{"id":44498,"date":"2023-10-20T15:36:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/alchemy-ventures-launches-200-million-startup-fund-to-back-smart-people-solving-big-problems-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:36:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:36:26","slug":"alchemy-ventures-launches-200-million-startup-fund-to-back-smart-people-solving-big-problems-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/alchemy-ventures-launches-200-million-startup-fund-to-back-smart-people-solving-big-problems-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Alchemy Ventures launches $200 million startup fund to \u201cback smart people solving big problems\u201d – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A $200 million venture capital fund has been launched by Alchemy Ventures to target early-stage startups backed by \u201csmart people solving big problems\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ESVCLP will focus on early-stage startups operating in the mining, financial, agricultural and consumer tech markets, especially those that may be shut out from the ASX under proposed changes to the listing rules.<\/p>\n

Alchemy Ventures co-founder Darren Patterson says they’ll be doing things a “bit different” to the other VC funds in the market, with an eye to Asia and a focus on Series A rounds.<\/p>\n

“My view is that there’s a bit of a gap in terms of professional VCs and a lack of Series A funding,” Patterson tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It was always in the back of my mind to get a VC business up and going.”<\/p>\n

He says the fund is still open but is close to reaching the full amount.<\/p>\n

The fund will dish out seed, pre-revenue and early expansion capital of between $100,000 and $5 million, with 60-90% of investments in early-stage development and the rest in later-stage companies.<\/p>\n

Up to 20% of the fund\u2019s investments will be in companies outside of Australia in the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n

Patterson worked overseas in the tech and startup world for 20 years before returning to Australia three years ago.<\/p>\n

“In the 20 years I was away there was a lot happening in the ecosystem,” Patterson says.<\/p>\n

“Turnbull’s agenda is a good one that’s moving Australia into the more advanced VC world and we’re filling the Series A gap that has existed since I got back.”<\/p>\n

The team behind the Alchemy Ventures fund is on the hunt for startups with a clear competitive advantage and the ability to scale rapidly, a \u201cdisruptive approach and strong team\u201d and the potential for an exit.<\/p>\n

But Patterson says that most of all it comes down to the people behind the business.<\/p>\n

“Fundamentally it’s about the team and execution,” he says.<\/p>\n

“It really is about the drive and the ability to get things done on minimal resources.<\/p>\n

“You can’t always ask an investor to make the introductions for you. We like entrepreneurs to be self-starting and to smash down doors.”<\/p>\n

Alchemy Ventures is inviting founders to email them a pitch deck with a referral and will respond within three weeks.<\/p>\n

“Colder opens are harder to filter and go to the bottom of the list,” Patterson says.<\/p>\n

“I want something interesting, something that catches my eye and sets you apart. I want you to not be sitting back and relying on others to do the work for you.”<\/p>\n

The latest large VC fund continues a bumper year for the sector in Australia, with more than $1 billion set to be poured into it this year.<\/a><\/p>\n

A series of startup funds have been unveiled in the first six months this year, including CapitalPitch\u2019s $10 million \u201chybrid\u201d fund<\/a>, StartMesh\u2019s $20 million offering<\/a> and Signal Ventures\u2019 $10 million fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Patterson says that the government’s reforms to the ESVCLP scheme and tax incentives have helped to drive this growth, but it’s important to address other areas as well.<\/p>\n

“It’s good to see we’ve got incentives in place to support the investors but one piece that’s missing is tax breaks for entrepreneurs,” he says.<\/p>\n

“It’s one thing to encourage investors and another to get people to step off the corporate gravy train and be incentivised to take that life-changing risk.”<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter,<\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A $200 million venture capital fund has been launched by Alchemy Ventures to target early-stage startups backed by \u201csmart people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}