In March we hosted our inaugural LP Breakfast and Portfolio Showcase at the National Wine Centre, alongside Southstart, the national tech conference held in Adelaide each year. The brief for the day was simple: get our LPs, our founders, and the broader South Australian innovation ecosystem in the same room.
Fireside chat with Funds SA
The morning opened with a fireside chat between JD and Con from Funds SA on innovation and the South Australian ecosystem. The conversation covered the maturing local pipeline, how SA venture compares with the eastern states, and the role institutional capital can play in backing the next cohort of founders. It set the tone for the rest of the day, grounding the showcase that followed in the wider story of where the state is headed.
The Showcase
From there, every Fund 1 portfolio company got time on the floor with our LP base. Real questions about pipeline, hiring, runway, regulatory exposure. Real answers, not pitch theatre.
Founders from across our seven Fund 1 portcos were in the room: Steven Benn (Priori Analytica), Liam Cook and Daniel Morton (JACK App), Fiona Triaca, Kate O'Keeffe and Rutger Coolen (Heatseeker), Chris Were (BlueNexus), Nick Boniciolli (Optible AI), Louis Gordon-Latty (Legend Sports), and Edward and George Hartley (Nitrosend). LPs joined from Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore.
What we learned
Three things stood out from the LP feedback afterwards.
First, founders welcomed the format. Most VC fund updates happen via PDF deck, a one-way channel. Letting LPs ask questions directly tightens the loop and builds the kind of confidence that survives a tough quarter.
Second, the geography did the talking. Hearing seven founders, all building in SA, WA or QLD, in the same hour, makes the thesis self-evident. There's no need to argue that there's deal flow beyond the coast. We just had it lined up at the bar.
Third, the relationships compound. Two LPs now have direct lines to founders for follow-on rounds. One has introduced a portfolio company to a major customer. That's the kind of value-add a quarterly PDF can't replicate.
Cadence
The Portfolio Showcase and LP Breakfast are now an annual fixture, anchored to Southstart. Next one: March 2027. LPs in the Fund are invited automatically. If you're considering an investment and you'd like to attend the next one as a prospective LP, get in touch.