{"id":45183,"date":"2023-10-20T15:41:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-reverse-brain-drain-prominent-venture-capitalist-john-henderson-lured-back-to-australia-to-join-airtree-ventures-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:41:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:41:42","slug":"the-reverse-brain-drain-prominent-venture-capitalist-john-henderson-lured-back-to-australia-to-join-airtree-ventures-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-reverse-brain-drain-prominent-venture-capitalist-john-henderson-lured-back-to-australia-to-join-airtree-ventures-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The reverse brain drain: Prominent venture capitalist John Henderson lured back to Australia to join AirTree Ventures – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A prominent venture capitalist in the UK is returning home to Australia in a sign that the brain drain is being reversed and high-profile startup figures are being lured to the country, AirTree Ventures co-founder Craig Blair says.<\/p>\n

John Henderson, a well-regarded VC in London and former principal with White Star Capital, has joined Australian firm AirTree Ventures as a partner after five years abroad.<\/p>\n

Blair says it\u2019s very difficult to find a venture capitalist with the experience of Henderson in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been putting a lot of time into expanding the AirTree team since we launched two years ago,\u201d Blair tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges in venture capital is that there are no successful VCs in Australia. To hire a successful VC in Australia is nigh on impossible.”<\/p>\n

The successful investor’s decision to return home is indicative of the recent growth in the Australian ecosystem, Blair says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted to have someone of his stature coming to AirTree but the bigger story is that while we spend a lot of time lamenting the brain drain from Australia, one of the golden rules of globalisation is that people come and people go,” he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople go to the Valley or London, built a startup or run a fund and then they come back. We shouldn\u2019t lose sight of that and John\u2019s a great example of it happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the global stage<\/h3>\n

Blair says the recent growth of the Australian startup sector has caught the attention of the world, along with the government\u2019s recent movements in the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe innovation agenda that the government has been leading seems to have piqued interest around the world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had conversations with well-known VCs in the Valley and London who have noticed that it\u2019s changing and are asking about what\u2019s happening here. There are plenty of high-level, high-profile Australian investors in the Valley and the UK and they\u2019re starting to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henderson, who moved from Sydney to London five years ago, says this recent development played an important part in his decision to return home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have world-class entrepreneurs here and it really feels like there has bene a momentum shift in their favour in recent times,\u201d Henderson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s innovation statement was an important symbol of this. Australia cannot rely on commodities forever and I was pleased to see a focus on technology and innovation as key drivers of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diverse experience<\/h3>\n

Henderson began his career in the corporate world as a lawyer before moving to Boston Consulting Group. In 2012 he joined Facebook in a strategy and business development role before joining burgeoning tech startup Summly, which would eventually be sold to Yahoo for $30 million.<\/p>\n

During his time at White Star Capital, the Sydney native has served on the boards of Dice, AdGlow, Hole19 and Cryex, and also founded leading artificial intelligence conference London.ai.<\/p>\n

This vast array of experience and talent is rarely seen in the Australian investment landscape, Blair says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a partner-level VC with experience in successfully exiting a company, and he\u2019s been a senior executive at Facebook,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a rare combination to find and that doesn\u2019t exist in Australia. We\u2019re super lucky to have him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn has an amazingly deep and loyal reputation amongst the UK and European communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prominent investors and founders reversing the brain drain and returning to Australia is a crucial development for the wider ecosystem, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe broader ecosystem has several cogs, and we need founders coming back and starting great companies and working with angel investors and VCs,\u201d Blair says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is what a thriving and growing ecosystem looks like, and we\u2019re starting to see more and more of it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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