Founders Future

Project A invests in digital companies that challenge the status quo of their industries. With over $600M of assets under management, we start with investments of $1M to $8M and reserve up to $30M for future rounds, from pre-seed to Series A and beyond. In addition to capital, we provide our portfolio companies with exclusive operational support by our team of 100 in-house experts including all areas across product, growth, data and people. Since 2012 Project A has invested in more than 100 companies.

With over two decades of Australian investment in building capability in research and universities, Australia now enjoys some of the most extraordinary talent and globally leading minds. This talent is creating knowledge and has the capacity of solving some of the big problems of our time but if we can’t take this know-how and intellect into the world, then this brilliance is lost and the opportunity we have will remain just that – an opportunity. As business builders and investors, Significant has been taking up this challenge for nearly two decades. Working in collaboration with universities, researchers and state governments, we, as a collective group have a track record in translating this knowledge bank into technology, into products, into services and ultimately into businesses that: Have become global companies Re-shaped markets Solved sustainability problems Created jobs and New career pathways for Australians Significant has the capacity to create high value niche modern manufacturing industries and exports for Australia and are extremely proud of their achievements. Significant leads by example to show that Australia can commercialise its inventions, that sustainable globally competitive businesses can be created in Australia, and that early-stage investment can create immense value for investors, demonstrating that through action Significant is able to attract more capital to invest in this important space and is be able to shift the mindset (read the AFR article) that Australia is great at innovation but not at execution. Backing Australia Our vision is a country that backs its researchers for the intellectual capital advantage they provide. Our mission is to back this talent, entrepreneurs and innovators to take these ideas and concepts to the world and create its own self-funding eco-system that results in the formation of new industries. Through our 4-way all-encompassing unique eco-system, our university investor partners provide us with access to the ‘very earliest’ investment opportunities possible, opening the door to concepts, ideas and innovations well before other venture capital funds. Our investment approach We invest in applied technologies that address high-impact global niche markets and will bring about social, environmental or economic change. Every potential investment must have a pathway to being a sustainable business and contributing impact to the UN Sustainable Development Goals either through the technology or through their business model. We look for technologies that provide a market advantage that is hard to replicate. They will have emerged either from researchers who have had long well-funded R&D cycles or innovators who have deep domain specialisation in an industry and so know their market problem exceptionally well. We are sector agnostic driven by the thematics that arise from the core capabilities of our partner universities and the innovations we uncover. The accelerators Strong market-fit and early industry engagement are imperative. We seek to accelerate the path to market dramatically by sourcing early adopters to validate the market need and aim to achieve market traction within 12-24 months. Our ability to find these early adopters is a key part of Significant’s initial due diligence.

We’re EQT Ventures, a VC built by former founders and operators ready to support the next generation of global winners. Building a global tech company is challenging. We know because we’ve done it too. Without the right people around you, getting to great is almost impossible. That’s why we decided to create EQT Ventures, a new kind of VC, the VC we always wanted on our own startup journeys. A VC that is accessible, supportive and fully committed. A partner that knows what it takes to put everything on the line. A VC built to serve the founders it backs. From offices in Stockholm, London, Berlin, Paris and San Francisco, we invest in and support entrepreneurs building the next-generation of global winners. Entrepreneurs will always be at the core of everything we do. We’re entrepreneurs at heart and there’s nothing we thrive from more than working with founders. No matter where you are on your journey or the challenges you face, chances are we’ve been there too and can overcome them together.

Visible Hands is a venture capital firm on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. We envision a world where talent and execution - not race or gender - are the key predictors for success. Our Manifesto Our world is changing. Our communities are changing - they are becoming stronger and more vibrant in their diversity, and face fresh possibilities and challenges as a new generation looks increasingly different from the last. We believe that as new opportunities arise, anyone should have the chance to seize them. The best solutions come from those closest to the problem - as our problems evolve, so should the problem-solvers. We believe that investing in women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups is key to creating a more prosperous and equitable future for everyone. We celebrate the bold, the curious, and the irrational. We applaud those with big dreams, and who choose the harder, riskier path in relentless pursuit of pushing forward what is possible. We also acknowledge that being a risk-taker often comes from a position of privilege - opportunity and wealth gaps persist along racial and gender lines, and access to financial and social capital too often determines which ideas are nurtured to grow. We believe that we must first acknowledge that the playing field was built to be unequal in order to change it. We know that we must change it. High-growth entrepreneurship should not be reserved for the privileged few. We need to shine a light inwards on our collective blindspots, and cast out a wider and more inclusive net to find and support existing talent. Instead of relying on unseen market forces, we’re taking matters into our own hands. No one should have to look a certain way to be deemed deserving; great entrepreneurs are all around us but we must choose to see them. By sharing our privileges with those not born into it and manufacturing fairness where it doesn’t yet exist, we can fundamentally change access to wealth and opportunity in this generation. This is our open call for anyone who feels stuck on the outside looking in: We see you. We value you. We need you. Your perspective is unique, your lived experience is invaluable, and your potential is limitless. Never doubt that your voice matters and that you deserve to be heard, even if it can feel like it doesn’t. We believe that good ideas, regardless of who or where they come from, should rise to the top, and we will fight alongside you to get them there.

Everything here is led by Founders, for Founders. We believe capital is a commodity, experience and inner purpose are not. We want to help our Founders succeed in building extraordinary companies. We’re an experienced team of operators who have started dozens of companies by shaping people's lives. We are on our journey to create a better society by creating impactful companies.

Women have less investment knowledge and are less confident about investing than men. We are team of committed women convinced that it’s the time to change this statement. Women have to be part of the technology revolution which takes place right under their nose. Tech with Purpose, where impact is at the core of the business model, is our Club’s investment thesis. The current growth-at-all-costs Unicorn model doesn’t fit the reality anymore. Instead, we are looking for the Camel model, as they show valuable lessons on how to survive through crisis, and to sustain and grow in adverse conditions. If your solution tackles essential problems that human beings face, we are a match.