Black Nova VC

Matthew Browne is Managing Partner at Black Nova Venture Capital, where he oversees portfolio company selection and ecosystem development across Australian and international markets. He previously served as CEO and Co-Founder of Donesafe, a global EHS SaaS platform acquired by HSI in 2020 that reached over 1.5 million paying users, and is Co-Founder of Whispli, a Y Combinator-backed whistleblowing platform serving clients including Westpac, Qantas, and EY. Browne has mentored hundreds of startups through programs including Antler, the Founders Institute, and BNG Nebula, and holds advisory and investment roles in technology ventures including Goanna Solutions, an indigenous-owned technology company.

Joshua Farrugia is Principal, Head of Investment and Operations at Black Nova Venture Capital, where he focuses on venture operations and investments in B2B technology startups. He has experience in market research, customer success, venture capital, and startup operations, and holds a double degree in Banking & Finance and Marketing. Farrugia is a three-time founder across for-profit and nonprofit ventures, with particular interest in financial inclusion, equitable access, and data applications.

Technology VP with over a decade of CTO experience, focusing on tech audits and platform assessments for startups.

Alok Kulkarni is Chairman and Co-Founder of Cyara, a contact centre software company. He has held roles across research engineering, consulting, professional services, pre-sales, sales, and executive leadership. His experience spans innovation, commercialization, new venture creation, and software engineering across the telecommunications, software, and IT sectors.

Serial entrepreneur and executive with 35+ years of global tech experience, including 28 years in the US, and extensive VC/PE portfolio advisory work.

Co-founder and CEO of RecordPoint who focuses on B2B SaaS with governance and privacy at the center; co-hosts the FILED podcast and holds an MBT from UNSW.

Senior technology executive and dotcom-era veteran with expertise in business model design, partnerships, enterprise sales and governance.

CEO of Aussie Angels and active angel investor with 20+ investments, leading an angel syndicate and co-running 361 Angel Club.

Startup monetization expert specializing in pricing, packaging and go-to-market; former Managing Partner of Simon-Kucher Oceania and active angel investor.

Technology entrepreneur with 15+ years founding and exiting hospitality/retail SaaS businesses (MyGuestlist, Sprout); founder of Sophy.

Managing Director of Business Development APAC at Uber and two-time startup founder (Cleardocs, Limepay), expert in go-to-market.

Founder of Start Growth and founder growth coach; former Managing Partner at Hall Chadwick who has mentored at Startmate and other programs.

Founder and Chairman of data security software RecordPoint; multi-time founder with 8- and 9-figure exits and a former economist at Telstra Research Labs.

Technology executive and sales strategist scaling B2B SaaS across APAC; former MD at Experian and VP roles at AppDNA and Donesafe.

Senior enterprise technology executive with 30 years across IBM, Salesforce and ServiceNow; currently Senior Director, Financial Services at ServiceNow ANZ.

Managing Director APAC at Winning By Design and former VP of Enterprise Sales at Salesforce, specializing in B2B go-to-market and sales growth.

Co-founder of AI contech platform Building Radar with a strong European network; raised over $30M in venture capital and scaled B2B sales past $10M ARR.

Trained physicist and economist and tech co-founder of e-grocery pioneer Leshop.ch; later an LP and advisor at Antler and early-stage angel investor.

Medical doctor turned entrepreneur, co-founder of digital health startup Elly and founder of CancerAid; helps portfolio companies expand into the US market.

Twice-exited founder and multiple-time CPO with 20+ years running product teams at companies such as Stake and MySpace.

Co-founder and former CTO of Chronosphere (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) and creator of M3DB; previously led observability at Uber.

Founder of Australian cybersecurity accelerator CyRise, multi-time founder and board member of Startup Victoria.

Finance operator with 20+ years across venture capital and corporate finance; founder and CEO of First Contact Advisory supporting tech expansion into North America.

Serial technology founder and executive in enterprise software and AI/ML; a partner at Startmate who has invested in 100+ startups.

AI and technical specialist, former Chief AI Officer at Pendula and founder of Billcap, a SaaS platform for utilities.

Alex Lennon is Head of Talent at Black Nova Venture Capital, a early-stage B2B technology venture investor focused on the APAC region. Lennon has built startup and scaleup teams across engineering, product, go-to-market, and operations roles in the UK, Germany, and Australia, working in recruitment consulting, management, and business ownership capacities. At Black Nova, Lennon provides talent acquisition advisory to portfolio companies and conducts recruitment and talent technology due diligence during deal evaluation.

Chris Wanner is a venture partner at Antler and an active venture investor who previously co-founded and led LeShop.ch as CEO to $300 million in revenues before the company's 2013 acquisition by Migros Group. He has served as a senior advisor to McKinsey & Co on e-commerce strategy and operations, working with C-suite and board-level clients across multiple countries. Wanner currently focuses on building and financing technology startups alongside his venture investing activities.

Dan Ross has spent fifteen years leading go-to-market teams at high-growth Silicon Valley companies. He currently serves as a fractional Chief Revenue Officer for startups and scale-ups and as a venture partner at Black Nova VC in Sydney. His prior experience includes founding and building the Asia-Pacific division for Optimizely and leading go-to-market strategy and operations at companies that collectively raised over $2 billion.

Noga Edelstein is Chief Executive Officer of Equity Clear, an initiative developing infrastructure to measure and address gaps in startup funding, including Australia's first Common Data Standard for investor diversity reporting. She serves as Operating Partner at Black Nova VC, where she manages the Venture Partner program and portfolio support, and sits on the Investment Committee at Climate Tech Partners. Edelstein's background includes co-founding UrbanYou, a national marketplace platform that achieved trade sale exit, legal practice in Sydney and London, and tenure as General Counsel at Yahoo!7.

Tim Baker is a Managing Director at Boutique Capital and holds AFSL Responsible Manager designation. He brings over 20 years of finance experience across Europe, Asia, and Australia, with a background in business development and team leadership.