What stage does Acorn Capital invest at?

Acorn Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.

What sectors does Acorn Capital focus on?

Acorn Capital focuses on Cleantech, Climate Tech, Sector Agnostic.

Where is Acorn Capital located?

Acorn Capital is headquartered in Melbourne, AU.

Acorn Capital

Crossover fund

Melbourne · Pre-Seed–Late Stage · 20 people tracked

Also known as ACORN GROWTH COMPANIES, LC

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Investment thesis

Acorn Capital pursues long-term alpha through bottom-up research in less efficient markets, targeting innovative companies with sustainable competitive advantages and strong management teams. Its philosophy rests on four pillars: innovation, efficiency, growth, and diversity. The firm believes smaller companies drive outsized economic and employment growth, and that market inefficiencies in capital markets create opportunities for above-market returns. It invests across public and private markets, including micro-cap Australian equities, emerging growth strategies for institutions, resources tied to the clean-energy transition, and private capital funds. ESG factors are integrated with active engagement and management from a specialised investment team.

Invests inCleantech Climate TechSector AgnosticAustralia Melbourne

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

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Stage

Pre-Seed–Late Stage

Melbourne, AU

Instruments

Equity

Founded

1998

AUM

$893.2M

Tracked investments

Team · 20 people

from the firm's website & curated & public directories

Rob Brown· Managing Director· Melbourne, Australiain

Andrew Burt· Investment Director· Melbourne, Victoria, Australiain

Simon Wright· Member Board of Directors· Melbournein

A former Virgin Group executive with nearly 20 years in CEO/CFO roles, Simon has managed exits exceeding USD$1bn and worked with private equity firms in Europe and the US. He launched two startups in Japan and led Virgin's operations there for a decade.

Angus Mackay· Analyst and Dealer, Materials· Melbourne, Victoria, Australiain

Angus Mackay is a geologist based in Melbourne with specialist expertise in gold and antimony exploration. He works as a Resources Analyst and equities trader at Acorn Capital Ltd and serves as an active member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists Victorian committee, where he has contributed to event planning and organization including the Victorian Minerals Round-up. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Melbourne and Monash University.

Arthur Kabissios· Compliance Manager

Ben Dalling· Investment Director and Portfolio Manager, Financials & Industrials· Melbourne, Australiain

Ben Dalling is an Investment Director and Portfolio Manager at Acorn Capital and a Seed Investor at Designer Journeys. He has experience in investment roles focused on Australian businesses in their expansion phase.

Brian Gan· Analyst, Generalist· Greater Melbourne Areain

Brian Gan is an Equity Analyst at Acorn Capital Ltd., where he conducts buy-side equity research. His coverage spans listed small and micro-cap stocks as well as unlisted companies.

Dan McAleer· Head of Business Development· Greater Melbourne Areain

Matthew Sheehan· Investor· Melbourne, Australiain

Matthew Sheehan is an Investment Director at Acorn Capital Ltd with more than 10 years of experience in financial services. He has worked with ASX-listed company boards and public funds, with expertise in ASX and ASIC reporting requirements, equity capital raising from institutional and retail sources, and stakeholder management across regulators, advisers, and investors. His technical capabilities span funds management, capital management, acquisitions and disposals, and corporate operations.

Paul Palumbo· Portfolio Manager, Healthcare & Industrials· Melbourne, Australiain

Paul Palumbo is an Investment Manager and Analyst at Acorn Capital Ltd specializing in emerging companies, with particular focus on healthcare and industrial sectors. His experience encompasses research into public and private companies, microcap trading and implementation, portfolio management, and capital markets analysis.

Petr Semenov· Intern, Generalistin

Phil Morgan· National Distribution Manager· Greater Melbourne Areain

Phil Morgan is the National Distribution Manager at Acorn Capital Ltd. He has experience in the investment management industry with expertise in portfolio management, investment advisory, separately managed accounts, investments, and ETFs. Morgan is pursuing a Master's degree in Applied Finance from Kaplan Australia.

Rick Squire· Portfolio Manager, Materials· Melbourne, Australiain

Rick Squire is a Portfolio Manager at Acorn Capital Ltd overseeing Resources & Energy investments. With a background in geology and more than 25 years in mining exploration and mineral deposit research, he has focused on mining finance and investment since 2011. He evaluates economic viability factors across mineral and energy deposits globally and maintains expertise in financial products used by mining and energy companies.

Robert Routley· CEO· Melbourne, Australiain

Serves as Chief Executive Officer of Acorn Capital, emphasizing a focus on areas others find difficult to price where the greatest market inefficiencies lie.

Robin Lehane· Research Analyst· Greater Melbourne Areain

Summer Wu· Fund Accountant· Greater Melbourne Areain

Vanessa Kensley· Senior Fund Accountant· Doncaster, Victoria, Australiain

Vanessa Kensley is an Accountant at Warakirri Asset Management. She previously spent nearly 10 years with Chartered Accountants before transitioning to finance roles in the online gaming industry, followed by 5 years in asset management. Her background includes proficiency with various accounting software systems.

Xing Zhang· Investor· Melbourne, Australiain

Xing Zhang is an Investment Manager at Acorn Capital Ltd with a background in investment banking and funds management. His work focuses on venture capital, human capital, and innovation.

Bob Officer· Investor· Melbourne, Australiain

Tony Pearce· Analyst· Melbourne, Australiain

Tony Pearce is a Private Equity Analyst at Acorn Capital Ltd, holding designations as a Chartered Financial Analyst and CPA with a Doctor of Business Studies and Fellowship in Finance. He has held various investment roles including analyst, portfolio manager, research head, Vice President, and Director positions at organizations including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Legg Mason, Salomon Smith Barney, and several Australian financial services firms.

What they invest in

from 3 of 4 portfolio companies

Enterprise Software ×2SaaS ×2AI & Machine Learning ×1B2B Marketplaces ×1Data & Infrastructure ×1Deep Tech ×1Developer Tools ×1E-commerce ×1

HQs:Australia×2United States×1

Investments · 4 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2022 · 1 2021 · 2 2019 · 14 dated

Immvirximmvirx.comSeries A · May 2021 · $22M

Co-investorsOneVentures

Liquid Instrumentsliquidinstruments.com in 𝕏Series B · Sep 2022 · $29M

Liquid Instruments develops Moku, a reconfigurable integrated test system for complex research and development applications.

Deep TechDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareHardware

Daniel Shaddock(CEO)in Danielle Wuchenich(Chief Operating Officer)in

Co-investorsAnzu Partners Breakthrough Victoria Significant Ventures ACORN BIOVENTURES Lockheed Martin Ventures MA Growth Ventures

Marketplacermarketplacer.comDec 2019 · $20M

Marketplacer provides a platform that enables businesses to build and operate their own third-party marketplaces.

AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesE-commerceMarketplacesSaaSSan Jose, US

Jason Wyatt(Co-founder)inSam Salter(Co-founder)

Co-investorsSalesforce Ventures Bombora Wunala Capital

Mx51mx51.com in 𝕏Jan 2021

mx51 provides a white-label merchant dashboard portal that gives payment providers' customers centralized access to real-time transaction reporting, analytics, and service management across multiple payment channels.

Data & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFintechRetail TechSaaSSydney, AU

Victor Zheng(Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder)in Magnus Hsu(Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder)in Varghese Mathew(Chief Customer Officer)in

Co-investorsArtesian Rampersand ACORN BIOVENTURES Cultivation Capital Reinventure Group SixThirty Ventures

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Liquid Instruments Raises $50M in Series C Funding

Liquid Instruments · finsmes.com · Apr 28, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What stage does Acorn Capital invest at?: Acorn Capital invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.
What sectors does Acorn Capital focus on?: Acorn Capital focuses on Cleantech, Climate Tech, Sector Agnostic.
Where is Acorn Capital located?: Acorn Capital is headquartered in Melbourne, AU.

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