Canberra has a new $50 million early-stage VC fund – ACTivate Capital

Canberra’s startup community has a new local venture capital fund, with ACTivate Capital securing an initial close of $23 million towards a $50m target.

The Early-Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) fund will have a dedicated investment pipeline to commercialise local research and help Canberra-grown businesses scale into global markets.

ACTivate Capital will invest at the pre-seed, Seed and early Series A stages, and hopes to back 10-15 startups over the next decade.

Fund manager Ken Kroeger said the goal to keep the Australian Capital Territory’s best ideas and brightest talent local. 

“Good companies can always find money – but money often takes you away from Canberra,” he said.

“Performance is our primary measure, but purpose matters too. Every successful exit is also a story of local growth – of people choosing to build their careers, companies and lives in Canberra.”

The $23m first close for the fund includes the ACT Government as cornerstone investor, with Epicorp as general partner, and  UNSW Canberra and local family offices as limited partners.

Epicorp and ANU Connect Ventures, ran previous local funds, investing more than $60 million over 20 years in startups such as Seeing Machines, Instaclustr, Windlab, Cohda Wireless, and Mediaware.

Kroeger, the former CEO of Seeing Machines, said that while the fund’s investment scope is sector-agnostic – spanning defence, quantum, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and AI, with an emphasis on commercialising great science and translating local institutional IP into globally competitive businesses.

“Impact will be measured not just in financial returns, but also in new jobs, skills and economic diversification,” he said.

ACTivate Capital’s board is chaired by former Pro Vice-Chancellor of Innovation at ANU Michael Cardew-Hall, and includes Liquid Instruments CEO Prof Daniel Shaddock, veteran startup adviser and founder mentor Anne-Marie Perret, Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) founder Ian Cox, Nobel laureate Prof Brian Schmidt, Kerrie Jackson, Simon Uzcilas, and James Palmer.