|   BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Dr Michelle Deaker is a Founding Partner & Managing Director of OneVentures and has been primarily responsible for the foundation of OneVentures firm and capital raisings of OneVentures Funds. The firm now has over $700M in funds under management. Michelle serves on the investment committee of OneVentures three main Funds, leads the technology practice within the firm and is responsible for investor relations managing the supervisory boards of OneVentures funds.

Michelle has over 20 years experience in the development of high growth technology companies in Australia and the US, has served on the boards of large and small listed and unlisted companies and has a strong background in Australian R&D and expertise in global business expansion. She has negotiated technology transfer contracts with research institutions; established financing syndicates with Australian, Asian and US investors; chaired the boards of several high growth companies; supported early breakthrough commercial contracts; leveraged her extensive networks for the benefit of OneVentures companies; and negotiated both financing and exit transactions.

Michelle established OneVentures in late 2006, coming into the venture capital industry as a successful IT industry business owner, entrepreneur and subsequently angel investor. The Company she founded in 1999, E Com Industries (www.giftvouchers.com), became the leading prepaid card and electronic voucher provider in Australia, servicing over 100 major retail brands including Coles Myer and Woolworths, managing $700M in Australian retail liability and eventually expanding operations into the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand. E Com was acquired by UK publicly listed company, Retail Decisions, in 2005, in a transaction returning to investors 4.6x capital and an average IRR of 70%. Notably, E Com industries was one of only a handful of Australian companies that successfully migrated the dotcom boom and crash through to a successful outcome for investors. Prior to E Com Industries, Michelle established IT enterprise business, Networks Beyond 2000.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours 1st class), Master of Science and a PhD (Applied Science). She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chief Executive Women (CEW).

|   BSc(Hons), AMCT   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Nick Gainsley is a Partner at OneVentures and leads the Growth Credit practice of the firm. Nick is committed to ensuring that companies in Australia can access alternative forms of capital by bringing his extensive global experience with debt and financing to the local market.

As one of the leading pioneers of Growth Credit in Australia, Nick is in high demand as a keynote speaker and conference panellist. He regularly appears in the media as an expert on Growth Credit and alternative debt financing. For media and speaking enquiries, please contact us.

Nick is a keen skier and loves to travel the world – with his young family in tow. Being a Brit he used to long haul and is looking forward to the direct Sydney-London flight in the coming years. He loves to ski steep off-piste terrain however he’s been forced to recalibrate to “family friendly” black runs.

Nick brings over 15 years of debt experience both in direct lending and advisory, in Europe and Australia. He has nearly 10 years of Growth Credit experience having led investments to over 100 high growth technology companies across 11 countries.

At OneVentures, he serves on the Investment Committee of the 1V Venture Credit Fund IV and the OneVentures Growth Fund V.

Prior to joining OneVentures in May 2019, Nick was based in the UK and was a Principal at Kreos Capital (now part of Blackrock), Europe’s largest growth debt fund. His experience there covered deal origination, execution and portfolio management for a significant number of transactions across European markets. He has wider sector experience across technology sub-sectors including FinTech, software, cyber security, hardware, e-commerce/DTC, AdTech and life science, investing in both private and public companies.

Prior to this Nick was a Manager at KPMG in London within its Debt Advisory team, where he was involved in managing and advising on a range of debt transactions from mid-market to large cap. Transaction experience covered leveraged finance, corporate refinancing, capital market issuance and strategic financing advice.

Nick is currently a mentor at Stone & Chalk and the AIC women mentorship programme.

|   BComm, CFA, CA   |   Location: Melbourne, AU

Justine is an Investment Director at OneVentures and is responsible for the new Victorian Growth Fund, focusing on providing Venture Credit to Victoria’s most exciting start ups.

Justine returned to Australia in late 2021, after 3 years working in Tokyo advising life science and beauty companies on cross border M&A. She brings her wealth of knowledge in M&A Advisory, her passion for entrepreurship and her experience with capital raising to the Venture Credit team. She is a valued advisor and is driving the awareness and adoption of Venture Credit (also known as venture Debt) in the Australian market.

Justine leads the investment team for the Victorian Growth Fund. She is responsible for identifying and assessing potential investments, promoting the Fund and managing the partnership with the Victorian Government and other stakeholders. She is passionate about investing in startups and growth companies generating jobs and innovation for Victoria and broader Australia, and pursuing ideas that will benefit Australians.

Justine holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, majoring in Accounting and Finance. Justine is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. In her spare time, she has pursued qualifications in viticulture and wine, and recently completed Wine & Spirits Education Trust – Level II in Wine.

|   CA, BBA (Hons)   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Kate joined the investment team at OneVentures in 2019 with launch of our first credit fund. Before moving to Australia, she spent four years at PwC, Dublin where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. At PwC she gained diverse experience working with the Business Restructuring (Deals) and Management Consulting departments.

While in Business Restructuring, she worked on administrations, liquidations, and business turnarounds. During her time in Management Consulting, she was embedded within the portfolio company of a PE sponsored business to drive operational improvements through digitisation. Kate also spent some time in KKR within the private credit arm, which gave her exposure to lending and portfolio management, helping to round out her credit experience.

Kate is a motivated and analytical individual with the ability to originate deals, complete due diligence, monitor portfolio companies and she holds several board observer roles. She has built a strong network and is an active member of the Australian Venture Capital community since joining the firm in 2019. She likes to give back to the community, providing mentorship via accelerators and platforms aimed at supporting underrepresented founders and she holds a seat on the Australian Investment Council DE&I committee.

|   B.Sc. Economics & Finance   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Ryan is an Investment Associate at OneVentures working in the Venture Credit team. Ryan is passionate about start-ups and is excited to work with founders around Australia.

Prior to joining OneVentures Ryan worked in Wayflyer, a venture backed Fintech scale-up that provides Revenue Based Financing to eCommerce brands. At Wayflyer Ryan was responsible for Business Operations & New-Product Development and helped the founders scale the business from 30 employees to 300.

Before Wayflyer, Ryan was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. At McKinsey, Ryan worked in the Dublin and London offices predominantly advising consumer goods and financial services clients on strategy and organisational issues.

Ryan holds a B.Sc. Economics & Finance from University College Dublin, outside of work he loves to swim and travel.

|   BCom (Economics & Finance)   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Shawn is an Investment Analyst at OneVentures and sits within the Venture Credit practice of the firm. He is excited to help Australian startups shape the future and is particularly interested in companies that change consumer behaviour.

With 3+ years of experience working across strategy and operations, Shawn enjoys bouncing between blue sky thinking and working together with companies to solve their most pressing issues. Prior to OneVentures he was a part of the Strategy team at Accenture, working across public and private sectors covering technology, retail, financial services, energy and logistics. He also has experience at Uber, delivering on projects across Rides and Eats.

Beyond the world of tech and startups, Shawn is passionate about social impact, development economics and music. He plays a variety of instruments and occasionally performs, you might even catch him busking on the streets of Melbourne. He hopes to bring the lens of impact, improving welfare and good music to investing – cue the tunes and let the good times roll.

Shawn brings experience across strategy and operations covering a variety of industries and is constantly seeking to learn about new sectors and how technology is disrupting it.

At OneVentures, he sits as a part of investments team for 1V Venture Credit Fund IV and the VGF. He brings a fresh perspective to analysing companies, performing due diligence and supports the team across the deal lifecycle.

Prior to joining OneVentures, Shawn was a Strategy Analyst at Accenture where he worked across a range of sectors with a focus on technology. He has helped clients with growth strategy, M&A, decarbonisation, economic research and project management.

He was also previously an Operations Associate at Uber and worked across Uber Rides, UberEats and Community Operations. He has conducted analysis on consumer behaviour, lifecycles, retention and feedback. Shawn received a BCom from the University of Melbourne majoring in Economics and Finance. He has represented the university internationally at case competitions in Norway and Thailand, providing advice to multinational companies.