Image: Mandalay VCA Queensland venture fund backing farm-to-fork innovation to deliver food security is partnering with Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to expand its local investment focus.
Mandalay Venture Partners has secured funding under the QIC-managed Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund (QVCDF) to invest in promising local start-ups and attract third-party investment.
Cornerstone funding from the Queensland Government is being matched by investors into a select group of leading venture capital funds to supercharge investment into innovative Queensland companies.
QIC Private Equity Partner Nicholas Guest said the partnership will increase Mandalay’s capacity to deploy their expertise, skills, network and capital partners to accelerate the speed at which Queensland startups can access global markets.
“Mandalay was born and bred in Queensland, where over 90 per cent of the land is used for agricultural production and where ag and food R&D is thriving,” Mr Guest said.
“Having them on board for the QVCDF plays to two of Queensland’s greatest strengths in agriculture and innovation – an intersection brimming with opportunity.
“Their focus on farm-to-fork, including carbon sequestration, on-farm efficiencies, supply chain automation and future foods taps into such an important sector to the Queensland economy.
“By coming together to help close the identified early-stage funding gap in Queensland, we can diversify and grow this sector by making more capital available through a stronger local venture capital industry.
“In doing so, businesses will not need to leave our state to pursue funding elsewhere – they can establish, grow and remain in Queensland.”
Mandalay Venture Partners’ investment mission is to sustainably feed the world’s growing population by aiming to be the go-to agrifood tech venture firm, proudly based in Queensland.
Partner Timothy Hui said the QVCDF afforded the opportunity for emerging venture capital fund managers like Mandalay to have a globally renowned institutional investor as a limited partner.
“The QVCDF is an amazing initiative because it is more than just capital - having QIC as a limited partner is an enormous vote of confidence behind the firm and is a strong signal for future limited partners,” Mr Hui said.
“Having QIC working alongside the Mandalay team supports our conviction that our investment thematic, people, processes and policies stand up to the standards of an established global venture capital firm.
“Being based in Queensland places us at the centre of the national activity across the agrifood sector alongside the most promising startups, best universities, most dynamic RDCs and most active Hubs across the country.
“As a VC, we partner across the landscape to become a key capital provider and invest to fast-track the commercialisation of promising tech.”
Mr Hui said there is an exciting acceleration in new technologies and innovations across the agrifood sectors, driven by climate-related challenges, social and political shifts and changing consumer behaviours.
“We are closely observing areas including novel foods that are more environmentally friendly and contribute to better nutrition and health, novel production and processing systems to complement and augment the existing industries, and enabling digital technologies that can improve the competitiveness of entire value chains.
“Indeed, for the agrifood value chain, innovation and sustainability are synergetic, if not synonymous.”
In response to significant demand for the QVCDF, the Queensland Government has committed a further $55 million to expand the now-$130 million program.
QIC will deploy the additional funding to increase commitments to certain shortlisted venture capital funds and due diligence will commence on others to increase the thematic coverage of QVCDF investments.
The Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund comprises three core elements:
- Matched Funding – Queensland Government’s cornerstone funding to support matched funding into appointed venture capital funds.
- Accelerator Funding – a series of accelerator programs to increase deal flow for Queensland investors.
- Development Program - the appointed venture capital funds and accelerators will participate in the QVCDF Development Program to accelerate, develop and enhance the venture capital industry in Queensland.
For more information, visit our Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund webpage.
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Managing more than A$8.6 billion in AUM (as at 30 Sep 2023), we have sufficient scale to be meaningful to our partners but are not large enough to dilute our clients' investment opportunities. We invest from seed to growth stage, contributing up to A$10 million to support product development, team expansion and strategy execution with a focus on supporting local businesses developing innovative products and services.