Ex-Hostplus PE head launches state-level early-stage fund
V-Ignite, an investment firm established by the former PE and VC head at Australian superannuation fund Hostplus, is looking to raise AUD 120m (USD 86m) for a fund-of-funds that will support managers in the state of Victoria.
The Victorian government will invest AUD 60m in Victorian Startup Capital Fund (VSCF) as an anchor LP and V-Ignite wants to match that with contributions from superannuation funds, wealth managers, and high net worth individuals (HNWIs). VSCF will invest on a similar basis: target funds and sidecar vehicles must secure commitments of equal size from independent LPs.
V-Ignite is led by Neil Stanford and Brighid Pappin. Stanford spent more than seven years at Hostplus, latterly holding responsibility for the AUD 80bn superannuation fund’s AUD 8bn private equity and venture capital portfolio as well as running its AUD 400m co-investment program. Pappin has worked alongside him at Hostplus for the last three years as a PE investment specialist.
Hostplus established a sizeable venture capital portfolio, backing several managers in the Australian market. They include Melbourne-based healthcare investor Brandon Capital Partners. The Brandon team will play an unspecified role in V-Ignite.
The Victorian government’s involvement in VSCF is being overseen by LaunchVic, an independent agency formed in 2016 to develop a local start-up ecosystem. As of June 2020, this ecosystem comprised 2,100 start-ups with an estimated cumulative value of AUD 7bn, a threefold increase on 2018. It is larger than the state’s racing industry.
LaunchVic said in August 2021 that it had activated more than AUD 129m in private sector investment since its inception. The agency has invested in 130 programs and 19 accelerators.
The state budget allocated AUD 186.2m for ecosystem development in 2020. In addition to VSCF, LaunchVic has established the AUD 10m Alice Anderson Fund, which focuses on women-led early-stage start-ups.
“This is a red-letter day for Victoria’s start-up community. Our ecosystem is growing rapidly and this fund will turbocharge this growth. This fund led by V-Ignite will invest in local VC funds and enable more start-ups to scale, driving economic growth and creating new jobs for Victorians,” said Jaala Pulford, Victoria’s minister for innovation, medical research, and the digital economy, in a statement.
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