The Victorian government is investing $75 million across five specialist venture capital firms.
The funding, via Breakthrough Victoria, will go to VCs backing climate-tech, life sciences, and female founders, as well as a cornerstone investment in an unnamed US specialist healthcare fund manager as they launch their first Australian fund.
All five have committed to allocating 25% of the total capital in their funds to Victorian companies.
Breakthrough Victoria CEO Rod Bristow said the organisation is committed to boosting investment in VC funds, aligning with Victoria’s Economic Growth Statement, released last December.
“Since 2021, we’ve leveraged over $1.3 billion in private co-investment capital. This initiative will further solidify our role in the Victorian innovation ecosystem, ensuring innovative companies have the capital to grow and drive economic growth for our state,” he said.
Clean Energy Finance Corporation-backed climate tech VC Virescent Ventures, which already manages more than $500 million across two funds and has made 40 investments scored Breakthrough Victoria funding for Fund II, having previously backed several Victoria-based startups, including JET Charge, Relectrify, Xefco, Amber Electric, GreenSync, and Carbon Revolution.
Virescent managing partner Ben Gust said climate change is both the biggest threat and biggest opportunity of our generation.
“Australian entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge and seizing this unprecedented economic opportunity by developing world-leading technologies and business models to address these issues in incredibly smart, commercial and innovative ways,” he said.
“With Breakthrough Victoria’s support, our second fund will continue to build a portfolio of early-stage climate focused companies that drive innovation, create new jobs and power sustainable growth, while creating a better environment for future generations.”
Backing science and women
Victoria-based SYNthesis BioVentures Fund I, created by oncology expert Prof. Andrew Wilks, will back therapeutic assets and biomedical innovation, from early discovery through pre-clinical proof of concept and into clinical studies. More than 80% of the fund’s investments are expected to be in Victoria
Prof Wilks said Victoria has led the way in its support for life science research.
“We believe that Breakthrough Victoria has made exactly the right call by backing life science investors across the biotech capital stack,” he said.
“We find extraordinary science wherever we look, and we are keen to invest our funds, and our experience, into the therapeutics that lie beyond.”
Scale Venture Fund I, which backs female founders, was also funded. Managing partner Samar Mcheileh said women entrepreneurs are an “inadvertently missed” opportunity.
The market inefficiency lies in the disconnect between the proven performance of women-led teams and the minimal capital they receive,” she said.
“We’re excited to bridge this gap, demonstrating that by backing these founders, we can unlock significant value and drive innovation globally. The quality of ventures emerging from Australia, led by women, is truly exceptional.”
Galileo Ventures Fund II will invest between $250,000 and $1 million in a startup’s first raise. Galileo’s Fund I backed Relevance AI, Andromeda and Tixel.
Cofounder Hugh Stephens said founders keep telling him that pre-seed capital is still a mirage — “plenty of talk, but little water when you get close”.
“As Australia’s leading industry agnostic pre-seed and seed fund, we’re proud to fill that missing gap for emerging ‘unproven’ founders, with almost half of our first fund deployed into Victorian companies,” he said.
“As a proud Victorian, I’m eager to see more local startups thrive, enabled by Galileo’s global connections to ensure that founders have the right tools to scale.”
The latest $75 million investment into VCs by Breakthrough Victoria complements its existing fund investment portfolio of Tin Alley Ventures, and our seven University Innovation Platform partnerships.
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