Learn more about Victoria’s $123 billion startup sector.
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Connect with a wide range of LaunchVic programs fuelling the startup state.
Discover grant opportunities to grow startup activity in Victoria.
Learn more about our work growing Victoria’s investor community.
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Named after the founder of Australia’s first all-woman motor garage in the 1920s, the Alice Anderson Fund is our $10 million sidecar fund supporting women-led startups.
Our fund co-invests between $50,000 and $300,000 in early-stage deals put forward by investors to increase the funding pool available to Victorian women.
Our investment is structured so that only 85c in the dollar is taken as equity; the rest is provided as a non-dilutive grant to the startup. This gives our women-led startups an extra upside.
Applications for co-investment are open to local and international investors with promising women-led startups in their pipeline.
Prior to applying, please ensure you have reviewed the application guidelines below to fastrack your submission. You can also jump to our FAQs here.
The Alice Anderson Fund offers a blended source of capital to startups, with 85% of the total co-investment amount taken as equity and 15% provided as a non-dilutive grant. Women founders are less diluted, which means more ownership and control of the company stays in women founder’s hands
Portfolio companies are invited to exclusive portfolio events and professional development opportunities. These provide valuable opportunities to share learnings with other early-stage entrepreneurs and gain insights from industry experts. In addition, LaunchVic will support portfolio companies by leveraging its extensive networks of startup mentors, investor groups, and support programs, where appropriate.
LaunchVic works closely with Global Victoria, the Victorian Government’s trade facilitation and promotion agency. Together, we provide portfolio companies with a network of experts who can support businesses looking to expand internationally.
LaunchVic leverages its networks with the Victorian Government, to connect portfolio companies with key stakeholders, including potential customers where appropriate.
Interested? Check your eligibility.
The Alice Anderson Fund provides investment of up to $300,000, as a single investor, helping women-led startups achieve their fund-raising activities through a quick and easy application process. We make investment decisions quickly and work with founders and investors to close rounds as quickly as possible.
The Alice Anderson Fund takes a passive investor role on the cap table. The Fund prefers to let private-investors and founders negotiate the terms, and does not require a Board seat.
Alice Anderson Fund offers a blended source of capital to startups, with 85% of the total co-investment amount taken as equity and 15% provided as a non-dilutive grant.
The blended capital approach provides more funding to startups while minimising dilution to investors’ and founders’ holdings.
Having reputable and well-known investors, such as the Alice Anderson Fund, on a cap table can increase the company’s credibility and attractiveness to other investors, customers, and partners.
Alice Anderson Fund and LaunchVic’s supports portfolio companies, including through exclusive portfolio events and professional development opportunities, as well as leveraging our extensive networks, where appropriate.
Apply for Co-Investment
Rhianna Knight
Amble
A direct to consumer sustainable outdoors brand, reimagining the dated $12B outdoors industry.
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Rhianna Knight, Founder and Director
A direct to consumer sustainable outdoors brand, reimagining the dated $12B outdoors industry. https://ambleoutdoors.com.au/
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Sarah Agboola
mtime
A platform matching busy parents with vetted and trained ‘Moncierges’ who can do errands, chores, cleaning and babysit.
Sarah Agboola, Founder and CEO
Cara Davies
Steppen
A social fitness network for Generation Z.
Cara Davies, Co-Founder
Dr Annie McAuley
TalkiPlay
Handheld devices bringing ordinary everyday objects to life for kids so that toys talk, sing and play games to reinforce speech and language.
Alex Sinickas
Milkdrop
A wearable breast pump designed for women, by women.
Jeanette Cheah
HEX
Innovation education for the gap year generation
Chanel Costabir
OneKey Access
Provides authorised delivery drivers with convenient entry to apartment buildings and parcel lockers.
Grace Petherick
Age Up Health
Age Up Health supports older Australians to live independently and is leading the way toward person-centred home care with a more flexible approach.
Natassia Nicolao
Conserving Beauty
Australia's first water-responsible beauty brand.
Lina Xu
Telecare
A Victorian HealthTech building Australia’s largest virtual clinic
Claire Rogers
Oho
Oho is revolutionary software that stores, continuously verifies and refreshes employee, contractor and volunteer accreditations.
Gemma Lloyd & Valeria Ignatieva
WORK180
Raising organizational standards so that all women can choose workplaces where they thrive.
Belinda Buckley
HOOGA
The HOOGA app utilises patented geo-location technology which seamlessly aggregates all photos from events around the world with the touch of just one button.
Irene Tsang
LIFTWomen Group
Lift Women enables female founders to source equity-free and debt-free capital to start their business journey.
Dr Evelyn Chan
Smileyscope
Alleviating fear of needles with VR.
Ivy & Christine Nguyen
ReciMe
A free social cooking app for anyone to share and save recipes.
Alex Andrews, Christina Hobbs & Zoe Lamont
Verve Super
Ethical super fund for women, by women.
Jessica Christiansen-Franks
Neighbourlytics
Equipping the property industry, governments and consultancies with lifestyle data on neighbourhoods.
Caitlin Macleod, Cleo Westhorpe & Belinda Harries
Pivot Professional Learning
Helping schools to create a learning environment where students thrive.
Neala Fulia
More Good Days
Digital neuroscience and psychology based chronic pain management.
Jo Montanari & Dr Soukayna Bekkali
Modo
The mindful productivity app that helps you be present in the moment and frees you up to focus on what really matters.
Kate Pollard & Jodi Geddes
Circle In
A digital-first employee benefits platform for caregiving employees and their managers at every life stage.
Vandana Chaudhry
Andisor
Connecting thriving, sustainable fashion businesses.
Dr Fiona Brownfoot
Kali Healthcare
A pregnancy wearable that allows remote scanning for telehealth appointments.
Associate Professor Fiona Brownfoot
A pregnancy wearable that allows remote scanning for telehealth appointments https://www.kalihealthcare.com/about/
Vicky Featherston
HAL Systems
AI climate control combining energy savings with comfort.
AI climate control combining energy savings with comfort
Dr Jo Dennison
Ren
Personalised, expert parenting advice for ages 0-5.
Joyce Ong
Tax Nuggets Academy
Gamifying accounting professional development.
Susie Wilson
ChildAware
An end-to-end child safety compliance solution for schools, early childhood centres, sporting and community organisations.
Sheree Andersen
Elliephant
Elliephant integrates with a company’s existing HR, marketing, and sales tech stacks to create automated, personalised gifting campaigns.
Tina Funder
Alt. Leather
Australia’s first 100% plant-based leather alternative.
Ange Alcock
Flohh
An online assessment platform crafted by teachers, for teachers.
Elena Tsalanidis
Deeligence
Leveraging AI to convert the manual processes of managing a transaction into a simple and more profitable way for lawyers to get deals done.
Christine Khor
Peeplcoach
Peeplcoach makes people leaders. Simple as that. Transforming technical managers into inspirational, effective and high-performing leaders through their scalable and accessible leadership programs which combine technology and people, with training and coaching.
Rachelle Dunstan
Kite Therapy
Helping families access support for children with autism and developmental delays.
Rachelle Dunstan, Co-Founder
Renata Sguario
Maxme
A human skills app helping career starters, movers, and advancers build critical skills to supercharge their potential and productivity
Renata Sguario, Founder
A human skills app helping career starters, movers, and advancers build critical skills to supercharge their potential and productivity.
Nikki Tugano
SeenCulture
A decision intelligence platform for pay and performance reviews, team design, and succession planning.
SeenCulture is a decision intelligence platform that helps leaders make smarter, fairer and faster promotion and succession decisions, and more inclusive and high potential leadership teams and workplace cultures.
SeenCulture currently serves more than 1,500 users on its platform and primarily works with professional services firms and technology companies with customers like Atlassian and Culture Amp.
Susan Oliver AM (Chair)
Founding Chairman, Scale Investors
Matt Allen
CEO, Tractor Ventures
Kate Cornick
CEO, LaunchVic
Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter
Aneetha de Silva
Managing Director – Government, Aurecon
Connect with me on
Kerri Lee Sinclair
Chair, SBE Australia
Woman-led means the startup meets either of the following criteria:
1) At least 50% of the entity is owned by one or more women (prior to any investment by the Alice Anderson Fund and excludes any private investment); OR
2) All of the following:
LaunchVic defines startups as young technology-based businesses that use innovation to scale rapidly and capture global markets. Examples of technology include: software / app, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, advanced manufacturing & robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, augmented / virtual reality, 3D printing, advanced materials, genomics & life sciences (including BioTech & MedTech) and autonomous vehicles.
LaunchVic defines Victorian-based as the startup must have at least 50% of its assets and employees located in Victoria and the business must be registered in Victoria. The founder(s) that meet the criteria for “woman-owned and led” are persons that have a primary residence in Victoria.
Only investors can apply to the Fund on behalf of the startup they are investing in. It does not need to be the lead investor who applies to the Fund, however, the application form does require investors to detail their experience investing in early-stage startups. The fund is open to local and international Angel Networks, Early-Stage VCs and individual investors who must meet the criteria of a sophisticated investor or hold a valid AFSL license, and operate independently from the startup.
The following applicants are ineligible to apply:
If the women founder’s shares are held in a Trust structure, the Founder Trust and the Company will be required to make representations and warranties through a side letter to ensure the eligibility criteria are clearly met.
The Alice Anderson Fund will not co-invest on the following:
The Alice Anderson Fund may still participate in rounds that include funding from related parties, public funds or grants, but the application must be made by a private sector investor and the Alice Anderson Fund will only co-invest on the investments provided by private investors.
Related Parties include spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal descendent or adopted child. If a relationship exists where services are provided in lieu of equity this is also considered to be a related party. Any funding provided by a public fund or grant also must be declared. The Alice Anderson Fund will not co-invest on the funding provided by related parties or by public funds or grants.
The Alice Anderson Fund will co-invest with private investors in priced rounds or via a SAFE Note or Convertible note
Funding that founders put into the business is not considered by the Investment Committee. The Alice Anderson Fund will also not co-invest with related party investors. This means, the Fund will not co-invest with any spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal descendent or adopted child (or spouse of the aforementioned) of the founders. If the investment round includes co-investment from both related and non related investors, the Alice Anderson Fund will only co-invest on the amount raised from the non-related investors.
No. Applicants need to decide whether to apply for funding from the Hugh Victor McKay Fund or the Alice Anderson Fund, as funding from both entities is not possible in the same investment round.
The Alice Anderson Fund will deem ESOP to be on a fully diluted basis (as if the ESOP is diluted at the time of the application).
Investors apply on a founder’s behalf for this opportunity, so we recommend engaging with an angel group or VC Fund to access the fund. You can find a full list of investors over at findingstartups.launchvic.org
Investee companies that received initial funding between $50,000 and $100,000 are eligible to apply for follow-on funding (within the investment time period of the fund and dependent on funding available) up to a total investment of $300,000.
However, there should be no expectation that the follow-on application will be approved and it will continue to be determined on a case-by-case basis
We have outlined some of the key terms we look out for in our investment playbook linked above.
No. Applications must be for a current investment opportunity. We won’t take into consideration amounts that have already been raised and banked with the startup.
Yes. If you have previously applied and are submitting an application for a new Investee Company from the same Investing Entity please email investments@launchvic.org to let us know and we will send you a shorter application form, for Investee Company and Deal Information only.
Due diligence must be provided in the form of a deal memo outlining the investor’s due diligence findings in relation to the Startup. At a minimum the deal memo must include the following: An assessment of the market opportunity, an overview of the traction the startup has had so far, the reasons for investing, an overview of the competitive landscape, use of funds (and runway the funds will provide), key risks and opportunities that have been identified. As the Alice Anderson Fund operates as a side car structure, the Investment Committee are relying on leveraging thorough due diligence process of private investors to inform their investment decision. If you are not the lead investor and you are relying on the due diligence conducted by the lead investor, please upload the deal memo outlining findings of the due diligence conducted by the lead investor. The Investment Committee will not be able to make a decision on any application without a thorough deal memo being provided.
The investment round does not need to have been completely finalised before an application is submitted. The application form asks for the minimum and maximum round size to be provided. In order for eligible applications to be approved, startups need to have raised the minimum required for Alice Anderson Fund investment ($150k) and an indication must be provided of what has been raised to date. The terms of the investment must be included in the application. If an application is successful, at a minimum, the Alice Anderson Fund will co-invest at a 3:1 ratio on the amount raised at the point of application. The final investment amount is at the discretion of the IC. Typically, investments need to be finalised within three – six months from the date of application.
The Investment Committee meets monthly to assess applications.
Once the Investment Committee meeting is complete, LaunchVic will contact you with an outcome within 48 hours. If you have any questions about this timeframe, please reach out to our team at investments@launchvic.org.
Once the investment is approved by the Investment Committee, LaunchVic will need to see evidence of all investment documentation and co-investment amounts from all investors in the round prior to finalising the investment. LaunchVic will also require a grant agreement be signed for the non-dilutive grant component of the investment.
Have a question about the Alice Anderson Fund?
Book in time with our Investment Manager, Michelle Vu to learn more about how the fund works, and what we look for in an application.