Tailored Mandates.Asymmetric Advantage.Math and Magic.

Why VCaaS

Australia's grain industry has grown from approximately $6 billion to $15 billion in gross value over 15 years, driven largely by technology adoption. GRDC's traditional grants pipeline funds long-horizon research but cannot access the pace and agility of venture-backed startups. GrainInnovate bridges that gap. As a statutory R&D corporation, GRDC needed a model that maintained full strategic control, directing capital toward technologies that deliver measurable on-farm benefit, while leveraging professional venture execution. The VCaaS structure achieves both: GRDC defines the mandate, Artesian operates the fund.

How It Works

GRDC commits capital as sole LP. Artesian provides end-to-end fund management: global deal sourcing, due diligence, portfolio construction and administration. Investments range from $25K seed to $5M Series A, with GrainInnovate taking minority positions and co-investing alongside local and global funds. Startups can originate anywhere in the world but must demonstrate commitment to delivering solutions for Australian grain growers. The fund targets dual returns: financial performance from equity positions and strategic value measured as on-farm productivity gains.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“GrainInnovate is bringing disruption to complement what is a very stable R, D and E environment in the grains industry. This fund will give growers access to cutting edge ideas, technology and tools.”

John Woods, GRDC Chairman

Why VCaaS

As a major agribusiness processing millions of tonnes of grain annually, GrainCorp has direct commercial interest in technologies that improve quality, sustainability and efficiency across the supply chain. The VCaaS model gives GrainCorp professional venture fund management without building an internal CVC team. GrainCorp provides startups with access to grower networks, supply chain infrastructure, and domestic and global consumer markets, creating value that a traditional VC cannot replicate.

How It Works

Artesian provides end-to-end fund management: global deal sourcing, due diligence, execution and portfolio administration. GrainCorp shapes investment strategy, participates in the investment committee, and provides portfolio companies with access to its operational network. Investments are minority positions across seed to Series A, with co-investment alongside local and global funds. Several investments have been made alongside Artesian's GrainInnovate fund (GRDC), demonstrating coordination across the agrifood VCaaS platform.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“GrainCorp's diverse agribusiness and processing businesses and crucial access to domestic and global consumer markets make us an ideal partner to add value to these startups.”

Jesse Scott, GrainCorp Chief Innovation and Growth Officer

Why VCaaS

Australian horticulture is the nation's third-largest and fastest-growing agriculture sector, with 44% value growth over five years. The industry faces rising production costs, labour shortages, extreme weather and declining fruit and vegetable consumption. Traditional R&D funding alone cannot address these challenges at pace. The Venture Fund enables faster commercialisation, targeting 12 to 18 months from investment to grower benefit, while leveraging grower levy contributions through Artesian's co-investment sourcing for a multiplier effect on every dollar deployed.

How It Works

Artesian manages the fund end-to-end under the VCaaS model. Hort Innovation acts as sole LP, maintaining full mandate control through investment committee participation. The fund targets 20 to 30 investments over five years, with cheque sizes from $250K to $3M across pre-seed to early Series A. Hort Innovation contributes approximately $25 million directly, with the balance sourced through Artesian co-investment networks. The model replicates the proven GrainInnovate structure that Artesian has operated for GRDC since 2019.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“The Australian horticulture industry is facing unprecedented challenges. The Hort Innovation Venture Fund aims to get innovation in the hands of growers quickly.”

Brett Fifield, Hort Innovation CEO

Why VCaaS

Western Australia receives approximately 2% of national venture capital funding despite having a $300 billion economy. The WAVCI addresses this by attracting established VC managers to the state, requiring each to maintain a permanent senior presence in WA. For Artesian, the mandate complements existing VCaaS relationships with two WA-based organisations (HBF and GrainCorp) and extends the firm's agrifood, energy and health investment capabilities into a market with strong underlying demand but limited venture infrastructure.

How It Works

Artesian operates within the WAVCI fund-of-funds structure: the WA Government commits capital, which Artesian matches at a minimum 2:1 ratio with private co-investment from existing Artesian funds and external partners. At least 1.25x the government's contribution must be deployed into WA-based companies. Artesian has established a Perth office with a dedicated Managing Director to source and manage WA deal flow, supported by the full Artesian platform locally and internationally. The health stream operates under the Future Health Research and Innovation Act 2012, ensuring alignment with WA's medical research priorities.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“By attracting more venture capital investment to WA, my Government is growing our local startup sector, diversifying the State's economy and creating quality local jobs for the future.”

Roger Cook, Premier of Western Australia

Why VCaaS

Pooled funds gave Hostplus exposure to venture but little say in how it ran. Fund lives were fixed, capacity was capped, and the mandate was shared with other investors working to different horizons. A sole-LP structure removes all three constraints at once: Hostplus sets the mandate, sets the pace, and follows its own judgement into the companies that break out, while Artesian carries the cost and machinery of running a broad portfolio.

How It Works

The fund is evergreen, so it has no end date to work back from. Capital returned by exits is recycled rather than distributed and wound up, and capacity moves with the opportunity rather than the age of the fund. Artesian runs it end to end: sourcing from a platform that pre-screens thousands of startups a year, then diligence, portfolio management and fund administration, with pro-rata rights to follow on into the strongest performers.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Hostplus has almost single-handedly reinvigorated institutional support for Australian startups and entrepreneurs. Without the vision and commitment of Hostplus, high growth Australian ventures might struggle to build traction.”

Jeremy Colless, Managing Partner, Artesian

Why VCaaS

HBF has been expanding beyond traditional insurance into direct health services, including dental, physiotherapy and pharmacy. The Health Innovation Fund extends this into venture: gaining early access to technologies that can improve member outcomes across home-based and hybrid care, mental health, chronic disease management and integrated care pathways. The VCaaS model allows HBF to participate in venture with institutional-grade execution from day one, without building an internal CVC team. Capital is carved from HBF's existing investment portfolio, and the fund delivers dual returns: financial performance targeting approximately 20% net IRR, and strategic value through direct exposure to innovations that can reshape member care.

How It Works

Artesian operates the fund end-to-end: deal sourcing, due diligence, execution and portfolio management. The Investment Committee comprises two HBF and two Artesian representatives, ensuring strategic alignment at every decision. The fund targets 20 to 30 initial investments at seed ($200K to $500K) and Series A ($1M to $3M), with follow-on into 10 to 12 breakout companies. A capital recycling mechanism reinvests early liquidity to sustain innovation investment across the fund's life. HBF contributes domain expertise, a healthcare network spanning 1.1 million members, claims and utilisation data, and real-world validation pathways including pilot opportunities, user feedback loops and co-marketing support.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Healthcare models are always changing, and we want to support innovations that have the potential to make care more accessible, effective, and sustainable for our members.”

Dr Lachlan Henderson, HBF CEO

Why an Innovation Investment Advisory Engagement

Dairy Australia set out to be a leader in dairy innovation, committing to expand global partnerships and increase co-investment with agtech entrepreneurs alongside the rural R&D corporations. An advisory engagement is the proportionate first step: it brings Artesian's sourcing network, screening discipline and market intelligence to bear without standing up an internal venture function or committing to a fund structure. The mandate stays Dairy Australia's, the horizon is defined at twelve months, and the pathway to co-investment or a dedicated vehicle stays open if the scouting proves the case.

How It Works

A twelve-month engagement in three phases. Ecosystem mapping over four to six weeks: a global dairy market audit and an agreed scouting mandate with screening and due-diligence criteria. Scouting across twelve months: sourcing, screening and analysing startups against the mandate, delivering shortlists with company profiles, deal summaries and investment theses. Innovation advisory, ongoing: curated events, corporate and RDC introductions, content and bi-annual market reports.

Investment Focus

“The plan sharpens our focus on lifting farm business performance by accelerating innovation in feed, genetics and herd health, and supporting informed decision making through practical, regionally relevant research and tools.”

Matthew Shaffer, Chief Executive, Dairy Australia, announcing the industry's 2030 strategy, which targets an additional $558 million a year in farmer benefits

Why VCaaS

South Australia needed venture capability without building a government VC team. The sole-LP structure gives the state full control over sector alignment, directing capital toward defence, space, cybersecurity and sovereign capability, areas where SA has natural strengths and where commercial innovation is critical to national resilience. Every investment must be matched with at least 50% co-investment from private capital, amplifying the impact of public funds. Portfolio companies must maintain operations in South Australia, ensuring economic benefit stays local.

How It Works

Artesian operates a dedicated Adelaide office with a team of investment professionals embedded in the Lot Fourteen ecosystem. The fund covers seed through Series A, with cheque sizes from $400K to $2.5M. SAFA (South Australian Government Financing Authority) retains full mandate control while Artesian provides deal sourcing, due diligence, portfolio management and institutional-grade fund administration. The co-investment requirement has consistently attracted private capital at multiples of the government commitment.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Artesian is well-placed to manage the SAVCF based on their scale, experience and proven track record of successfully managing venture capital portfolios.”

Rob Lucas, South Australian Treasurer

Why VCaaS

Coca-Cola Amatil had run its own corporate venturing platform, Amatil X, since 2018, backing startups capable of growing top-line revenues. Corporate innovation at that scale depends on tapping the distributed R&D of thousands of early-stage companies across a region, and sourcing and screening them is a full-time discipline of its own. Rather than resource that discovery and diligence in-house, Amatil X engaged Artesian's VCaaS platform for the scale and selection expertise to filter the region's startups against the company's priorities, turning a crowded landscape into a de-risked pipeline.

How It Works

Artesian manages the fund; Amatil X sponsors it, with capital drawn from the existing Amatil X program. Artesian sources and screens companies against Amatil's stated priorities, and invests cheques of A$50,000 to A$200,000 per early-stage company, taken as minority stakes on a venture horizon rather than against the return metrics of the core bottling business. Startups may be founded anywhere but must commit to operate in at least one of Coca-Cola Amatil's six markets: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa, and each investment doubles as diligence for Amatil X's own later, larger strategic commitments.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Artesian are recognised experts in identifying and recommending high quality early-stage start-ups for investment. We're proud to partner with them in growing start-up ecosystems and scouting for business opportunities for the future.”

Chris Sullivan, Group Director of Partners and Growth, Coca-Cola Amatil

Why VCaaS

InvoCare saw growing demand for digital platforms to complement the personal care at the heart of its brands. Rather than build an in-house venturing capability, it used Artesian's VCaaS unit to gain a curated view of relevant startups, a de-risked pipeline for potential partnerships or M&A, and advisory support to structure deals, while keeping empathy and personal service central to its offering.

How It Works

Delivered by the Sydney team of Artesian Venture Partners, providing bespoke scouting, due diligence and investment and transaction support tailored to the industry. Led by Gilles Plante, the Partner responsible for Artesian's VCaaS business.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Empathy is at the heart of what we do, and nothing will replace the personal care our people give to our client families. However, we are increasingly seeing demand to use digital platforms to complement the personal care we provide.”

Olivier Chretien, Chief Executive Officer, InvoCare

Why VCaaS

MUFG wanted access to Australia's innovation ecosystem for its corporate clients without building a venture team of its own. The timing aligned with the Japanese government's national push to grow the country's startup base tenfold over five years, a catch-up backed by public investment reported at around $70 billion. Artesian's platform gives MUFG a curated bridge into a market its clients see as underrepresented relative to Silicon Valley or Israel, deepening the Australia–Japan economic relationship established under the 2015 free-trade agreement.

How It Works

An open-ended Memorandum of Understanding: a framework alliance, not a capital fund, with no dollar commitment attached. Artesian provides its Asia-Pacific VC platform, deal sourcing and startup scouting. MUFG provides corporate customer relationships and cross-border reach across Japan and the region. Ashurst advised on the alliance.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“The opportunities here are not well-known compared to Silicon Valley and Israel, but Australia is starting to attract interest. What is needed is better information flow to our Japanese colleagues and a willingness to learn to work together effectively in this space.”

Natsuko Ogawa, Partner, Ashurst, adviser to the alliance

Why VCaaS

Universities generate world-class research but often lack the venture infrastructure to commercialise it at pace. The iAccelerate Seed Fund bridges that gap, giving UOW a direct pathway from lab and classroom to funded startup. For the Illawarra region, the fund supports economic diversification from mining and manufacturing toward a knowledge-based economy, keeping talent and companies local. The VCaaS model gives the university institutional-grade venture fund management without building an internal investment team.

How It Works

Artesian manages the fund end-to-end: deal sourcing, due diligence, execution and portfolio administration. The fund targets seed-stage investments, with initial cheques from $40K to $200K for iAccelerate resident startups and follow-on into breakout companies. Startups access iAccelerate's two programs, Start (incubation) and Advance (acceleration), alongside capital. The university contributes research networks, graduate talent, laboratory infrastructure and industry partnerships.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Entrepreneurs choosing to come to Wollongong have the benefits of partnering with a world-class, research-intensive university and the opportunity to recruit high-quality graduates. Now they also have access to critical early-stage funding.”

Professor Paul Wellings, UOW Vice-Chancellor

Why VCaaS

Both backers hold a strategic interest their own members can see: a large share of the people whose retirement savings they manage are women. Underneath that, the investment case is a pricing one. Women direct around 80% of household spending and represent a market opportunity measured in trillions, and companies they lead receive about 2% of venture funding. Nothing about how talent is distributed explains that gap. The fund calls this gender bias arbitrage: a systematic mispricing to be captured, not a cause to be supported.

How It Works

Three trusts under one strategy. Hostplus and Legalsuper each hold a sole-LP trust with its own mandate, terms and reporting line, both investing behind the same thesis and into the same pipeline; a third multi-LP trust takes smaller backers. Artesian runs sourcing, diligence, execution and portfolio administration across all three. Eligibility is scored rather than asserted: every company is assessed against a Gender Diversity Criteria Assessment Score built on the UN Women's Empowerment Principles, weighting the share founded and owned by women, women in executive management, women on the board, and public commitment to gender equality. Above 40 of 100 generally qualifies, and any exception is documented and reported to backers.

Investment Focus

Outcomes

“Female-led startups suffer underinvestment not due to a lack of talent, but from the lack of opportunities caused by cognitive biases and pattern recognition in an industry where 97% of VCs are male.”

Ali Clunies-Ross, Partner, Artesian