SA’s only venture capital firm raises tens of millions for first fund
Adelaide-based Eastend Ventures closed its debut fund with millions of dollars from global investors, including those from Singapore and the United States.
South Australian venture capital firm Eastend Ventures has closed its debut fund at $30 million, giving it plenty of cash to back innovative and early-stage technology companies in the state and beyond.
The news was announced just over a year after the firm ticked off a major legal requirement to officially launch. Since then, Eastend Ventures has invested more than $8 million into seven companies.
The $30 million pot is backed mainly by the SA government-owned corporation Funds SA, which manages more than $50 billion, including public sector superannuation funds.
More than 50 sophisticated investors and family offices also joined the raise, with capital flowing from Australia, Singapore and the United States.
The news comes as top business and government officials from across Southeast Asia are in Adelaide today for the Australia-ASEAN Business Forum.
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Representatives include ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of ASEAN Milena Rangel. Ambassadors from all 11 ASEAN countries will also be in attendance for the two-day conference.
The event aims to improve investment and commercial engagement between Australia and Southeast Asia.
“We built this fund the way a superannuation investor expects, with independent members on our investment committee and robust governance and compliance,” said Eastend Ventures founding partner Josh Garratt.
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“That is what a manager has to show before an institution will commit, and our job now is to turn that trust into returns for the people who backed us.”
The funds will be spent on technology companies from SA, Western Australia and Queensland which together have only attracted 9.7 per cent of all investment from early-stage venture funds.
In just over a year, more than $8 million has been invested by Eastend Ventures into seven companies, including some from SA.
Local recipients include Priori Analytica – which builds analytics that classify sonar and acoustic signals for defence and industrial customers and is deploying with NATO and US Navy programs this year.
Nitrosend is another SA business backed by Eastend Ventures. That company launched in June with USD$500,000 (AUD$701,000) in seed funding.
Eastend Ventures managing partner JD Sheard said he was proud of the work done to secure the $30 million.
“Our team ran an institutional due diligence process, an international capital raise and executed seven investments at the same time, and did it to a standard I’m proud of.
“The founders who partnered with us early, before the fund had a track record, gave us something to show every investor who came after. This close belongs to them as much as to us.”
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