Venture Capital

We are market leaders in Australia in relation to venture capital, with members of our team having worked on venture capital fund establishment and investment transactions all over the world. 

    Our Approach

    We are industry leaders, working with government and industry associations to shape laws affecting venture capital in Australia. We have acted in relation to the establishment of many of the highest profile venture capital funds in Australia. These funds have defined the market in Australia, and their breadth of investors, ranging from high net worth individuals to superannuation funds to major corporations, both domestic and foreign, means we have unparalleled experience and market knowledge to solve key issues between sponsors and investors. We also have acted on a wide variety of venture capital style fundraisings, both for the investor and the company. 

    Success on a venture capital deal requires the ability to work effectively and constructively with all parties and stakeholders – including the client, the existing investors in the company and the founders, to set the tone for the relationship going forward. We work hard to resolve issues rather than create roadblocks.  We focus on the issues that matter and look for constructive ways to resolve them.

    Our Venture Capital services include: 

    • Fund establishment (structuring, fundraising, documentation and compliance)
    • Investments (investors and companies)
    • Exits
    • IPOs
    • Secondary transactions

    Our Venture Capital Fund establishment experience:

    • Venture Capital Funds: In relation to establishment of venture capital funds by Airtree Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Brandon Capital, Genesis Capital, GBS Ventures, Investec, Liverpool Partners, OneVentures, Right Click Capital, Ryder Ventures, Southern Cross, Square Peg, Startmate, Tempus Partners, Telstra Ventures, Investible, Tenacious Ventures and many more.
    • Venture Credit Funds: In relation to the establishment of venture or growth credit funds by Arowana & Co, Dinimus Capital, Intermediate Capital Group, Investec, Leap Capital, Metrics, OneVentures, Qualitas, Quintet, ROC Partners, Tanarra, Yorkway and many more.
    • SIV – Compliant Funds: In relation to the establishment of SIV-compliant venture capital funds (both VCLPs and ESVCLPs) for BioScience Managers, Significant Capital Investors, Hampton Capital and others.
    • IIF Funds: Acting for five of the successfully licensed fund managers under the Commonwealth’s Innovation Investment Fund program (OneVentures, Cleantech Ventures, Brandon Capital, MRCF and Southern Cross).
    • REVC Funds: Acting for the only successfully licensed fund manager under the Commonwealth’s Renewable Energy Venture Capital Program (Southern Cross).
    • Biomedical Translation Funds: Acting for 4 of the 5 shortlisted candidates and all 3 of the successfully licensed ones (Brandon Capital, OneVentures and BioScience Managers).
    • Jobs for NSW: in connection with the establishment of the Go NSW Fund (managed by ROC).

    Acting for Investors:

    • OneVentures Funds: In relation to Series A, B, C, D, E or F investments by those funds in Blade Therapeutics, Madorra, BiVacor, Employment Hero, Clinical Genomics, Find-Me, Vaxxas, Hatchtech, Charm Health, Incoming Media, Peak3 and others.
    • Telstra Ventures: On its investments in Dimmi Pty Ltd, IPscape and various start-ups as part of Telstra’s muru-D incubator initiative.
    • Singtel Innov8: In relation to its investment in Data Republic.
    • Main Sequence Ventures: In relation to Series A investments in Morse Micro and Maxwell MRI.
    • AirTree Ventures: In relation to an investment in DesignCrowd.
    • Clean Energy Finance Corporation: In relation to Series A and B investments in GreenSync, WattWatchers, Relectrify and Carbon Revolution.
    • Southern Cross Venture Partners: In relation to Series A and B investments in GreenSync, WattWatchers, Mojo Power, Octillian and numerous others.
    • Brandon Capital: In relation to its investments in Osprey, Signostics, Spinifex and numerous others.
    • AbbVie: In relation to an investment in an Australian university spin-out.
    • Hyundai: In relation to an investment in Car Next Door.
    • Rocket Internet: In relation to acquisitions of SupperTime (Foodora) and Order-In.

    Gilbert + Tobin is ranked for Investment Funds.

    Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022

    Partner Deborah Johns has been recognised in the Funds Management category.

    Best Lawyers Australia 2014