, company director Christine Christian, Goldman Sachs’ Christian Johnston and Acciona Australia CEO Bede Noonan.While the business elite have backed the fund in a big way, the largest contributor is the university itself, which tipped in $25 million. Tanarra is also an investor in the fund, as is John Brumby-chaired government investment fund Breakthrough Victoria.Mr Wylie said hitting the first close was a “fantastic endorsement” of the commercialisation potential of the university.
“We’re delighted by the market response. It’s a first-time fund, and a concept fund, so the fact we received such a strong response speaks [volumes].”Mr McLean had been part of the founding team behind Oxford University’s successful commercialisation fund Oxford Sciences Enterprises, where he was the head of life sciences.
“Taking the US West Coast, there’s a self-reinforcing triangle between the universities like Stanford and companies like Google in Palo Alto, and the VC industry. Australia still has a substantial way to go to develop that,” he said.
Tanarra, Mr Wylie’s investment firm, has made 27 VC investments globally, in areas such as genomics, AI, digital healthcare, renewable energy and robotics.“There are reasons for profound optimism in the long-term,” he said.