Main Sequence
Venture Capital Est. 2017
≥AUD 1B
Firm FUM (minimum)
- Type
- Venture Capital
- HQ
- Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Founded
- 2017
- Focus
- Varies by strategy
About
The CSIRO Innovation Fund (managed by and trading as Main Sequence Ventures) is a deeptech fund, investing in companies translating research into global-scale businesses. Main Sequence Ventures knows that this takes more than money. We have our genesis in CSIRO and have access to a deep well of data scientists, physicists, synthetic biologists, chemists, astronomers and experts in other disciples. Each member of the management team has been an entrepreneur and understands the difficulties of building a company. We are here to help. We work harder to understand the world that these founders imagine. We are as comfortable in the lab as we are on the front-line with customers. We will invest capital, and ourselves, to systematically reduce risk and increase opportunity by combining the operational velocity of startups with the deep curiosity of Australia's research sector.
Strategies
Venture Capital
Investment Focus
Sources
Profile sources
- mseq.vc — Deep Tech, Technology
Recent venture activity
- June 2025 · CSIRO Innovation Fund 1, LP reported investments in FY2024-25 · ESVCLP annual report
- June 2025 · CSIRO Innovation Fund 2, LP reported investments in FY2024-25 · ESVCLP annual report
- June 2025 · Main Sequence Core Fund 3, LP made 1 new investment in FY2024-25 · ESVCLP annual report
Locations & investment markets
Office · Eveleigh, Australia
Investment market · Australia
The official About page describes the firm's venture investing in companies connected to Australia's publicly funded R&D sector, establishing an Australia-linked investment mandate.
Reported capital
≥AUD 1B · Firm FUM
Firm total across managed strategies · date not disclosed
AUD is a working currency assumption; confirmation is pending.
Capital and location details checked 2026-10-14.
Investment Criteria
Investment size
AUD 50K - AUD 7M
Reported investment size. Actual commitments may vary by stage, ownership and follow-on participation.
Investment Stages
Stages
Seed Series A Series B
Investment Geographies
Primary Markets
Australia
Coverage
Country-focused Regions
Oceania
Coverage is a guide only.
Location
Office Presence
1 country
Australia
1 known office
Sydney, NSW, Australia (HQ)
Deals & Activity
Deals, last 12 months
14
None led
Deals, last 36 months
32
8 led
Exits, last 36 months
0
0 on record
Recent deals
Rounds, buyouts and stakes from public sources · How this is counted-
- A$3m
- Funding round · Aug 2026A$6.8m
- Seed · Aug 2026
- A$15m
- Seed · May 2026A$4m
- Series A · May 2026With QIC Ventures (lead), Folklore (formerly Tempus Partners), R+ VC and 3 moreA$25m
- Funding round · Apr 2026
Tracked deals
32
Most common deal types
Unknown (9) Series A (8) Seed (5) Growth (4) Pre Seed (3) Series E (1)
Deals by domain
Saas 2
Similar investors
Equity Venture Partners (EVP)
Equity Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in B2B software companies across Australia and New Zealand.
Airtree
AirTree Ventures is an early and growth stage venture firm that invests in technology-enabled Australian and New Zealand companies. We invest at all stages of the startup lifecycle and love to write the first cheque for a promising young company. Airtree looks for world-class entrepreneurs who want to build iconic companies, and we do everything we can to assist in realising that vision. The AirTree team are entrepreneurs ourselves and have started companies whilst running big businesses across the globe. We understand what it takes to build a world-class company. The founders of our investee companies are everything to us. They are the foundation of what we do. We have rolled up our sleeves beside them and helped dozens of entrepreneurs achieve great outcomes over two decades.
Our experience and hands on approach sets us apart from other investors. We are not just bobbing heads or cheerleaders. As a great founder you will always decide the path, you know your sector more intimately than we do. But we think it can be healthy to have a spirited, fact-based conversation first.
In the past, we have had success investing in marketplaces, global SaaS businesses, next generation finance, digital commerce, and media and marketing platforms. Ultimately, we invest in disruptive businesses in any sector looking to reshape traditional industries and we support you to achieve your vision.
Carthona Capital
Carthona Capital invests in all sectors other than renewables and resources. It can invest at the pre-revenue and idea stage, along with later rounds.
King River Capital
King River Capital is a venture capital fund based in Sydney, with offices in Denver and New York, investing primarily in Australia and the United States. King River focuses on high-growth software and AI-driven technology businesses that are generating meaningful revenues
OIF Ventures
We're a leading Australian venture capital firm that champions exceptional founders, driven by purpose, who add material value to their customers, markets, and communities. We invest in early stage companies with innovative, high-growth and disruptive technologies and have deep conviction in the power of technology founders and give our all to make them succeed.
OneVentures
OneVentures is an Australian investment manager with technology growth-equity and clinical-stage life-sciences investment pillars, alongside a growth-credit practice providing debt facilities to technology companies.
Other Venture Capital Firms Headquartered in Australia
#1 Square Peg Capital
Square Peg is a venture capital firm that invests in emerging technology companies across the internet economy in Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Israel.
#2 Blackbird Ventures
Blackbird is an Australia and New Zealand venture capital firm backing ambitious technology companies from the earliest stages through later growth. It invests across software, deep tech, climate, fintech, health and other technology-led sectors, with portfolio companies including Canva, SafetyCulture, Culture Amp, Zoox and Halter.
#4 Titanium Ventures
Titanium Ventures is an independent venture capital firm investing in high-potential technology startups, including companies using software and AI.
#9 Brandon Capital Partners
Brandon Capital Partners (Brandon Capital) is a life-sciences venture capital firm investing from seed through expansion capital and managing Brandon BioCatalyst, a life-science investment collaboration.
#12 Alium Capital
Alium Capital Management invests in technology and innovation companies across private, secondary and listed markets. Its Innovation Fund targets private companies and generally takes founder-aligned minority stakes as a first institutional investor.
#13 Uniseed
Uniseed manages Commercialisation and Venture Funds that invest in companies commercialising research from university and research partners, including early-stage deep-tech and life-sciences businesses.