Are you a staff, student, recent alumn or affiliate associated with the University of Sydney, committed to developing your idea or invention into a business to solve global problems? The University of Sydney Pre-Seed Launch Fund is here to help get you started.
We provide pre-seed investment funding with a long-term horizon, support, guidance, mentoring, introductions and advocacy to help you navigate the challenging journey from concept to commercialisation.
Our goal is to create a clear pathway for inventions to become solutions that create value by becoming the first investor, filling the gap between research and external investment.
Our investment fund can invest up to $500k in each opportunity. Examples of the fund’s investment focus are novel drugs, medical devices, engineering hardware, clean technologies, evidence-based programs, new materials, robotics, cybersecurity, AI, software and quantum computing.
Our typical investments are up to $500,000, made either using a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) note or a priced equity round. Examples include developing the business, drug development or regulatory plan, pitch, product and customer validation to raise the next round.
Our venture investment and commercialisation teams will support you by helping with the commercialisation process, strategy and industry connections.
Tap into the University's vast research ecosystem, including state-of-the-art facilities, faculty expertise, and community connections to further develop your technology and business.
Join a thriving community of like-minded entrepreneurs including the Sydney Knowledge Hub, our incubator and co-working space designed for researcher-led startups.
Your application will be more competitive if you incorporate the following elements:
Ready to take your innovative idea to the next level? Fill out the Expression of Interest form.
If you have any questions, please book a time to chat with the team or email at venture.investment@sydney.edu.au.
Geoff Waring is a venture capital investor focused on university research investments. He managed Stoic Venture Capital's seed fund and invested his own funds as an angel investor. He was an academic in the US, HK and at UNSW.
Tyrelle Janae (TJ) Laurino is an experienced venture investor and commercialization expert. Previously an Investment Principal at a Deep Tech Venture Capital Fund and Incubator, she has facilitated investments into cutting-edge startups, providing strategic guidance to founders and board-level insights as a Board Observer. With a background in biomedical science and commercialization, she excels at bridging the gap between research and market-ready innovation. Passionate about nurturing entrepreneurs, TJ enjoys the challenge of translating breakthrough technologies into impactful ventures.
Dr. Noam Pilpel is a passionate biotech professional with over 20 years of scientific and executive experience across academic and commercial settings. An expert in commercializing innovative science, Noam bridges the gap between research and the commercial arena. She has led strategic, development, and operational activities in C-level positions, successfully securing funding from international venture capital firms in the US and Israel. Noam is also a strong advocate for empowering women in science and leadership.
We invest in research-led, high-potential innovations that will grow quickly to have global impact. If the product is software, there should be some science embodied in the algorithm, so it is not just automating a manual function, or some regulatory risk so revenues are delayed. The reason is there is a large and mature ecosystem of software investors in Sydney outside the university. So you should be able to raise money there if you have a strong value proposition and team. We exist to serve founders whose business is more technically complex, and revenues are slow, so traditional software investors will not invest.
No. This is not a grant. The fund provides early-stage investment capital, in return for equity in your venture. This is typically via a SAFE note (with delayed conversion to equity) but can be directly into equity. We are a venture capital fund investing in ambitious ideas that have the potential to grow into scalable businesses.
A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) is an investment instrument that converts our investment into equity once your startup raises a significant-sized priced funding round. Until then, we don’t have equity rights, and there’s no set valuation. The few negotiable terms - like a valuation cap or discount and amount of funds invested - will be agreed before signing the SAFE. This lets us have simple terms so avoids the need for expensive legal services.
Not initially. You don’t need to be incorporated to apply or to be eligible for investment. However, your project will eventually have to incorporate. If your venture progresses to investment, we’ll work with you to determine the best time and approach to incorporate a company.
Not necessarily. However, having University of Sydney-owned IP will strengthen your application. If your innovation does not include University-owned IP (e.g. student-generated and owned IP), we will assess your application based on your relationship with the University and the context in which the innovation was developed - such as through contract research, or participation in USYD-affiliated startup programs.
If your core innovation has been published in a way that prevents IP protection, it may impact your competitiveness for investment - especially if protection of the IP is key to your venture’s value. We’ll evaluate whether the opportunity still presents a strong commercial case, based on your know-how, technical expertise, and other defensible advantages.
Applications are evaluated by our investment team on a case-by-case basis. We look for innovations that solve problems which cause a large monetary and social loss, that may be emerging now but will soon be a large and growing market, are technically and commercially feasible, and can scale globally. We also consider the strength of the team, customer demand, defensibility, and alignment with our venture investment model and University of Sydney’s goals.
We accept expressions of interest (EOIs) all year round as they come in. You’re welcome to apply when it best suits your funding forecast timeline. Try to apply several months before you need the money as we need substantial time to evaluate your EOI and all the other possible investment opportunities in our pipeline of researcher founders seeking venture capital finance.
Yes. If your application is rejected or hasn’t progressed, we’ll provide feedback outlining why. You're welcome to reapply once there have been meaningful developments in your business case in line with the feedback provided.
Once you submit an EOI, our team will aim to respond within 1- 2 weeks. If we decide to proceed, we’ll begin a due diligence process to assess the investability of your venture. This can take several weeks to months and does not guarantee investment, but we’ll work transparently with you throughout.
The funding is intended to support commercialisation activities, such as company setup, hiring, market validation, user testing, and business model development. R&D may be supported if it is directly tied to a commercial outcome and done by the company.
We offer a forgivable loan agreement (structured as a slight variation on a SAFE note) to unincorporated teams, which later converts into a standard SAFE note upon company formation. We’ll support you through this process and closely manage how the funds are used to ensure they’re aligned with commercial goals.
Yes. We encourage this. We do not include restrictions on capital raising (current or future) or exclusivity clauses in our SAFE notes. You're free to raise additional funding from other investors.
In addition to capital, you’ll gain access to guidance and feedback from the venture investment team, as well as our connections to the broader innovation and enterprise ecosystem both within and beyond USyd to help you validate, build, and scale your business.
The Venture Investment team is separate from the Commercialisation Office, but we work closely together - particularly where IP or research commercialisation is involved. If you’re already working with someone in the commercialisation team, please mention this in your EOI so we can coordinate more effectively.