Darcy Naunton

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.

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.

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-focused VP with over a decade of CTO experience, supporting portfolio companies with tech audits and platform assessments.

Chairman and co-founder of Cyara, a CX assurance platform he led as CEO for 17 years; now chairs Monash Innovation Labs.

Serial entrepreneur and leader with 35+ years of global tech experience including 28 years in the US, spanning startups, expansions, turnarounds and mergers. Has advised VC and PE portfolio companies in CEO, interim CEO and board roles.

Founder-operator who co-founded RecordPoint and serves as its CEO, focused on B2B SaaS with governance and privacy at the core and on founders entering the US. Co-hosts the FILED podcast; holds an MBT from UNSW.

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

CEO of Aussie Angels and an active angel investor with 20+ startup investments. Leads an angel syndicate of 120+ investors and co-runs the 361 Angel Club.

Startup monetization expert focused on pricing, packaging and go-to-market, with 25 years of experience across 20 countries. Former Managing Partner for Simon-Kucher Oceania and an active angel investor.

Technology entrepreneur with 15+ years founding and exiting hospitality and retail SaaS businesses, including MyGuestlist and Sprout (sold to Mr Yum in 2022). Founder of lifecycle marketing company Sophy.

Managing Director, Business Development APAC at Uber and a two-time startup founder (Cleardocs, Limepay). Former Google executive with go-to-market and large-deal expertise.

Founder of Start Growth and former Managing Partner at Hall Chadwick turned founder growth coach. Longtime investor and mentor to Australian startups, including at Startmate and The Founders Institute.

Founder and Chairman of data security software RecordPoint and a multi-time founder with 8- and 9-figure exits in information management SaaS. Former economist/game theorist at Telstra Research Labs, focused on governance.

Technology executive and sales strategist experienced in scaling B2B SaaS across APAC. Former MD at Experian, VP APAC at AppDNA and VP Global Sales at Donesafe, with organic and M&A-driven growth expertise.

Senior enterprise technology executive with 30 years across IBM, Salesforce and ServiceNow. Currently Senior Director, Financial Services at ServiceNow ANZ, and founder of advisory firm The Composition Factory.

Managing Director, APAC for B2B revenue consultancy Winning By Design and former VP of Enterprise Sales at Salesforce leading APAC's Marketing Cloud division. Specialist in go-to-market and scaling sales.

Co-founder of AI contech platform Building Radar with 9+ years building sales and customer success teams. Raised over $30M in venture capital and grew B2B enterprise sales past $10M ARR.

Physicist and economist by training who became tech co-founder of e-grocery pioneer Leshop.ch. Later an LP and advisor at Antler across Sydney, Singapore and Iberia, and an early-stage angel investor.

Medical doctor turned entrepreneur, co-founder of digital health startup Elly and previously founder of CancerAid. Draws on a large US investor network to help portfolio companies expand into the US.

Twice-exited founder and multiple-time chief product officer with 20+ years running product teams at companies including Stake and MySpace, and consulting to startups globally.

Co-founder and former CTO of Chronosphere (sold to Palo Alto Networks in 2026), now VP and Fellow there. Previously observability tech lead at Uber and creator of the M3DB time-series database.

Founder of Australian cybersecurity accelerator CyRise and a multi-time founder. Board member for Startup Victoria with a strong network supporting cybersecurity founders.

Finance operator with 20+ years across venture capital and corporate finance who has managed US$130M+ across funds and SPVs. Founder and CEO of First Contact Advisory, helping tech companies expand into North America.

Serial technology founder and executive in enterprise software and AI/ML who has raised over $20M for his ventures. A partner at Startmate and investor in 100+ tech companies.

AI and technical specialist, most recently Chief AI Officer at Pendula through its acquisition by Smart Communications. Previously founded and sold utilities SaaS platform Billcap as CEO.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.