08
Mar
Venture capital: Time to show conviction
Venture capitalists have enjoyed a relatively long run of valuation upticks, a scattering of liquidity events, and latterly, increased support from local institutional investors. Now, though, the industry is facing a reality check. Challenging economic conditions have prompted questions about business model stability and the viability of valuations, and capital is harder to source. Assertions that the VC ecosystem has the maturity to thrive in the face of adversity will be put to the test.
- What is the outlook for early and growth-stage investment?
- Are regulators justified in questioning valuation methodologies?
- When is Australia likely to start seeing down rounds?
- What can VC investors do to build resilience into their portfolios?
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SpeakersXiaying Zhang Director of Private Investments WELLINGTON MANAGEMENTMatthew Koertge Managing Partner TELSTRA VENTURES
Alister Coleman Founder and Managing Partner FOLKLORE VENTURES
James Cameron Partner AIRTREE VENTURES
Neil Stanford Principal Advisor – Venture Capital BREAKTHROUGH VICTORIA
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Xiaying Zhang is Wellington Management’s Director of Private Investments, based in Singapore. Prior to joining Wellington, Xiaying was Head of Singapore at Hamilton Lane. Xiaying has a Masters’ and Bachelors’ degree in Finance from San Diego State University and is a member of CAIA.
Matthew Koertge is a Managing Partner of Telstra Ventures. Telstra Ventures manages over A$1.3B FUM with a team based in Australia and the USA which has invested in 90 companies around the world of which 34 have achieved liquidity events so far, delivering 15 Unicorns, including 4 of which are Decacorns. Since its inception in 2011, Telstra Ventures has generated more than A$630M of revenue for its portfolio companies across 1,600 customers. Matthew has more than 20 years experience in the venture capital industry including leadership positions at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, Macquarie Bank and Accede Venture Partners and he has worked with around 200 private equity backed companies including many successful acquisitions and IPOs. Prior to this, Matthew started his career as a software/hardware design engineer and project manager at Fujitsu. Matthew holds degrees in Engineering, Law and Business Administration and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Alister is the founder and Managing Partner of Folklore Ventures, an Australian venture capital firm with three top-decile funds under management that invests in ANZ founders building global technology companies. Alister has over 15 years’ experience as an investor, advisor and founder of technology companies.
James is a Partner at AirTree Ventures focusing on early-stage and growth-stage investments in Australia and New Zealand with a particular interest in software and fintech.
James has led AirTree’s investments in A Cloud Guru, Mr Yum, Open Insurance, DroneDeploy, Zepto, Lawvu, Athena and Secure Code Warrior. Before joining AirTree, James spent 15 years working overseas. He was Vice President at Accel Partners, the VC fund behind Slack, Dropbox, Facebook and Spotify.
James co-founded a SaaS investment research software platform, BipSinc, where he still serves as an Advisor. James holds an MBA from Stanford and undergrad degrees in Computer Science & Law from UNSW.