If you’ve been part of the startup world for long enough, I’m sure you’ve already heard of Atlassian, Afterpay, Zip Co, Judi Bank, Airwallex, and Canva… These are all top Australian tech companies. In the last decade, Australia’s startup ecosystem has become one of the fastest-growing hubs in the world. According to the latest report published by Startup Genome, Sydney was ranked 24th in the world with an ecosystem value of $17.4bn followed regionally by Melbourne valued at $7.6 bn. Top venture capital firms in Australia have contributed to the nation’s success and helped multiple startups reach sky-high valuations such as SafetyCulture ($2.2 bn), Airwallex ($5.5 bn), and Canva ($40 bn) …
Here are the best most active venture capital firms in Australia:
AirTree Ventures:
AirTree is a venture capital fund with a mission to support the most ambitious Australian technology entrepreneurs who are defining the trajectory of their society. As one of the largest VC funds in the region with over half a billion dollars under management, their team aims to back startups from the earliest moments in their first funding round, often pre-revenue, and have the firepower to continue support successful companies over multiple, subsequent rounds. With the largest investment and portfolio support team in the region, they’ve worked with 60+ companies over the past 20 years. In addition, their 2014 and 2016 vintage funds are both performing in the top quartile of US VCs.
Notable Investments: Canva, Linktree, Pet Circle, Prospa, Athena, Brighte, eBay, Paxata…
Blackbird:
Blackbird is a venture capital firm whose mission is to invest in the wildest ideas, right at the beginning. The firm invests in global Internet businesses formed by world-class founders striving to make a difference in the world. Blackbird’s fund investors are the founders of some of Australia’s most successful technology companies such as Atlassian, Campaign Monitor, Aconex… Their team is looking for companies who are striving to be the best in the world, so they’re not only investing their money but also their time to help you succeed. They have more than a billion dollars under management and a portfolio of over 70 companies.
Notable Investments: Canva, Zoox, SafetyCulture, Culture Amp, Elevio, LIFX, Shape Analytics…
Brandon Capital:
Brandon Capital Partners is Australasia’s leading life science venture capital investor. As managers of the Medical Research Commercialization Fund, they work with scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs from company formation and seed investment through to expansion capital, supporting life science companies from proof-of-concept through to commercialization.
Brand Capital currently has more than A$800 million under management and offices in Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco, and London.
Notable Investments: Myricx Pharma, Pathios Therapeutics, Amaroq, George Medicines…
Carthona Capital:
Carthona Capital is a hands-on, proactive, and thematic venture capital investor based in Sydney, Australia that invests globally. The firm was founded in 2014 when a group of like-minded venture investors came together to invest on a deal-by-deal basis. In 2017, Carthona Capital shifted to a more traditional venture capital model by raising its first fund from a mix of institutional (Superannuation), Family Office, and high net-worth investors.
Their team likes to invest early, then continue to deploy larger amounts of capital as the business matures.
Notable Investments: Credible, Life360, OneAffiniti, Ouster, PARts, Sparebox, Synata, Qsic…
GBS Venture Partners:
GBS Venture Partners (GBS) is a leading life science venture capital firm. Founded in 1996, the firm invests in young businesses developing and commercializing products that, when combined with the right management and finance, will make a significant difference to patients’ lives and deliver financial returns to investors. Their areas of particular interest and expertise include human healthcare, biotechnology product development, and life science startups. In particular, investments have included biological or small molecule therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics.
GBS invests in private or public companies whether at a startup or later stages of company development.
Notable Investments: AirXpanders, Hatchtech, Hydrexia, Ivantis, Mimetica, Moximed, Endoluminal Sciences…
H2 Ventures:
Founded by brothers Ben and Toby Heap, H2 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm, bringing together talented entrepreneurs, investors, forward-thinking established financial services companies, and other thought leaders in the world of technology-enabled disruption.
They provide equity capital as well as knowledge and mentoring to support high-caliber founders who will not only drive their businesses with passion and energy but also take responsibility for the focused execution of their idea.
They operate the H2 Accelerator, Australia’s only dedicated FinTech, data, and A.I accelerator.
Notable Investments: Stockspot, Edstart, Forage, Equitise, Spriggy, Nod, Sempo, Triggr, Finhay…
OneVentures:
OneVentures is one of the leading venture capital firms, with over $500 million in funds under management. But they do more than just invest, they actively shape the company’s future to take it to the next stage.
They apply years of experience, expertise, and operational excellence to accelerate their growth and launch them into global markets.
Notable Investments: Flippa, Shippit, Madorra, Smart Sparrow, 8i, Vaxxas, Phocas, Zoomo…
Reinventure Group:
Reinventure is a pioneering Founder-First Corporate Venture Capital. They champion founders dreaming of transforming an industry across Asia-Pacific, propelling them with the support of a global bank
With $150 million under management and Westpac Banking Corporation as its largest limited partner, Reinventure is focused on uncovering, investing, and nurturing scalable early businesses in FinTech and adjacent areas that will be the future of the industry.
Notable Investments: Coinbase, Fillr, Zetaris, Data Republic, BrickX, Doshii, Everproof, Nabo…
Square peg capital:
Square Peg is a global investment firm on a mission to empower exceptional founders. The firm was founded in 2012 and has grown into a global entity with teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Tel Aviv… It has over $ 1 billion in assets under management and invests in emerging technology companies across the internet economy. In 2021, Square Peg expanded into global listed equities, with the launch of the Global Tech Fund.
Notable Investments: Stripe, Airwallex, Fiverr, Canva, StashAway, Prospa, Puresec, UHG…
Tidal ventures:
Tidal is a Seed-stage venture capital firm that invests behind Australian & New Zealand founders that are bound for international markets with a product-led-growth strategy. They invest the first institutional cheque and follow on through to late venture capital stages. The firm is headquartered in Sydney with an office in New York.
The Tidal team brings together operator and investor experience, with a combined 30 years of working in the venture capital sector and operational experience at global tech companies such as Atlassian, Yahoo, BroadSoft, Rackspace, Inference Solutions.
Notable Investments: PredictHQ, Shippit, Hone, Whistle Group, Drive Yello, Atlas Trend…
This article about venture capital firms in Australia is the seventh of the series. Make sure to check the others: London, LA, SF, Chicago, NYC, Boston.