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Australian venture capital fund Salus Ventures has exceeded its $40 million capital raise target, with an eye to investing in early-stage technology companies.
The fund was launched 12 months ago and has received its cornerstone investment from the Queensland Investment Corporation-managed Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund.
Areas identified for investment by the oversubscribed fund include cyber security, defence, quantum, artificial intelligence, automation, aerospace and software.
The oversubscribed capital fundraise comes as fundraising figures decreased by 50 per cent over the last 12 months as per data released by Cut Through Venture, a Salus spokesperson confirmed.
Dan Bennett, Salus Ventures general partner and co-founder, explained that the fund will support Australian defence capability.
“Salus Ventures is delighted to have exceeded our ambitious fundraising target for our debut fund and by the strategic quality of the investor base.
“We believe Salus has unlocked a meaningful opportunity for our stakeholders as the dual-use market in Australia, and globally, is experiencing accelerated significance as the appetite to strengthen government and defence capabilities with privately developed innovation grows, driven in part by a shifting geostrategic landscape and trending to deglobalisation.”
The fund draws experience from a global team and will support the development of capabilities that will be essential for the delivery of AUKUS Pillar II, general partner and co-founder Marten Peck added.
“Salus Ventures’ executive team includes highly experienced deep tech investors who have held key operational and investment roles in various international hubs including the US, UK, and Israel.
“Our uniquely experienced team is supported by a distinguished and highly strategic investor and advisor base all of whom serve as both expert mentors and powerful super connectors.
“The team at Salus Ventures is dedicated to backing heroic founders and unlocking valuable opportunities in Canberra, Washington DC, and London, created by vital policy including AUKUS Pillar II, the National Reconstruction Fund, and the Advanced Strategic Capability Accelerator.
“Whilst our capabilities extend across Australia and internationally, we identified Queensland as a strategic ecosystem with excellent characteristics to foster and accelerate innovation particularly relevant to our investment mandate.”
Salus has reviewed more than 600 companies within its first year of operations and has invested in five Australian start-ups.
Liam Garman is the editor of leading Australian security and defence publications Cyber Daily and Defence Connect.
Liam began his career as a speech writer at New South Wales Parliament before working for world leading campaigns and research agencies in Sydney and Auckland. Throughout his career, Liam has managed and executed a range of international media and communications campaigns spanning politics, business, industrial relations and infrastructure. He’s since shifted his attention to researching and writing extensively on geopolitics and defence, specifically in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Strategy and Security from UNSW Canberra, with a thesis on postmodernism and disinformation operations.
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