04
Mar
Australia VC: The next phase
Exits are the top agenda item for venture capital investors globally, and Australia is no exception. IPO windows remain fleeting, and trade sales have been relatively muted. Exits via up-rounds as growth-stage investors back maturing start-ups are an increasingly popular option, but deal flow is contingent on a critical mass of portfolio companies achieving scale. While recent fundraising activity suggests that Australian managers are making an impression globally, they still have much to prove.
- What has been the biggest source of liquidity in the past 18 months?
- Are smaller GPs being pushed out of the market as capital favours larger funds?
- How does Australian VC differentiate itself when marketing to global LPs?
- To what extent does AI dominate investment pipelines?
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SpeakersNavleen Prasad CEO Australian Investment Council
Rishi Dua Portfolio Manager Aware Super
Samantha Wong Partner Blackbird
Alister Coleman Founder and Managing Partner Folklore Ventures
Michelle Deaker Co-Founder & Managing Partner OneVentures
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Navleen Prasad is the CEO of the Australian Investment Council, a role she has held since November 2022. As the peak body for private capital, the Council represents private equity, venture capital, private credit, institutional investors such as not for profit superannuation funds and family offices, and the broader ecosystem supporting the industry.
Private capital invests economy wide. As CEO of the Council, Navleen represents an industry that contributes three per cent to Australia’s GDP, is responsible for 600,000 full-time jobs and backs 900 businesses, mainly start-ups and growth businesses. On behalf of members, Navleen and her team advocate for the private capital industry with stakeholders, and provides the platform for building capacity, capability and connection across the industry.
Since joining the Council, Navleen has led: a significant expansion of the Council’s advocacy with stakeholders including government and regulators, the creation of deeper links between Australian fund managers and Asian investors; and a strategic focusing of the Council’s services to members.
Prior to the Council, Navleen spent 19 years at Macquarie Group. Most recently, she led Macquarie’s government engagement function and also held senior corporate affairs roles, specialising in media and reputation.
Navleen started her career in tax advisory, initially with Deloitte and then PwC.
Navleen is also on the board of Sydney Youth Orchestras and Bundanon Trust. In 2022, she was appointed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers as a core member of the Investor Roundtable, advising the Australian Government on meeting nationally significant investment needs.
Rishi is a Portfolio Manager in Aware Super’s Private Equity team covering primary and co-investment activity.
Prior to Aware Super, Rishi worked in the Private Equity team at the Future Fund, and at KPMG in the Mergers and Acquisition team.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting.
Sam is a Partner at Blackbird, a multi-stage venture capital firm focussed on investing in the best global tech startups being formed in Australia and New Zealand, with $10.4 billion in assets under management.
Sam raised Blackbird's inaugural $60M New Zealand fund in 2020 and its second $80M New Zealand fund in 2022. Sam has broad investment interest including digital healthcare, robotics and IoT and B2B software, including AI. Sam sits on the boards of Halter, Partly and Vow.
Sam is passionate about diversity in technology and venture capital and spear-headed the release of the Model Code of Conduct for the Startup Community as well as a venture capital internship program for women.
Prior to joining Blackbird she was a legaltech startup founder, an e-commerce product and strategy manager, and practiced in corporate and litigation teams at Minter Ellison before career-pivoting into startups in 2010.
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 20 years of experience as an investor, advisor and founder of technology companies, with software at their core.
Michelle is the Founding and Managing Partner of OneVentures, one of Australia’s first venture capital firms, founded in 2010 and now managing over $1 billion in funds under management.
With over 25 years of experience building and investing in high-growth technology companies in Australia and the US, she has a proven track record in global business expansion and Australian R&D.
Michelle serves on the boards of Employment Hero, Vaxxas and Buildkite, and previously Phocas Software, and is a member of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments System Board. Prior to founding OneVentures, she was a serial entrepreneur who built several businesses, including E Com Industries, one of Australia’s first fintech companies. She holds a PhD in Applied Science and is the co-founder of WinVC, a non-profit supporting women in venture capital.