Rampersand
Venture capitalMelbourne · Pre-Seed–Series A · 3 people tracked
Investment thesis
Rampersand writes first cheques at pre-seed and seed (including large seed rounds), stopping short of true Series A. It invests globally wherever ANZ-born founders are building, focusing on AI-native software, deep tech, and infrastructure. The firm's team is made up of ex-founders and operators who commit to hands-on, long-term support through pivots, bridges and hard moments. Its underwriting stack looks for obsessed founders with an unfair advantage and founder-market fit, non-consensus insight, credible near-term milestones, and fund-returning outcomes in $10B+ emerging markets. Rampersand backs its portfolio with a sales lead generator, an operator network, product working sessions, and warm introductions.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 2, 2026.
Team · 3 people
from the firm's websiteFormer operator who founded Rampersand in 2013 after repeatedly seeing ANZ founders struggle to raise from funds that didn't understand them.
Led Rampersand's pre-seed investment in Parachute alongside angels and works with the team on positioning and early enterprise wins.
Led the Cuttable investment for Rampersand and works with the founders on go-to-market, US expansion, and team scaling.
Investments · 13 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathGenerative AI adtech company based in Melbourne and NYC.
Climate and robotics company based in Canberra (Series B).
Rampersand portfolio company and hiring platform used to fill junior-to-mid roles.
Spatial computing company based in Melbourne (Series A).
AI agent stack for ecommerce back-office operations, proactively resolving back-end tasks before a support ticket is created.
Energy and cleantech company building feasibility software for the energy transition, based in Brisbane (Series A).
An operating system for law firms, scaling from solo practitioners to enterprise, orchestrating AI-driven legal work and integrating with practice-management tools like Clio and InfoTrack.
Enterprise AI demand-intelligence company based in Auckland and San Francisco (Series C).
Diamond quantum sensing and computing hardware company based in Canberra and Stuttgart (Series A).
Restaurant operating system replacing paper-based systems, founded by Assaf Stizki and CTO Ken Brand, operating across five countries including the US.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Rampersand invest at?
- Rampersand invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What sectors does Rampersand focus on?
- Rampersand focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Climate Tech, Deep Tech, LegalTech, SaaS.
- Where is Rampersand located?
- Rampersand is headquartered in Melbourne, AU.
- Does Rampersand lead rounds?
- Yes, Rampersand leads investment rounds.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamWhat VC's look for in startups - Paul Naphtali (Rampersand VC) | Startup Playbook Ep005 - YouTube
Rohit Bhargava · Paul Naphtali
Startup Grind Melbourne hosts Paul Naphtali (Rampersand) - YouTube
Startup Grind Local · Paul Naphtali
Startup advice by Paul Naphtali from Rampersand VC. @zendesk @startupgrindaustralia @startup #startup #vc #startupadvice #melbourne #siliconvalley #tech... | By Zuse Digital | Facebook
Paul Naphtali
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