Main Sequence, an Australian enterprise capital agency, stated Wednesday it has raised the $450 million AUD (roughly $303 million) first close of its third fund.
The enterprise capital agency, based by Australia’s nationwide science company CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), has secured funding from new restricted companions, together with LGT Crestone, NGS Super, Daiwa Securities Group and the Grantham Foundation, in addition to returning backers Hostplus, Temasek, Australian Ethical Investment and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. The third fund will embody CSIRO’s first half of the dedicated $150 million AUD funding introduced by the federal Australia’s Economic Accelerator program.
Including the latest capital, Main Sequence now has greater than $1 billion AUD in property beneath administration. The agency, which didn’t present the ultimate focused measurement it expects to succeed in, says it’s going to full the third fund by the tip of this yr.
With the third fund, the agency plans to make roughly 25 pre-seed and Series B investments, accomplice of Main Sequence Gabrielle Munzer stated in an interview with TechCrunch, including that there aren’t any particular determine quantities for minimal to most funding, but it surely might begin from $100,000 AUD.
“We see incredible promise in pre-seed investments,” stated Munzer. “We are continuing to harness the forces of entrepreneurship and research to address the ‘Valley of Death’ [between research and commercialization].”
The agency works carefully with universities to hunt out potential researchers and scientists and to construct their expertise from scratch by way of its “venture science” funding mannequin. That means it empowers scientists to remodel expertise within the analysis stage into real-world options.
To increase the expertise sector, the Australian authorities has launched monetary incentives, which have supported tech startups in fundraising, product growth and market launches. Main’s involvement with authorities companies, together with CSIRO’s On Accelerator and Australia’s Economic Accelerator, in addition to college accelerator applications like UNSW Founders’ SynBio 10x program, allows the VC agency to find cutting-edge expertise builders, the corporate says.
With its mission to search out options to planetary issues like decarbonization and feeding a rising inhabitants, the brand new fund will zero in on decarbonization and deep tech firms.
“First, decarbonisation — we want to ensure more translation of climate research into the solutions urgently needed to address our environmental impact,” Mike Zimmerman, accomplice at Main Sequence, stated in an announcement. The agency will proceed to again deep tech startups that construct applied sciences central to Australia’s nationwide curiosity, together with cybersecurity, quantum computing and superior semiconductor expertise.
“Our focus remains on big, global challenges that need scientific backing, patient capital and long-term vision to solve,” stated Zimmerman.
Launched in 2017, the deep tech–centered enterprise capital agency has supported 53 firms, primarily in Australia, creating greater than 2,100 new jobs. Main Sequence beforehand arrange two funds — the $240 million AUD authentic fund, CSIRO Innovation Fund 1, in 2018, and the $330 million AUD second fund, CSIRO Innovation Fund 2, in 2021. Its portfolios embody firms like Regrow, Advanced Navigation, Gilmour Space, Samsara Eco, Endua, MGA Thermal, QuintessenceLabs and Q-CTRL.
“Our last fund saw the launch of five venture science startups — Endua, Eden Brew, Quasar Sat, Cauldron and Samsara Eco,” Munzer stated. “We are keeping up this momentum with Fund 3, pioneering new frontiers in biotechnology and plan to continue co-founding new companies at the bleeding edge of exciting advances in food and fibers with Fund 3.”
“Deep technology (deep tech) companies have the potential to deliver strong long-term returns on behalf of our members whilst aiming to provide solutions to societal, technological or ecological problems,” Sam Sicilia, chief funding officer of Hostplus, stated.
