Australian venture capital firm Main Sequence announced that it raised A$450 million (about $305 million) in the first close of its third fund from a host of investors, including Singapore state investor Temasek.
Other investors who pumped in capital in the deep tech investment fund included Hostplus, LGT Crestone, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, NGS Super, Australian Ethical Investment, Daiwa Securities Group, and The Grantham Foundation.
The VC firm, founded by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, said the first close of its third fund raised its total funds under management so far to AS1 billion.
The fund also includes the first half of the committed A$150 million CSIRO investment announced under Australia’s Economic Accelerator programme.
This is the third fund from Main Sequence, following its A$240 million original fund and A$330 million second fund, which closed in 2018 and 2021, respectively. Temasek also invested in the second fund.
Founded in 2017, Main Sequence works closely with scientists, researchers and industry collaborators to create, fund and accelerate new companies and industries across health, food, space, transport, security and deep tech.
The firm has backed 53 companies, including Regrow, Advanced Navigation, and Q-CTRL. The Australian deep tech companies supported by Main Sequence have created over 2,100 new jobs, and the market value of those companies has grown to over A$6.8 billion, according to the announcement.
“Our focus remains on big, global challenges that need scientific backing, patient capital and long-term vision to solve,” said Main Sequence partner Mike Zimmerman.
Main Sequence’s third fund now joins a list of VC money ready to invest in Australian companies.
In May, Australian venture capital investor Giant Leap raised more than A$45 million for its second impact fund, Giant Leap II, triple its inaugural fund that raised A$15 million in 2016.
Last year, Australian VC firm Blackbird announced raising A$1 billion for a new fund that will invest in general companies in Australia and New Zealand, while Telstra Ventures, the venture capital arm of Australian telecom company Telstra, has announced the final close of its third VC fund at $350 million.