
Josh Garratt
Partner and Co-founder
Born:
ACT
Lives:
Adelaide
The 2023 Australian Angel Investor of the Year recipient, Josh Garratt is a highly regarded figure in the investment and commercialisation sector in Australia. He spent 12 years with fund manager Cromwell Property Group and, since settling in Adelaide in 2008, he has been instrumental in building the startup ecosystem.
He is the Co-founder and CEO of South Australian-based investment group Southern Angels and has facilitated $9.3 million investment into 33 companies. Between 2019 and 2023, he served as a Commercialisation Facilitator for the Federal Government’s Accelerating Commercialisation program, where he oversaw a pipeline of 100+ companies and secured $4.8 million in highly competitive grant funding. All bar one of the companies from both portfolios is a going concern, reflecting a talent for selecting promising early-stage innovation companies.
He holds a Bachelor of Communication and has a commitment to continuous learning, participating in programs with Startmate, Airtree, Scale Investors and Pivot Education USA. He provides strategic business counsel and deep dives into new technology investigation in producing due diligence reports.
What do you love about where you live?
The pace and space of Adelaide allows me to build, innovate, and collaborate in such easy proximity. I love the community here - there's a strong sense of connection and comradery in the tech innovation ecosystem. And we celebrate wins with the best wines, foods and festivals. Above all, my two boys love their friends and school, which makes me happy.
What are you currently pondering?
I’m thinking a lot about how AI is going to change the way we interface with technology. We’re in the early stages with chatbots and copilots. But imagine where we’ll be when AI can draw on my 20+ years of email, calendar and LinkedIn, creating a pre-emptive assistant. And if mine talks to yours, what is the work we do? Who wins, who gets left behind? I think a critical skill now is maximum humanness.
What do you look for in a founding team?
I’m drawn to founders with deep experience in the industry they’re building for — they know the pain points intimately. I also look for hustle. It’s not just about vision; it’s how they follow up after meetings, how they ask questions and push conversations forward. That relentless drive gives me confidence they’ll break through walls to get results.
What does down-time look like?
I like to stay active, whether it’s mountain biking, gym, running or yoga. Recently, I went camping again (probably been 10 years) and it was great to be off-grid, playing with a fire and exploring. I see more adventures like that in my future. Disconnecting from tech and reconnecting with the outdoors I think really helps my own path to ‘maximum humanness’.