Signal Ventures is the brainchild of Melbourne start-up influencer Atlanta Daniel and US investor Niel Robertson, who will serve as general partners.
The pair said Signal Ventures will focus on entrepreneur-friendly, early stage capital and will offer deep operational experience as well as
They said the fund plans to be active in the Australian community, sharing what it learns, being transparent about its operations, and hosting a number of US investors in Australia every year in publicly accessible forums.
“Australia is on the verge of unprecedented growth in its start-up ecosystem,” Mr Robertson said.
“With a large influx of mid and later stage capital, it became clear there was a need and opportunity for institutional early stage capital to help Australian companies take advantage of the exciting climate for growth on a global scale.”
Atlanta Daniel, who resides in Melbourne and holds board and advisory positions with national organisations like Code for Australia, said Australian entrepreneurs need access to experienced mentors and strong follow-on networks.
“We focus on high growth business models in areas of B2B and prosumer SaaS, technologies that connect communities and enable communication, and mobile app disruption of web incumbents,” Ms Daniel said.
Niel Robertson has an extensive background in early stage company formation, investing, and growth, and splits his time between Melbourne, San Francisco, and Boulder, Colorado.
“Niel and Atlanta share the ethos that made Boulder grow so quickly. I’m excited to support Signal and see them operate in the Australian start-up community.” said David Cohen, an investor in the fund and co-founder of start-up accelerator Techstars.
Ms Daniel and Mr Robertson said Signal Ventures has partnered with Cornwall Stodart for fund formation and advisory services.
“Signal represents an important new step in the maturation of the technology sector in Australia, and we’re proud to be part of it.” Levent Shevki, Partner at Cornwall Stodart said.
Signal Ventures said it would be announcing its first close soon and plans to fill the remaining reserve in the fund quickly.
The fund will be making first investments as early as April of this year.
Source: New $10m start-up fund launched
