Amplifying its role as a venture creator and investor, Monash University has unveiled Monash Ventures, a new identity that unifies its venture and investment activities under a single, strategic banner. This move signals Monash’s commitment to building and backing high-impact spinout companies that translate world-class research into real-world innovation.
Monash Ventures positions the University as a professional investor, aligning with global best practices and peer institutions. The new brand enhances market visibility and strengthens engagement with co-investors, founders, and ecosystem partners.
Operating under the Monash Investment Holdings mandate, Monash Ventures is led by the New Ventures team within Monash Innovation. It offers a comprehensive platform for spinout support providing commercialisation strategy, investor readiness, capital access, and company formation for Monash-affiliated startups.
This unified approach ensures consistent, professional operations across venture activities and fund management, while reinforcing Monash’s ambition to be a leader in research translation and innovation-driven entrepreneurship.
Monash Ventures will administer, the Monash Ventures Pre-Seed Fund, a $15 million initiative developed in partnership with Breakthrough Victoria, as part of Breakthrough Victoria’s $100 million University Innovation Platform (UIP), supporting the commercialisation of critical research from Victorian universities.
Providing up to $1 million per company, the Pre-seed fund invests in spinouts emerging from Monash research with strong commercial and societal potential. Alongside capital, recipients gain access to expert networks, mentoring and support to advance proof-of-concept and de-risk technologies on the path to further investment.
Evaluation and endorsement of proposals for investment by the Monash Ventures Pre-Seed Fund is provided by an expert Investment Committee, which includes representatives from Monash University, Breakthrough Victoria, and distinguished industry leaders Dr Nadine Brew, a biotech executive and founder of the WILD for STEM Program, and Vafa Shams, a seasoned investor with deep expertise in early-stage ventures, currently Head of APAC at Wirepas.
The first Monash spinout companies to receive investment from the Monash Venture Pre-seed Fund were recently announced at a formal event on 31 July 2025, hosted by Vice Chancellor Sharon Pickering. They are Remagine Labs, FytonBio, and Myostellar. Watch this video discussing the research, and the impact of the funding.
Full story: Introducing Monash Ventures – the venture and investment arm of Monash University – Monash Innovation
