Alice Anderson Fund Continues

Access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers facing women-led startups. Even though ventures founded and co-founded by women outperform peers with male-only founding teams across several metrics, from profitability to return on investment, a mere 2.3% of global VC funding went to all-women founding teams last year. 

The Alice Anderson Fund was established to help close that gap by giving ambitious Victorian women better access to the long-term capital they need to start and scale innovative businesses.

Named after pioneering Victorian businesswoman and innovator Alice Anderson, the Fund co-invests alongside private investors in early-stage companies led by women. Its investments are structured to increase the funding available to female founders while helping them retain more ownership in their companies and participate more fully in future growth.

Since launching, the Alice Anderson Fund has invested more than $9 million in 46 Victorian companies.

Its recent investments include Butter, an innovative Australian community management "operating system" built to combat adult loneliness; Spektrum, which is bringing greater visibility and transparency to critical minerals value chains; and Misti, who are developing advanced aerosol technology that makes inhaled medicines more precise, reliable and easier to deliver, improving respiratory treatment for conditions such as asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis.

The Fund has also helped attract significant private capital into Victorian companies, activating more than $64 million in co-investment from investors around the world. 

GonGlobal shows how targeted support at different stages can help an innovative Victorian company progress.

Co-founder Ellen Gonda received early support through an Innovation Victoria-funded pre-accelerator before GonGlobal secured seed-stage investment through the Alice Anderson Fund. The company used that investment to advance product development and build investor confidence. 

GonGlobal subsequently secured a $1 million investment through Innovation Victoria's University Innovation Platform to support deeper collaboration with researchers at RMIT University and commercialisation initiatives.

The additional $10 million commitment will enable the Alice Anderson Fund to continue investing alongside private investors in promising early-stage companies led by Victorian women.

When fully deployed, the Fund is expected to support dozens of women-led startups across a range of industries and enable the creation of hundreds of new jobs in Victoria and beyond.

The investment is designed to help more Victorian founders turn ambitious ideas into commercial successes, while strengthening the diversity, competitiveness and economic impact of Victoria's innovation ecosystem.