Significant Capital Ventures was officially launched this week to invest in seed-stage spinouts emerging out of five Australian universities.
Significant Capital Ventures (SCV), a multi-university venture fund backed by five Australia-based universities and construction and property company Hindmarsh, was officially launched on Wednesday with a target size of A$50m ($36m).
Australian National University (ANU), University of Canberra, Deakin University, University Technology of Sydney and University of Wollongong have all put their weight behind the fund, which was launched by Dan Tehan, minister for education.
SCV began as a joint venture between ANU and Hindmarsh in 2016, when the Australian Capital Territory government provided $50,000 to support establishment costs and the state-owned Canberra Innovation Development Fund supplied $50,000 to support fundraising activities.
University of Canberra also joined the fund in 2016, which had a target size of A$10m to A$30m at the time.
Significant Capital Ventures will make seed-stage investments in applied technology spinouts – companies that develop new applications based on proven technology.
The team will be led by chief executive Nick McNaughton, who is also the CEO of university venture fund manager ANU Connect Ventures. McNaughton will be attending next week’s GUV: Summit in Houston, Texas – tickets for the conference can be bought here.
Mike Calford, provost of ANU, said: “We are extremely honoured to have the support of John Hindmarsh and the Hindmarsh company in helping advance research and innovation.
“Significant Capital Ventures will invest in proven technologies, applied research and develop new applications. Our partners in this program are all world-leading in applied technology research and development.”
– This article was updated to reflect the figure likely being in Australian dollars.
