Venture Capital in Australia

Venture capital (or private equity) has had an exotic but relatively low profile in Australia: governments have encouraged it (by amending legislation such as in Queensland) but individual venture capital organisations write their own selection rules which are highly confidential.

AVCAL (Australian Venture Capital Association Limited) is doing an excellent job publicising common industry views. Its website has some great resources and information about venture capital in its different forms and how to get it if you are a growing business. It has links to institutional investors, business angels and incubators.

One of Australia's most successful firms is Champ Ventures. Its director Bill (WD) Ferris wrote a book in 2000 on his experiences in Australian venture capital called "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: thrills and spills in venture capital". Worth reading. It's available from AIM Books.

The McKinsey Quarterly has an article on Why some private equity firms do better than others.

It concludes that the successful investors "actively own" the businesses they invest in. This is a key issue if your business is seeking funds.

If you're a business wanting to know how to improve your ability to obtain  capital then Achaeus offers extensive training.

And if you want to understand how an American venture capitalist thinks read Feld Thoughts. And BeyondVC and Business Week Online Deal Flow.