Today, the state government has announced its support of seven venture capital firms with a $45 million commitment as part of the WA Venture Capital initiative (WAVC).
The partnership will see seven venture capital firms invest a total of $150 million back into the WA innovation ecosystem, supporting local start-ups to scale up and create local jobs.
Initially a $30 million investment, the Cook Government today announced a further $15 million has been committed to the WAVC, bringing total Government investment to $45 million.
Minister Stephen Dawson commented, “The WA Venture Capital initiative uses a ‘Fund of Funds’ model which allows the WA Government to have its funding matched and surpassed for each recipient.”
Four of the chosen funds are WA-based, with the WAVC providing the support needed to continue to grow and expand their presence locally.
Premier Roger Cook said, “By attracting more venture capital investment to WA, my Government is growing our local start-up sector, diversifying the State’s economy and creating quality local jobs for the future.”
“Growing the number of VC firms in our State also means local start-ups don’t have to move east to secure investment, retaining talent here in WA.”
WAVC Recipients
Local well-known funds Purpose Ventures and FundWA are included in the list of recipients along with Brandon Capital Partners and Health Transition Group. They’re joined by east coast VC funds Skalata Ventures, Melt Ventures, and Artesian Venture Partners.
Skalata has already been actively investing in startups from WA over the last couple of years with C0-architecture and Omni Biotech among the WA companies in their portfolio.
Image credit: Purpose Ventures
