OIF Ventures Launches $55 million Opportunity Fund

Australian VC firm OIF Ventures has launched its new Opportunity Fund into which investors have already committed $55 million to focus on later stage startups that already have a proven track record.

The fund will aim itself toward technology businesses with more than $10 million in annual revenue, strong growth, and competitive advantage – B2B SaaS companies and Fintechs will be particularly attractive for the Opportunity Fund.

Jerry Stesel, a partner with the firm, said the hope is for OIF to keep providing capital for businesses even as the heat has fallen out of the market.

“While the good times weren’t going to last forever, neither will the tough times,” he said. “We are excited to be able to continue backing exceptional founders building this future and our new fund allows us to do just that. 

“We have designed our fund and fund size around a very strong investor base of value-adding LPs who can help super charge the founders and businesses we partner with so that we can focus on the founders that we back and give them the attention they deserve.”

The Opportunity Fund will start by investing into Advanced Navigation, a company that provides navigational technologies around the world and is currently working with Q-CTRL and NASA on quantum sensors to be used in lunar exploration. OIF was Advanced Navigation’s first investor in 2016.

OIF said the fund came out of demand from both investors and founders who pointed to a current lack of growth capital in Australia’s tech ecosystem.

“When you lookback on venture capital firm vintages post the dot com crash and the GFC, some of the most successful businesses and venture funds were launched in those periods,” OIF partner Laurence Schwartz said.

“We’re long-term partners so despite the current challenging macro-economic environment we’re confident that great businesses will continue to be launched by exceptional founders and that OIF Ventures will be in their corner.”

Andrew Barnes, CEO and co-founder of online learning platform Go1 said OIF had helped his startups get off the ground in the early stages and he was keen to see how it would develop later stage companies in these new market conditions.

“Since OIF Ventures invested in Go1, co-leading our Series A five years ago in 2017 and then following-on several times, they have been very impactful investors on our cap table,” Barnes said.

“From introducing us to key senior talent, customers and channel partners, the team really do roll-up their sleeves and add material value when they choose to partner with a company.

The Opportunity Fund will close to new investors at the end of the month and is looking for another $20 million to reach OIF’s target.