QUT Creative Enterprise Australia

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.

The Startmate Accelerator is a 12-week program for startups who are changing the way we work, live and play, and we're powered by the most successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Australia. Startmate invests in great Australian founders who are on a mission to be the best in the world. Startmate is powered by its mentors - successful startup founders who invest their own time and money in each batch. The mentors have extensive experience growing successful tech businesses such as Atlassian co-founders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. Over 200 startups from across the country apply to be a part of each batch and 25 of these are shortlisted for interviews. Of these, we select the best eight. Startmate offers $75,000 cash for 7.5% equity. For startups that have raised more than $250,000, we will match the terms of the last round of funding.

Grok Ventures is the private investing vehicle of Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian and one of Australia's most successful technology entrepreneurs. Grok Ventures invests in fast-growing technology-enabled businesses with world-class management teams who are solving big problems. Grok particularly likes food and energy companies. We have private, patient, long-term capital, with the flexibility to participate from early-stage or seed financing through to late stage funding rounds (although we prefer to be involved earlier).

We connect entrepreneurs with corporates and investors to solve the world's greatest challenges with technology. We help entrepreneurs design and build their pilot products in exchange for equity. We also typically invest up to $50,000 from our partners and VC fund(s) and provide training through our program supported by a team of full time entrepreneurs in residence (EIR). We are a team of 50 people with deep knowledge in achieving product-market fit, raising capital and establishing pilots. We have substantial expertise in development for web and mobile, as well as experienced senior people in product management and marketing. We are privately backed by some of the most respected family offices in Australia and the US. We invest in non-coding entrepreneurs who hold deep domain knowledge in their chosen industry (we look for founder-market fit) and we look for companies which have strong operational models. We then help our startups raise follow-on funding from our investor community and venture capital funds as well as help them hire their own engineering teams. We typically invest up to $250,000 in selected later stage companies on a follow-on basis. By connecting with our corporate partners to set up pilot trials, we help startups gain commercial traction.

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.

Tulla Group is the Australian-owned investment group of the Maloney family. Based in Sydney, it was established in the early 1990s with an open mandate focusing on small to middle market listed companies, private equity, venture capital and debt.