Startmate are the first believers

Funds that are world-class and world-changing

Your journey to building or investing in the next big thing starts here. Discover how Startmate’s funds can bring your vision to life.
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Consistently outperforming

Our consistent performance is driven by our ability to invest in the best ANZ Founders at the very beginning, at the best valuations.
Top Quartile Global Fund
11 years in Top Quartile returns
Surpassing 95% of Global VC Funds
Four of our Vintages lead the pack
11.44X NET TVPI
Across our first six Funds (2011–2016) with 3.26X in distributions

Funding an ecosystem of doers

Startmate is here to fuel ambition, whether you're a founder shaping the future or an investor seeking to back the next generation of disruptive startups. 

Our mission is simple: help founders build world-changing companies and give investors early access to the visionaries turning big ideas into reality.
Workyard
Raised
$10.7M
Dennisson Technologies
Raised
$1.6M
Tutero
Raised
$5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
gridmo
Raised
$500k
Aquila
Raised
$5M
Morse Micro
Raised
$214M
Propeller Aero
Raised
$57.5M
AirRobe
Raised
$1.285M
Great Wrap
Raised
$24M
Bugcrowd
Raised
$102M
Heaps Normal
Raised
$8.5M
Workyard
Raised
$10.7M
Dennisson Technologies
Raised
$1.6M
Tutero
Raised
$5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
gridmo
Raised
$500k
Aquila
Raised
$5M
Morse Micro
Raised
$214M
Propeller Aero
Raised
$57.5M
AirRobe
Raised
$1.285M
Great Wrap
Raised
$24M
Bugcrowd
Raised
$102M
Heaps Normal
Raised
$8.5M
Workyard
Raised
$10.7M
Dennisson Technologies
Raised
$1.6M
Tutero
Raised
$5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
gridmo
Raised
$500k
Aquila
Raised
$5M
Morse Micro
Raised
$214M
Propeller Aero
Raised
$57.5M
AirRobe
Raised
$1.285M
Great Wrap
Raised
$24M
Bugcrowd
Raised
$102M
Heaps Normal
Raised
$8.5M
Workyard
Raised
$10.7M
Dennisson Technologies
Raised
$1.6M
Tutero
Raised
$5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
Mindset Health
Raised
$24.5M
gridmo
Raised
$500k
Aquila
Raised
$5M
Morse Micro
Raised
$214M
Propeller Aero
Raised
$57.5M
AirRobe
Raised
$1.285M
Great Wrap
Raised
$24M
Bugcrowd
Raised
$102M
Heaps Normal
Raised
$8.5M
Investing in innovation and impact

With a proven track record of accelerating startups to success, Startmate ensures our investments not only thrive, but transform industries.

$1.5M

is the standard Startmate valuation post-money.
‍
Then, our companies go on to be a LOT more valuable...

Investing in innovation and impact

With a proven track record of accelerating startups to success, Startmate ensures our investments not only thrive, but transform industries.

$1.5M

is the standard Startmate valuation post-money.

Then, our companies go on to be a LOT more valuable...

Our funds

Accelerator
Continuity fund

Accelerator

Pre-seed Fund that invests in the Accelerator cohorts
STAGE
Pre-seed to seed
DEALFLOW
700+ companies
apply every cohort
SIZE
Capped at $3M
INVESTMENTS
~15, top 2% of companies
CADENCE
Raised and
deployed every 6 months
LEGAL STRUCTURE
Multi-class AMIT
CAPITAL CALLS
Every 6 months
MGMT FEES
Upfront, one-off fee of 20%
NEXT CLOSE
Finalising allocation shortly

CONTINUITY FUND

Follow-on fund that invests in the best Startmate companies post-Accelerator
STAGE
Seed, Series A to later stages
DEALFLOW
270+ of Startmate's best
Accelerator alumni
SIZE
Capped at $15M
INVESTMENTS
~60, index fund of the top <1% of ANZ early-stage startups
CADENCE
Raised and deployed
every 4 years
LEGAL STRUCTURE
AMIT
CAPITAL CALLS
Adhoc per the
investment pipeline
MGMT FEES
Reach out for more info
NEXT CLOSE
Final close: October 2024

our uniquely Startmate approach to investing

See founders first

We're connected with Founders from the very beginning—even before day one. Our programs unlock potential. They are the place where ideas collide, momentum builds, relationships flourish and co-founders are connected. People who had never dreamt of founding a startup, are inspired and go on to launch some of the most promising early-stage startups, with Startmate being their first investor.

Some recent highlights:
‍
‍Lyrebird Health
‍Kai and Linus met in the Startmate Student Fellowship
Startmate invested via the Accelerator at a $1.5m valuation
And they crossed $1.5m ARR within 9 months 🚀

‍Aquila
‍Billy and Nelson met in the Startmate Engineering Fellowship
Startmate invested via the Accelerator at a $1.5m valuation
Grew 16x in less than 2 years 🚀
Startmate connects with founders from day zero
Thousands of founders apply to Startmate every year
Every ANZ founder is 1-step away from Startmate Nation
Aquila founders met through Startmate, got into the Accelerator and are now building wireless power technology.

Select founders first

‍‍As an industry-agnostic Fund, we need to quickly understand the current state of various customer groups and their problems. To do this, we rely on the expertise within our community—founders, operators, and investors with intimate experience in these areas. These are the same people who can help propel our investments to success during the Accelerator program. Unlike typical VC Funds, we can scale our ability to make thousands of investment decisions by leveraging both our community and our custom-built software, all underpinned by the Startmate Investment Framework.

With over 300 investments in early-stage founders and insights from 15,000 applications, we've developed a rich dataset encompassing 75,000 investment decisions. This has enabled us to analyse and synthesise the thinking behind our best investments and our biggest misses. Our 12-week Accelerator provides a compressed feedback loop, revealing what drives the best outcomes. As a result, our investment framework has been continuously strengthened.
Grounded in 13 years of success
Proprietary insight on founders and the problems they’re solving
Community-enabled decisions build conviction
Andromeda Robotics closed a $3M seed round to scale the rollout of its humanoid companion robot, Abi, across Australia.

Support founders forever

‍We’ve curated a community of 5,500+ of ANZ’s best founders, operators and investors. We plug our founders into the very centre of this universe, giving them a significant advantage. They get the first pick of the best fresh talent through our Fellowships and warm introductions to any VC, angel investor, or mentor they need. Plus. ‍our mentors invest their own money in the Fund that directly invests in each cohort. This means they are fully committed to seeing our Founders succeed, going above and beyond to help them.
World class mentors with skin in the game
Founders helping other founders
Stand on the shoulders of the best startup community in ANZ
HappyCo has raised $72M to support the growth of his rental property management technology company.

Driving world-class returns

‍We have an unfair advantage. We’re not trying to return a billion-dollar Fund three times over for Superannuation LPs. We aim to return a $3 million fund 10 times over for single investors / Family Offices LPs. And we've got the track record to prove it. ‍We often invest pre-revenue and sometimes even pre-product, earning not just a front-row seat from the beginning but also meaningful investment terms and returns.
Here are a few recent examples:

8.95x DPI - Selling 100% of our shares in HappyCo Series B
3.40x DPI - Selling 60% of our shares in Bugcrowd Series E
2.61x DPI - Selling 20% of our shares in Edrolo Series B

DPI = Total distributions paid out by the Fund to the investors, net paid fees and expenses, divided by paid-in capital (Fund Size).
Smaller funds, superior returns
The reward of being a First Believer: standard Startmate terms
World class returns, earlier
WORK180, a global jobs platform focused on employers who support women's careers has raised $2.2M

9.2/10 from 250+ alumni reviews

Startmate gives founders permission to dream and the confidence to go further through mentoring, support & inclusiveness. What makes it special? A culture bigger than money; a community where ambition is shared, supported & celebrated.

Chris Harrop

Advisory Partner @ Bain & Company

Startmate is the mouth of the river for ANZ startups. From Demo Day’s energy and world-class ideas to a community that grows in ambition year after year, it’s where founders, investors & operators all find their place; the real magic is the people.

Samantha Wong

General Partner @ Blackbird Ventures

Startmate is a rare community where people give more than they take. It surrounds founders with the “village” they need; mentors, investors, peers, to do their best work. Year after year, that culture unlocks ambition and makes Startmate a launchpad for world-class startups.

Nihar Vasa

Customer Success @ Vanta

The real Startmate “special sauce” isn’t just community; it’s the depth of it. Lifelong friends, like-minded people, and a generosity of spirit that makes every connection meaningful. For me, it’s been all about the relationships I’ve built.

Zoe Champtaloup

Head of Operations @ SecondQuarter Ventures

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. Startmate is the day-zero believer for ANZ founders — connecting you to expertise, community, funding, and the pep talks that keep you going. Their ability to curate support is second to none.

‍

May Samali

Founder & CEO @ Human Leadership Lab

Without Startmate, many founders would never make it out of the garage. It’s where they find co-founders, raise first capital, and learn to scale. For me, it’s an absolutely critical part of the startup ecosystem.

Dom Pym

Founder @ Up

Startmate gives virtually unlimited opportunity to see deal flow and build pattern recognition. Best education in the space you could imagine. Even seasoned investors would benefit.

Kim Burke

Wharf Road Investments - Director

If you’ve ever wanted to start investing in people who are building big things for the future and solving high-value problems, Startmate is for you. You’ll find a powerful community of some of the most ambitious and open-minded investors, operators and founders in the world.

Joel Hassin

Investor @ Cambooya Capital

When we went through Startmate we had a pilot factory that we didn’t know how to run. Now we’re a team of 30 manufacturing 100,000 rolls of compostable stretch wrap every day. Startmate was incredible for us. We wish we could go through it again.

Julia Kay

Co-CEO and Co-founder @ Great Wrap

Accelerator fund
Pre-seed fund that invests in the Accelerator cohorts every 6 months
EXPRESS interest
EXPRESS interest
Continuity fund
Follow-on fund that invests in the best Startmate companies post-Accelerator
EXPRESS interest
EXPRESS interest
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Dive into Startmate’s funds, track record and unique investment edge alongside Startmate’s Head of Investments. Feel free to ask any questions along the way.

15 min call
15 min call

ESSENTIAL READS

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Accelerator
Investments
Top 20 Startmate companies

Holly Brooks

September 6, 2025

Since 2010, Startmate has invested in over 300 startups. Today, these companies are worth over $4.5b and employ over 3.5k people.
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE
First Believers
The next investable wave: where Bill Tai sees billions being built in AI, energy, and creator economies

Holly Brooks

September 4, 2025

"You don’t need to be smarter than the world. You just need to be in the right market at the right moment."
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE
Accelerator
Meet Startmate’s Winter’25 Accelerator cohort

Holly Brooks

September 4, 2025

The Winter ’25 cohort is full of founders chasing the edge of what’s possible and dragging the future closer.
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE

Frequently asked questions

How does Startmate select its companies?

We invest in “Spikes”… sounds weird - we know (But it works for us).

  1. Team - We would buy stock in this founder. They have unbridled ambition, off-the-charts determination, want to learn-it-all, and have a unique connection to the problem.
  2. Progress - Things are happening fast. # customer interviews, # users, $ revenue, engagement, technical progress, top brand names signed up - they’re moving at speeeeeed.
  3. Invention - Invented a new technology or a significant leap in technology.
  4. Unique Vision - The founders see the future differently from everyone else, and it’s compelling.‍
  5. 10x - The product is not incrementally better than alternatives, but 10X better. It could be 10X faster, 10X cheaper, 10X easier to use or 10X better quality.