G+T’s Venture Capital team has acted as the legal advisor to V-Ignite in relation to the establishment of the Victorian Startup Capital Fund, a newly created fund-of-funds geared towards Victorian investments and backed by the Victorian Government

V-Ignite is a newly created venture capital manager led by Neil Stanford and Brighid Pappin (formerly of the Hostplus Private Equity and Venture Capital team) alongside long-term G+T client and leading venture capital manager, Brandon Capital.

The Victorian Government, acting through LaunchVic, will make a cornerstone investment of up to $60 million, which will be matched by an additional commitment of at least $60 million from third party investors, including superfunds, wealth managers and high net worth individuals. Investors in the fund will benefit from access to Victoria’s growing start-up sector and a diverse range of other equity funds, as well as a preferential rate on returns.

Having previously acted for Brandon Capital and other clients in relation to existing Government-backed investment funds, G+T has significant experience with understanding the inter-play between public sector and private sector interests.

Deborah Johns, the Corporate Advisory Partner who led the transaction, said: “This deal reflects the government interest in engaging the expertise of leading venture capital fund managers to increase the amount of capital available to local startups”.

Deborah was supported by lawyers Judy Hsu and Sam Kaelin.