Telstra Ventures announces close of Fund III

Sydney, September 13.  Telstra Ventures today announced it has closed its third Fund.  Joint Managing Directors Matthew Koertge and Mark Sherman said the A$500 million fund-raising would be used to advance investment opportunities in all the Cs: Cloud, Cyber, Crypto (including Blockchain), Carbon and Climate, Coders, Creators and Consumers.

San Francisco-based Managing Director Mark Sherman said: “We’ve developed a world class reputation for identifying, investing and serving extraordinary entrepreneurs. 

“From our Fund III using our unique investment strategies from our team on the ground and incorporating our data science analysis we have already made investments in 15 startups including Cequence, ClosedLoop, Enable, Forage, FTX, LambdaTest, Lively, Pandion, Sleeper and Strata, Mr. Sherman said.

“We respect our CEOs to drive their businesses and support them with revenue generation and data science,” 

Sydney-based Managing Director Matthew Koertge said: “In the past ten years, we’ve returned more than A$800 million to our existing LPs. The fact that we were able to raise these funds from a range of existing and more than 35 new limited partners, across the globe when there is considerable volatility in finance markets and pandemic issues to navigate, speaks to the high reputation that our team, our portfolio company entrepreneurs and the quality returns they have delivered from our first two funds.

“From helping our portfolio companies generate revenue, leveraging data science and raising capital, we are working hard to help our portfolio companies and our limited partners at every stage of the journey.”

Collectively, the 88 investments have resulted in 33 liquidity events (either M&A or IPO), with 17 of those achieving unicorn status (a valuation above US $1 billion) including five achieving decacorns status (a valuation above US $10 billion). 

Mr Koertge said: “Through our revenue-bearing relationshipsTM, we have driven A$640 million in revenue for our portfolio companies since our inception. With our expertise in applying data science to the investment strategy we bring the world’s smartest technology to a global audience as well as the millions of customers who use Telstra’s services.”

But this doesn’t quite capture the depth of the relationship.

Head of Corporate Finance for Telstra, Guy Wylie, said the fact that Telstra contributed to each of the three funds is indicative of the strong relationship developed over the past decade.

“We recognise that our contribution to Telstra Ventures is about more than money. Through its smart investing, identification of new tech, and support for partners and companies in driving revenue as well as the great returns to investors, Telstra Ventures is a truly different venture capital company.” 

About Telstra Ventures

Telstra Ventures identifies what’s next, right now. Telstra Ventures serves extraordinary leaders and helps them achieve their dreams. In our first ten years, 88 investments have generated 33 liquidity events including Auth0, BigCommerce, Box, Cloopen, CrowdStrike, DocuSign, Rancher, Skillz, Snap, and Whispir. To date, our Revenue Bearing Relationships™ have driven more than US$450 million in revenue, extending the reach of our portfolio companies across Australia and Asia. In 2018, Telstra Ventures transformed into a venture capital firm backed by LPs including HarbourVest, the US$98B AUM private equity investment platform, and Telstra, the US$30B market capitalization communications services company, headquartered in Australia. To see our full portfolio and learn more, visit telstraventures.com.

For more information:

Richard Willis

M:      +614 11 839 344

E:       rick@networkfour.com.au