The investment manager has become a limited partner in CSIRO-founded Main Sequence Ventures, which announced its $194m Fund 2 in April this year.

Main Sequence Ventures, the Australia-based venture capital firm founded by Commonwealth Scientific Research Organisation (CSIRO), added investment manager Australian Ethical to the limited partners for its Fund 2 today. The fund launched in April this year with $194m in capital and while Main Sequence partner Mike Zimmerman told GUV he was unable to disclose the current size, he confirmed the firm was looking to achieve a final close this autumn and would provide an updated figure then. John Woods, head of asset allocation at Australian Ethical, told the Australian Financial Review that the amount represented a significant portion of his employer’s VC allocation. Main Sequence Ventures was founded in 2017 to manage CSIRO Innovation Fund 1, established by CSIRO and the Australian federal government. It focuses on commercialising academic research and on setting up startups in partnership with corporates. Limited partners in Fund 2 already include aerospace and defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin, superannuation fund HostPlus, Temasek, Horizons Ventures, family offices and individual investors represented by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Mutual Trust. Zimmerman said in a prepared statement: “Australian Ethical is an ideal partner for us given our alignment in tackling global challenges and desire for a long term relationship. Australian Ethical is a leader in a broader trend emerging in both the institutional investor and corporate sector. “Not only are we seeing a growing number of institutional investors focusing on sustainable and ethical investment opportunities, we are also seeing them bring these principles to the boardrooms of mainstream corporations they invest in, helping drive operational targets, reporting and even executive remuneration tied to achievement of environmental, social and governance goals.” Zimmerman previously spoke with Global University Venturing about Main Sequence’s mission on the Talking Tech Transfer podcast. The interview is available for free. – This article was updated on September 20, 2021 to include information provided by Mike Zimmerman to GUV.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).