Artificial intelligence (AI) will contribute more than $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. According to the University of Adelaide, greater use of AI in key Australian industries will lead to a short-term boost in GDP of more than $200 billion per year and the creation of an additional 150,000 jobs from 2023 to… Read more »
Founders by their very nature see things others have yet to realise. Their challenge is to then get others to see that vision, believe in and back it. And then convince their customers to use a solution they didn’t know they need. Seven years ago, Dr Elliot Smith’s Maxwell Plus was just such a startup.… Read more »
CSIRO-backed venture capital fund Main Sequence has added another woman to its ranks with Startup Daily contributor Dr Elaine Stead joining the deep tech investor as principal. Stead is the founder of Human VC, where she managed the South Australian Venture Capital Fund and cofounder of Brisbane fund Tribe Global Ventures. She was previously the… Read more »
Synthetic biology – referred to as “synbio” by insiders – could develop industry worth billions of dollars, creating thousands more jobs that previously expected according to a new report by national science agency, CSIRO, and its venture capital fund, Main Sequence. The Synthetic Biology National Progress Report, released this week, is an update to the 2021… Read more »
A defence tech startup that helps drones and airborne surveillance craft “see” better has raised $4.45 million in a Seed round. The investment in Arkeus was led by CSIRO deep tech VC Main Sequence, with participation from Steve Baxter’s new defence-focus fund, Beaten Zone Venture Partners, and Salus Ventures. The capital is allocated towards scaling… Read more »
Dairy alternative startup Eden Brew has raised $24.4 million in a Series A as it prepares to bring its animal-free products, including milk and ice cream, to market. The two-year-old venture, created as a joint-venture by northern NSW dairy co-op Norco, CSIRO and its VC arm, Main Sequence Ventures, uses a fermentation process to brew… Read more »
Venture capital can be a solo, transactional game: meeting founders, building conviction, and making a case to an investment committee before allocating capital. Some firms learn how to exploit the aggregated super-power of their whole group to discover unique investments and unlock value. What we don’t talk about enough is how the firms themselves collaborate… Read more »
CSIRO’s VC arm, Main Sequence Ventures, has rounded up several high profile institutional investors for a $450 million first close of its third fund, as the six-year-old deep tech investment fund notches up $1 billion in funds under management. Founded in 2017, Main Sequence has now backed 53 companies including carbon capture agtech Regrow AG,… Read more »
It took 10 years from the time I hoped to become a venture capital investor until the time I actually became one. Ten long years of hanging by the hoops, trying to crack in, a VC desperado. It’s a fairly typical story: I studied books and articles, listened to podcasts about the greats, built spreadsheets… Read more »
Cauldron speeds up development of new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients Its hyper-fermentation platform lowers commercial risk & production costs $10.5m Seed round led by Main Sequence + Horizons Ventures An ambitious plan to transform the way new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients are created, by using fermentation has raised $10.5 million in seed funding… Read more »
In my first few months working in deep-tech venture capital, I found and spoke to more than 50 founders building ‘AI’ companies. From climate to workflow to healthcare to transports and logistics to aged care, I canvassed the AI startup space in Australia, meeting incredible founders and gaining useful insight about the Australian AI ecosystem.… Read more »
ESG plans and action are increasingly expected from earlier-stage startups and are a non-negotiable requirement for later-stage companies gearing up to IPO. I’m a big believer that implementing ESG early can have a powerful positive effect on your company build.As an investor at Main Sequence, we have seen countless times companies who have a purposeful… Read more »
In this essay, we are imagining a pitch from an early stage deep tech company, probably still working inside a university. An investor red flag might not be obvious to a founder. Why would it? They build up over years as signals of weakness and they are best avoided. Knowing what they are makes it possible to… Read more »
Sydney doctor, founder and angel investor Dr Amandeep Hansra has joined the CSIRO’s deep tech investment fund Main Sequence as a principal. Dr Hansra, a Bondi GP, has been in general practice for nearly two decades and co-founded the investment syndicate Australian Medical Angels, as well as founing Creative Careers in Medicine, which provides consulting services… Read more »
OMG, the pressure of being the founding CEO of a startup. Most people come into the role with limited experience and start the daily process of building something from nothing. The job is to learn what to do faster than the wheels can fall off. Every startup CEO feels like this. A quiet voice tells… Read more »
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