Fundraising FoxStarfish Ventures
Venture capitalMelbourne · Pre-Seed–Seed · 2 people tracked
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Investment thesis
Starfish Ventures backs high-growth technology businesses from an Australian base, with an investment focus spanning information technology and life sciences. The firm emphasizes partnering with entrepreneurs and investing in people rather than technology alone, taking a company-growth approach that helps founders expand teams, build product, scale globally, and achieve successful exits. Its investment philosophy targets novel technologies that create new markets or supply new products and services to existing markets, with an emphasis on preparing for exits from the outset in order to deliver superior returns to investors.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 2 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 14 of 49 portfolio companiesHealthtech ×6SaaS ×6AI & Machine Learning ×4Enterprise Software ×4Medical Devices ×4Biotech ×2Cybersecurity ×2Digital Health ×2
HQs:Australia×7United States×4
Investments · 49 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2019 · 12017 · 12015 · 13 dated
Protagonist is a company that emphasizes a diverse and inclusive corporate culture as central to its innovation, with stated goals of creating wins for its organization and for patients.
BiotechHealthtechMilpitas, US
Dinesh V. Patel, PhD(Executive Officer, Director)Dinesh Patel(President & Chief Executive Officer)
BoardAsish K. Xavier, Ph.D.(Director)Michael Panaccio, Ph.D.(Director)Armen Shanafelt, Ph.D.(Director)Paul F. Truex(Director)
Co-investorsAisling CapitalCanaan PartnersJJDCJohnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDCLilly VenturesRA Capital
H3D builds an AI platform called AutoDesign that automates the design of custom-fit products, replacing manual CAD work for hearing labs (hearing aids, hearing protection, consumer audio) and dental labs.
AI & Machine LearningHealthtechMedical DevicesSaaSAnn Arbor, AU
Philip Kinsella(Co-founder & CTO)Iain Mcleod(Co-founder & CEO)inZhong He(Executive Officer, Director)John Yu(Director)Feng Zhang(Director)
Co-investorsSignificant VenturesSkalata
Aktana provides a real-time orchestration platform for pharmaceutical marketing that coordinates digital and field engagement across channels to reach healthcare professionals at optimal times.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSales TechSan Francisco, US
David J. Ehrlich(Executive Officer, Director)Derek Choy(Founder)inJin Huang(Executive Officer)Rob Willson(Executive Officer)Marc-david Cohen(Executive Officer)
BoardAnthony Glenning(Director)
Co-investors1315 CapitalHLM Investment PartnersNorwest Venture PartnersTRANSFORMATION CAPITALUpfront VenturesB4 Capital
Audinate develops Dante, a proprietary networking technology enabling professional audio and video equipment to transmit signals over standard Ethernet/IP networks, licensed to AV manufacturers worldwide.
Co-investorsInnovation Capital
Bubble Gum Interactive is a games studio that develops video games and interactive experiences for children and general audiences, including mobile games, educational games, and augmented/virtual reality applications.
EdTechGamingSydney, AU
Co-investorsSydney Angels
DesignCrowd is an online creative marketplace connecting businesses and startups with a global network of designers for custom graphic, logo, web, and print design projects.
Creator EconomyMarketplacesSaaSMelbourne, AU
Alec Lynch(Founder & CEO)
Co-investorsRight Click CapitalAirTree VenturesAlium Capital
iSelect was an Australian online comparison service, founded in 2000, that let consumers compare and purchase health, life and general insurance, energy, telecom, and personal finance products.
Co-investorsSpectrum Equity
MetaCDN is a Melbourne-based University of Melbourne spinoff that built a multi-provider cloud content delivery network aggregating services from providers like AWS and Azure for video streaming, transcoding, and web acceleration.
Nitro provides PDF editing, eSignature, analytics, and AI-based document automation software for businesses ranging from growing teams to large enterprises.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSMelbourne, AU
Karl De Abrew(Founder)Richard Wenzel(Founder)Sam Chandler(Founder)
Co-investorsPotentia CapitalBattery VenturesBing Ventures
ReNerve develops nerve repair products, including cuffs, grafts, and bionic nerve structures, to treat transected nerves and improve patient outcomes.
BiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesNew MaterialsMelbourne, AU
David Rhodes(Director & CSO)Alex Adamides(Chief Medical Officer)
BoardJulian Chick(Director)Maja McGuire(Independent Chair)Paul Savage(Independent Non-executive Director)
UpGuard provides a platform for managing cybersecurity risk, including third-party vendor and supply chain risk assessment.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareSaaSMountain View, US
Alan Sharp-Paul(Executive Officer, Director)inMike Baukes(Co-Founder & CEO)inScott Petry(Director)Chris Cooper(Director)in
BoardVivek Mehra(Director)inHamish Hawthorne(Director)
Co-investors500 GlobalAugust CapitalGlitch CapitalSpringcoast Capital PartnersSquare Peg CapitalPelion Venture Partners
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
5th FingerArmaron BioAruspexAusraCapXDistraEnergy ResponseEvostorFinisarG2Holly ConnectsICIXIntersection MedicalMacropodMaraniMCMilkdropMimeticaMonitoring DivisionMurigenNephrodynamicsOdonata HealthOfidiumOurcastProtagonistQS SemiconductorQuickCommScalifySpace TimeStyleTreadSupaXelorZoom Systems
Exits · 12
1 IPOs · 11 acquisitions · showing 11Protagonist TherapeuticsNASDAQ: PTGX5th Fingeracq. by Merkle, Inc.Ausraacq. by ArevaDistraacq. by ACI WorldwideEnergy Responseacq. by EnerNOCEvostoracq. by Virsto SoftwareHolly Connectsacq. by West Co.ICIXacq. by RiskonnectIntersection Medicalacq. by ImpedimedQuickCommacq. by Vodafone GroupStyleTreadacq. by Munro Footwear Group
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesUpguard · prnewswire.com · Feb 26, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Starfish Ventures made?
- Starfish Ventures has 49 tracked investments, 12 of which have exited.
- What stage does Starfish Ventures invest at?
- Starfish Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is Starfish Ventures's typical check size?
- Starfish Ventures typically writes checks of $2M – $3.3M.
- What sectors does Starfish Ventures focus on?
- Starfish Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Deep Tech, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Starfish Ventures located?
- Starfish Ventures is headquartered in Melbourne, AU.
- Who does Starfish Ventures co-invest with?
- Starfish Ventures most often shares deals with August Capital, High Alpha, Norwest Venture Partners, among 16 tracked co-investors.
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