Investing in Fund WA I
Fund WA I is an expertise-backed venture capital fund focused on opportunities in Western Australia.
Our purpose is both to help diversify WA’s economy by investing in WA early-stage innovative companies, and to generate attractive returns for Investors. We see both goals as mutually beneficial, as investing in the companies of tomorrow will create the industries WA needs for tomorrow.
Our perspective of Western Australia
Western Australia receives only 3% of Australia’s VC funding yet the state represents nearly 11% of the Australian population and has the fastest growth rate. We seek to invest in this gap by finding exceptional innovative companies in Western Australia that are often overlooked on the national stage.
This presents a unique opportunity for investors to gain exposure to promising WA-based startups, particularly those in the pre-commercialisation or early commercialisation stages. We believe Fund WA I has incredible potential to achieve success in WA in the early stage investment arena.
Investment thesis
Our thesis is Western Australian companies with global potential are overlooked for investment in the seed to series-A stage. This gap is an opportunity for us.
We intend to invest in approximately 20 companies all innovative sectors, including but not limited to, software, health, biotech, energy systems, and others) with a close connection to Western Australia. To date we have invested in 8 ventures.
WA capabilities
Western Australia has strong underlying capabilities to create Intellectual Property.
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6 of the last 15 Australian FDA-approved drugs are from Western Australia
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Home to the southern hemisphere's most powerful supercomputer
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World's largest robot is in Western Australia
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Australia’s fastest-growing tech sector workforce
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A strategic gateway — 25% of the world’s population shares WA’s time zone
Fund philosophy
Fund WA I presents investors with exposure to WA-based early-stage investments, specifically in pre- or early- commercialisation companies.
Through our proprietary modeling and the decades of first-hand experience of our team, we believe there is incredible potential to achieve success in WA-based early-stage investments.
Investment team
The Fund manager is led by Glenn Butcher, a highly experienced technologist, seasoned investor and mentor to early-stage businesses with 25 years experience in senior leadership roles at major technology companies and organisations, including Atlassian, Amazon and other AdTech and FinTech companies. Glenn held a founding role in creating Amazon’s Australia engineering, leading a global organisation, before entering venture capital. Glenn is a director of several start-up boards and the venture partner at CP Ventures, which runs two global top quartile Australian based Venture Capital Funds, both now closed to investment. (Past performance does not guarantee future performance).
The management team includes a collective of highly accomplished General Partners – Glenn Butcher, Pia Turcinov AM, Dr Michael Nguyen, Asheesh Malaney and Venture Partners Dr. Glenn Murray and Jay Dhaliwal – each bringing their wealth of knowledge, expertise and networks that extend across the life sciences, resources, technology, education and energy, government, innovation and finance sectors, and supported and enriched by venture partners, a special advisor, investment analyst, and executive assistant.
Fund WA I is OPEN
We invite interested investors to complete the form on the left to be connected with a member of our team.
Australian investors: Investment into Fund WA I is only available in Australia to Wholesale Clients (as defined in section 761G of the Corporations Act) or to persons to whom disclosure is not required under Chapter 6D or Part 7.9 of the Corporations Act and where such offer would not contravene any applicable law.
Investors outside of Australia: This does not constitute an offer or invitation in any place or to any person in or outside of Australia where it would be unlawful to make such an offer or invitation.