entering the sector.

“It’s exciting to see four funds with at least one female lead partner and three funds that originated as angel networks supported by LaunchVic,” she said.

“Additionally, Mandalay Ventures and Pacific Channel Ventures, hailing from Queensland and New Zealand respectively, are setting up operations in Victoria.”

Minister for Economic Growth Tim Pallas announced the $2.4 million investment from LaunchVic at the Victorian Startup Gala on Thursday 8 August.

“These new VC funds will catalyse more investment in startups when they need it most, allowing them to scale up quicker and create more high-skilled jobs in critical sectors like medtech and climate technology,” Minister Pallas said.

About the recipients

• Australian Medical Angels led by Dr Amandeep Hansra and Dr Bi Mian, will focus on investing in early-stage healthcare startups from pre-seed to Series A.
• Ecotone Partners led by Nicole Kleid-Small and Amanda Goodman, will launch a fund focusing on investing in early-stage climate tech startups via both equity and debt.
• Era Ventures Management will focus on investing in early-stage transformative startups in the consumer products and associated technology ecosystem.
• Flying Fox Ventures, led by Rachael Neumann and Kylie Frazer, has established a novel VC fund structure that will use Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to hold multiple startup investments across different stages and sectors.
• Mandalay Ventures will invest in high potential Australian agrifood technology ventures across Seed to Series A.
• Pacific Channel will create and invest into deep-tech pre-seed to early-stage companies within the future of food, health and the environment in Victoria.
• SBE Australia, led by Kerri Lee Sinclair and Nicole Cook, will focus on investing in women-led startups.
• Synthesis Capital Management, a spin out of the MedTech Actuator, will focus on investing in early-stage, deeptech medical, health and wellbeing-related ventures, from pre-seed to series A+.

For media enquiries, contact holly.clark@launchvic.org.