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The Australian Capital Territory Government has launched a new $50 million fund known as ACTivate Capital to commercialise local research and help Canberra-grown businesses scale into global markets.
The fund plans to invest across pre-seed, seed and early Series A stages, targeting 10 to 15 companies over the next decade.
The fund initially aims to invest $50 million into Canberra’s innovation economy to create high-value jobs for the local economy, while further investment opportunities are expected in about 18 months, with a second round planned for investors across Australia.
“Good companies can always find money - but money often takes you away from Canberra,” says ACTivate Capital fund manager Ken Kroeger.
With an initial close of $23 million and capacity to grow to $50 million, the fund is currently supported by the ACT Government as cornerstone investor, Epicorp as general partner, and limited partners such as UNSW Canberra and local family offices.
ACTivate Capital, a dedicated regional and independent venture fund, builds on the legacy of previous ACT-backed funds Epicorp and ANU Connect Ventures, which together have invested more than $60 million in early-stage companies over the past two decades.
Epicorp and ANU Connect Ventures are linked to multiple Canberra success stories over this period, including Seeing Machines, Instaclustr, Windlab, Cohda Wireless and Mediaware, which have delivered strong returns to investors, including a 3x fund multiple and a 14 per cent gross internal rate of return from the Epicorp portfolio.
While the fund’s focus is geographically tied to Canberra and its surrounds, its investment scope is sector-agnostic to include defence, quantum, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
The fund says that its focus is on commercialising “great science” and translating local institutional intellectual property into globally competitive businesses.
“Performance is our primary measure, but purpose matters too,” says Kroeger.
“Every successful exit is also a story of local growth - of people choosing to build their careers, companies and lives in Canberra.”
Kroeger is a former CEO of Seeing Machines and led the driver-monitoring technology group’s global expansion, including the raising of more than $150 million in public capital on the London Stock Exchange.
ACTivate Capital’s board, which is chaired by former Pro Vice-Chancellor of Innovation at ANU Michael Cardew-Hall, includes experienced players in the fields of entrepreneurialism, venture capital and research commercialisation, namely Kroeger, Victor Pantano, Murray Rankin, Kerrie Jackson, Simon Uzcilas, James Palmer, Anne-Marie Perret, Brian Schmidt and Ian Cox.
In addition to financial returns, the fund’s impact will be measured in new jobs, skills and economic diversification.
The team expects to create and support hundreds of new high-value jobs across the ACT over the next decade, building on the success of companies such as Seeing Machines which hired an engineer a week for three years, that ultimately led to 76 families relocating to Canberra.
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