VentureCrowd, Uniseed partnership backs Aussie innovation

Leading Australian equity crowdfunding platform for alternative assets VentureCrowd has partnered with Uniseed to secure funding for promising technology companies, built on home-grown research. The partnership will see university research ventures available for individual investment on VentureCrowd’s platform.

VentureCrowd CEO Steve Maarbani said the partnership is an opportunity for wholesale investors to back Australian innovation, alongside an established and respected venture capital firm.

“We are thrilled to be the first equity crowdfunding platform in Australia to support the commercialisation of university research in this way, and look forward to profiling Uniseed companies on the VentureCrowd website, as we work to democratise early-stage research investment,” Maarbani said.

Backed by the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and the CSIRO, Uniseed enables the higher education sector to commercialise research and technology that solves industry challenges for global impact.

Uniseed’s CEO, Dr Peter Devine, said that the support from VentureCrowd will enable greater community engagement and support for the commercialisation of valuable intellectual property and research.

“Uniseed provides a bridge between universities and investors by providing companies with valuable seed funding in the early stages of development and subsequent follow-on investment throughout the life of the companies. We are delighted to partner with VentureCrowd and engage with the wider investor community to back home-grown, cutting-edge innovation,” Dr Devine said.

The first Uniseed deal to go live on the VentureCrowd site is for digital health company Cardihab. Cardihab aims to raise $2 million in Series A funding, to support channel expansion and increase enterprise sales, paid clinical trials and user acquisition of the platform. Current company shareholders include Uniseed, Artesian Capital Management, Qld Cardiovascular Group, Stoic Venture Capital and CSIRO.

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