Team

There’s a lot to each of us.
And we bring it all together – as one.

Our Partners have founded and built companies from the ground up.

As experienced investors, entrepreneurs and board directors, our team have helped create Nasdaq and ASX listed companies, realising returns to investors of over $1Bn.

Together, we create winning investment opportunities that deliver lasting gains

Careers

Partners

Dr Michelle Deaker

Founding Partner & Managing Director
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Dr Michelle Deaker

Founding Partner & Managing Director

|   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).

Portfolio Board Roles
In the news

Dr Paul Kelly

Founding Partner & Director
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Dr Paul Kelly

Founding Partner & Director

|   MBBS(Hons), MD, FRACP   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Dr Paul Kelly is Founding Partner & Director at OneVentures. Starting with his background as an Australian Physician, Paul has a long history of biotechnology entrepreneurship and healthcare investing, from developing innovation to commercialising at scale and realising substantial returns for investors.

Having returned to Australia in 2010 (after 15 years in the UK and US), he is dedicated to improving healthcare and treatment options for populations across the world. He lives and invests guided by his vision for a better future: through innovation, collaboration, and patient determination.

Paul is an avid reader and can regularly be found immersed in medical journals as well as fiction and non-fiction literature, which he believes “provides perspectives and insights that you would never get from management or business books”.

When he’s not mentoring and encouraging medical professionals to be entrepreneurial, he also looks after the health of our native environment: being highly active in bush regeneration and preservation.

Paul serves on the investment committees of OneVentures’ four main Funds, chairing the Fund III Investment Committee, and leading the healthcare and biotechnology practice across the firm.

Paul is a highly experienced executive and has multiple board responsibilities as either Chair or as a Non-Executive Director within numerous OneVentures portfolio companies. Independently of OneVentures, he is also a Non-Executive Director Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in developing and commercialising biomedical innovations in the United States, Europe, United Kingdom and Australia. While in the UK and US he led early-stage and mid-stage companies, public and private, delivering strong returns for shareholders and investors as a founder and CEO.

Notably, Paul served as Co-Founder and CEO of Gemini Genomics (Nasdaq:GMNI), one of the world’s first clinical genomics companies, commercialising novel gene-based diagnostic and therapeutic targets. At Gemini, Paul led the company in one of the UK’s largest biotechnology IPOs of the time, completed strategic corporate acquisitions in Sweden and Canada, and negotiated collaborations with some of the world’s leading research institutions and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In 2001, Paul led the company’s successful merger with Sequenom (Nasdaq:SQNM), valuing Gemini at over US$250M.

Paul’s other notable achievements include co-founding Agamatrix, now a leading bio-sensing medical device company with operations across the US and South East Asia, and Atomera (Nasdaq ATMR). He then served as President and CEO of Orchid Cellmark (Nasdaq:ORCH) – during his tenure revenues grew by over 50% in 2 years to $60M per annum, and increased the company valuation 10 fold.

While in the US Paul also served as President and CEO of Medcenter Solutions, a US based online medical education and pharmaceutical marketing company.

Before becoming a biotechnology executive, Paul had a distinguished career as a researcher and physician specialising in endocrinology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia. While serving as a researcher at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, and in his postdoctoral work, Paul authored over 100 scientific publications, largely in genetic epidemiology of common metabolic disorders, which have been published in leading journals such as Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, British Medical Journal and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Paul has also served on a number of national governmental advisory bodies, as well as on the boards of public and private companies. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Medicine, Law and Ethics from 2005 to 2008. He also serves on the UNSW Medicine Dean’s Advisory Group and serves on the Board of Directors of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

Portfolio Board Roles
In the news

Nick Gainsley

Partner
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Nick Gainsley

Partner

|   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.

Portfolio Board Roles
In the news

Sarah Meibusch

Partner
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Sarah Meibusch

Partner

|   BAgrSc(Hons), M.P.S, GAICD   |   Location: Brisbane, AU

Sarah is responsible for sourcing life sciences companies and actively shaping their future. She applies her global executional experience and entrepreneurial passion to nurture their success. Her enterprise level leadership experience has been forged over 20 years in a wide spectrum of organisations, including start-up, private companies, ASX and NASDAQ-listed companies, a multi-national pharmaceutical company and university research organisations.

Prior to OneVentures, she was the Asian Business Development lead for Shire Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda), a global specialty pharmaceutical company. Sarah identified technologies and developed collaborations across Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan including playing a key role in sourcing the $300M Fibrotech deal announced in 2015.

Sarah has held senior management roles at Progen Pharmaceuticals, The University of Queensland’s QAAFI institute, Beef CRC and Pyxis Genomics. From 2011-2017 she led the development of the new UQ QAAFI research institute from 32 people to 450 people and a financially profitable position within 5 years. This included leading the negotiation of a complex $70+M staff transfer and research agreement for QAAFI between the University of Queensland and the Queensland Government. In 2012, Sarah spearheaded the IP asset assignment and company wind-up of 20 year $168M Beef Co-operative Research Centre, involving five universities across five state jurisdictions, MLA, CSIRO and Meat and Lamb NZ and pastoral companies. At Progen Pharmaceuticals, Sarah worked collaboratively with the CEO and CFO over several years to secure a total financing of ~$125M via five capital raisings for oncology drug development, and in 2008 led the $22M acquisition of an oncology drug discovery company.

Sarah has a strong understanding of the pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare industries including key inflexion points, intellectual property, regulatory and reimbursement strategies, business development options and strategic product management. She combines this with the ability to understand scientific information quickly and build credibility with technical experts and industry players. She is passionate about commercialising new technologies, and has the strategic vision and positive energy to deliver under tight timeframes in a team environment.

Sarah is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and currently holds directorships with Kira Biotech, QAAFI Advisory Board and Life Sciences Queensland. She holds Bachelor level science qualifications from the University of Queensland and a Masters from Cornell University and has completed a postgraduate course at Harvard Business School focusing on negotiation and decision making.

Nigel Dews

Operating Partner
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Nigel Dews

Operating Partner

|   BEc (Hons), MBA   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Nigel Dews is an Operating Partner at OneVentures and leads the Technology team within the firm. Nigel is a digital revolutionary, having been an Executive Leader in the digital media, technology and telecommunications industries for 20+ years.

Nigel is renowned for his experience as both a strategic consultant and a proven entrepreneur. He has experience as a start-up CEO as well as a strong history within large multinationals: providing critical leadership to pivot into the digital landscape.

Nigel was born in NZ, grew up in Australia and has also lived across both the US and Europe. Wherever he is in the world though, he loves the outdoors – with a bias towards Central Otago. Whether he’s hiking, running or catching a wave with his family, Nigel rarely stops moving when he’s out of the office.

Nigel joined OneVentures to predominantly to work with our digital and technology-based portfolio businesses. He currently serves on the Investment Committee of the OneVentures Growth Fund V, advises the Fund IV team and works extensively with our portfolio companies.

Nigel is a highly experienced executive, consultant and has board responsibilities as a Director with OneVentures portfolio companies Lumary, Kepler Analytics, Flippa and SourseAI.

Nigel has been a leader in the digital media, technology and telecommunications industries as CEO of Vodafone Hutchison Australia, 3 Mobile, and the first Chief Executive of the Fairfax Media digital business. More recently, Nigel was CEO of Melbourne-based technology scale-up, Message Media, leading the strategy development and execution to rapidly grow via organic sales acceleration, acquisitions, new products and geographic expansion, attracting private equity and leading to an eventual trade sale.

Nigel initially worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia, spent five years in strategy consulting with McKinsey & Company before moving into leadership positions in the emerging category of digital media.

He built and led the start-up of Fairfax Digital for its first seven years, taking it through to break-even. He led the building of a diverse portfolio of organically grown, joint ventured and acquired digital businesses.

Nigel has held notable leadership roles including CEO of Hutchison Telecoms Australia (HTA) and 3 Mobile, leading the merger and integration of 3 with Vodafone, remaining as CEO of the merged entity for its first 3 years.

After starting-up European border mobile network enabler Hue in the UK, Nigel returned to Sydney and joined strategy consultants Port Jackson Partners as a Director and shareholder leading strategy projects across a range of industries in Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. This included work with CEOs of fast growing digital businesses, digital and technology strategies, media, infrastructure, agriculture and international growth initiatives.

Nigel joined Message Media in 2017 to scale-up and transform the business from a single region, single product, single shareholder business via a substantial investment in technology, people, new processes and platforms, and acquisitions, culminating in a significant private equity investment and founder exit. He is also a founding partner of GNG Partners, a boutique growth strategy consulting firm.

Venture Partners

Anne-Marie Birkill

Co-Founder, Venture Partner & Director
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Anne-Marie Birkill

Co-Founder, Venture Partner & Director

|   BSc(Hons), MBA, GAICD   |   Location: Brisbane, AU

Anne-Marie Birkill is a Co-Founder, Venture Partner, and Director of the Manager at OneVentures. She is well regarded for her passion for and experience of working with early-stage technology companies and entrepreneurs including as an expert advisor within the innovation community. She is based in Brisbane, a strong source of technology innovation opportunities.

Anne-Marie serves on the investment committees of OneVentures’ Funds I, II and III and the REM and Risk Management Committees. She is a director for OneVentures portfolio company Madorra and was Chair of the Board of Charm Health until 2017 when she lead the company to an acquisition by the Citadel Group (ASX:CGL). She originated Vaxxas in 2010 and was an observer to the Vaxxas Board until 2020.

Driven by a passion to grow Australia’s knowledge-based economy; Anne-Marie brings 35+ years’ experience in executive leadership, product development and commercialisation, advisory roles, mentorship, capital raising and exits to the team at OneVentures. Her interest in the innovation sector was forged during 15 years in leadership roles in agri-business companies developing and commercialising new cultivars of ornamental, aquatic, food, and forestry plants. Prior to co-founding OneVentures in 2010, she was CEO of i.lab Incubator, having previously spent five years in the senior management team at UniQuest. During this period Anne-Marie developed successful programs and networks to assist technology commercialisation, start-up formation and growth, capital raising and exit. She has experience of senior management and governance in listed and unlisted companies.

A committed advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, Anne-Marie regularly contributes to thought leadership on this topic including via speaking engagements. For media and speaking enquiries, please contact us.

Her experience and reputation in the technology sector is demonstrated through her active participation in the innovation community. Her current external roles include appointment as an Industry Fellow with The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School, Chair of the Investment Committee for the UQ-lead “Trailblazer” Food and Beverage Accelerator,  and director for InterFinancial Corporate Finance and the PPK Group (ASX:PPK).

Portfolio Board Roles
In the news

Dr Dan Baker

Venture Partner
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Dr Dan Baker

Venture Partner

|   BSc (Biology), MD (Rheumatology)

Dan Baker received his B.A. in Biology from Gettysburg College and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his medical residency at Hershey Medical Center and fellowship in Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a research fellowship in Rheumatology at Mass General Hospital. He continued on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania for 18 years before joining Janssen/Centocor in 2000.

As Vice President Immunology R&D at Janssen, his responsibilities included the clinical development of Remicade, SIMPONI and STELARA as well as other programs in rheumatology, and dermatology. As Disease Area Stronghold Leader he was responsible for Phase II & III clinical development plans for rheumatology products was responsible for the overall strategy on portfolio in rheumatology/immunology.

He has authored multiple publications in the field of immunology and has served a co-Lead of RTCure which is an academic/industry collaboration that is sponsored by IMI2 and is searching for tolerogenic therapies for rheumatoid arthritis.

After his retirement from Janssen in 2019 he has been active in continuing to be involved in bringing therapies to patients by providing scientific advice to drug development organisations. He has taken on the role of CEO of Kira Biotech which is an emerging Australian biotech company targeting treatment of immune system disorders with novel immunomodulatory drugs.

Portfolio Board Roles

John Westwater

Venture Partner
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John Westwater

Venture Partner

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

John brings almost 20 years’ global life science experience across operational, venture capital and investment banking roles.

Most recently John held the role of CFO at Elastagen, an innovative Australian medical device company, until it was sold to Allergan, a global medical aesthetics company. The deal was recognised by the AIC as the Best Venture Capital Investment of 2018. Post-closing, John continued to oversee the integration of Elastagen’s clinical programs at Allergan as Director R&D, and latterly as a consultant.

During his tenure at Elastagen and Allergan, John had a broad remit that spanned finance, corporate development and clinical functions, and was intimately involved in internationalizing the business through to its successful exit. As CFO, John led the Company’s fund-raising efforts including the Series B round. He was also heavily involved in the design and execution of the Company’s two clinical studies conducted in the UK.

Prior to Elastagen, Dr Westwater spent eight years at Nomura Phase4 Ventures in London, investing in early to mid-stage life sciences companies primarily in the US and Europe. John started his career in investment banking with Morgan Stanley where he spent over four years in their Corporate Finance and Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Department (MARD) teams, advising pre-IPO to blue-chip healthcare multinationals on various capital raisings, divestitures and acquisitions.

At different times in his career, John has also been an independent healthcare consultant, providing strategic advice to various companies through the years.

Dr Westwater holds a PhD and a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Heriot Watt University in the UK with the first year of his PhD studies spent at Dundee University. He is also a recipient of the Watt Club Medal.

Investment Team

Dr Jeannie Joughin

Principal
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Dr Jeannie Joughin

Principal

|   BSc(Hons), PhD   |   Location: Melbourne, AU

Jeannie is an experienced biopharmaceutical and medical device leader with 20+ years’ experience locally and internationally. She is responsible for sourcing and supporting biotech, device and diagnostics companies to achieve future success. Having held senior executive level positions globally, she brings extensive expertise in business development transactions, strategic partnerships and alliance management to support investment strategy. Her operational and leadership experience in research, clinical trial and commercial management has been forged through conducting research at universities, holding positions of increasing seniority in multi-national pharmaceutical companies and from start-up environments in private and listed companies located in the USA, Europe and Australia.

Prior to OneVentures, Jeannie held senior executive and advisor positions in Australia and currently serves as a director for Paranta Biosciences. While in the US she was responsible for global business development activities and successfully licensed a medical device technology to several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies attracting sizable milestone and royalty payments. She has demonstrated commercial success and operational expertise by building businesses and brands in several therapeutic areas in different geographies. She has a global perspective with strong analytical, regulatory and technical skills, and is passionate about working with and developing teams to support execution of corporate, product and business strategy. This experience has come from working in companies in Australia and the USA including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mayne Pharma, CSL and CSL Behring, Enable Injections Inc., Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals, Glutagen and Paranta Biosciences.

Dr Joughin holds a PhD and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Immunology from Monash University in Melbourne and a Diploma of Marketing from the Melbourne Business School.

Portfolio Board Roles

Justine Carzino

Investment Director
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Justine Carzino

Investment Director

|   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.

Kate Madden

Investment Manager
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Kate Madden

Investment Manager

|   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.

Portfolio Board Roles

Ryan O’Dea

Investment Associate
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Ryan O’Dea

Investment Associate

|   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.

Matthew Lewin

Investment Associate
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Matthew Lewin

Investment Associate

|   BCom/BAdvStudies   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Matt Lewin is an Investment Associate on OneVentures’ Growth Fund V. Matt is energetic about supporting Australian founders and companies on their growth journey any way he can.

Prior to OneVentures, Matt has had experience in MA Financial Group, one of Australia’s leading investment banks covering technology. In addition to this, Matthew has investment experience at Tier 1 firms such as Perpetual, and VGI Partners – focusing on long-term horizon technology investing, ESG investing, and company analysis.

Outside of tech and investing, Matt’s passion lies firmly with history, philosophy, psychology, and economics. These topics are the intersection of human action – that is, exploring why we act, how we act, and why we act how we act. As an investor, it is crucial to understand the actions of oneself and others in a broad, multidisciplinary context.

Matt brings his experience across equity management and investment banking, as well an insatiable curiosity for innovation across all sectors.

At OneVentures, he helped source and supported the execution of three Fund V equity investments, in addition to ten venture credit investments.

Matt joined OneVentures in 2021 as an Investment Intern, supporting the investment teams across venture credit and equity in across the whole deal lifecycle: deal-sourcing, company analysis, and due-diligence. Since being promoted to Investment Analyst, he has continued to be an asset to the team in many ways – not only supporting the team, but also providing insight and shared learnings for the broader organisation.

Prior to joining OneVentures, Matt completed internships across investment banking (Moelis Australia) and equity management (VGI Partners, Perpetual), focusing on long-term horizon technology investing, ESG investing, and company analysis. Matt received a BCom/BAdvStudies, majoring in Finance and Banking from the University of Sydney – receiving the University Academic Merit Prize.

Dr Lu Li

Investment Analyst
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Dr Lu Li

Investment Analyst

|   PhD, Pathobiology   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Dr Lu Li is an investment analyst in OneVentures’ Healthcare team.

Lu supports the Healthcare team by performing quantitative and qualitative research to inform investment, valuation and exit decisions. Lu also assists with deal screening and performing due diligence whilst also reporting and monitoring existing and prospective fund investments.

Lu regularly practices meditation and loves to study herbal medicine. She also paints and sketches in her free time.

Lu brings over 7 years of biomedical research experience in academia to the OneVentures team. She has a strong technical background on research & development in general, and always follows the latest research progress.

In addition, Lu brings her depth of experience for financial modelling and equity research, along with her keen interest in finance.

Prior to joining with OneVentures, Lu joined CITIC’s Biotech Equity Research area as an intern. She later worked as a scientific writer and technical consultant at DeepTech, a new media platform, where she covers biotech startups and latest biomedical research, and simultaneously completed level 2 of the CFA.

Lu received her Ph.D in Pathobiology from the University of Connecticut in the US, where she focused her research on infectious disease pathogenesis.

Shawn Li

Investment Analyst
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Shawn Li

Investment Analyst

|   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.

Finance & Operations Team

Matt Sinnamon

General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer
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Matt Sinnamon

General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer

|   LLB BBus Banking & Finance   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Matt is the General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer for OneVentures. Matt is responsible for all operational aspects of the firm, including legal, compliance, corporate finance, investor relations and marketing.

Matt brings over 20 years of legal experience in financial services, acquired locally and internationally.

Before joining OneVentures, Matt has held senior legal roles with domestic and international companies, leading high performing teams.

Most recently, Matt was General Counsel & Company Secretary of Eclipx Group Limited for seven years and prior to that, spent a further eight years with ING Bank Australia as Head of Legal, Compliance and Company Secretary.

Earlier, Matt held various positions with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Perpetual Limited and Pitcher Partners.

Matt is admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. He is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia, a Chartered Secretary and is entered on the Roll of Public Notaries.

Bernard Chin

Head of Fund Finance
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Bernard Chin

Head of Fund Finance

|   CA, BaCom (Accounting and Finance)   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Bernard has experience in the private equity, investment banking and audit professional services industry. He started his career at KPMG in Sydney where he initially qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

He then spent several years working for Catalyst Investment, a private equity manager in Sydney, before moving to London and working for the UK based private equity firm BC Partners.

Upon returning to Sydney he spent some time at Macquarie Investment Management in a financial control function.

Bernard has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand.

Portfolio Board Roles

Maria Baas

Investor Relations Director
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Maria Baas

Investor Relations Director

|   BA HR & Industrial Relations, Grad. Cert. Finance, Dip. Financial Planning   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Maria Baas is the Investor Relations Director at OneVentures. She is responsible for developing, managing investor relationships and implementing Investor Relations strategy and helping to build out the firm’s Investor Relations capability in the Australian market.

Maria joined the team from Macquarie Group where she was developing strategic relationships with external stakeholders in the Corporate and Asset Finance division. Prior to that Maria worked at UBS Asset Management where she was responsible for key client relationship management and institutional business development across industry super funds, insurance firms, large corporates and consultants. Maria also held various roles in financial planning and funds management with AMP Capital and AMP Limited more broadly. She started her career in HNW boutique wealth management firm as the Client Relationship Manager.

Maria holds a Bachelors Degree in HR and Industrial Relations from the University of Sydney. Additionally, she has completed a Graduate Certificate of Finance at Macquarie University and a Diploma of Financial Planning.

Mariam Ghaly

Investor Relations Associate
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Mariam Ghaly

Investor Relations Associate

|   Location: Sydney, AU

Mariam is the Investor Relations Associate at OneVentures, providing a first point of contact for investors, managing these relationships and supporting the wider Investment Relations Strategy. She develops best practices to improve service quality and productivity.

Mariam has embarked on a diverse professional journey with a passion for finance, humanitarian aid, and culinary arts. Prior to joining OneVentures, she worked for CMC Markets, a renowned financial services provider and CommSec, a division of Commonwealth Bank, where she gained valuable experiences in the financial industry, working with a diverse range of clients and assisting them with their investment needs. She also made noteworthy contributions to the Apex Fund Services in the investor services team, managing and handling escalations from both internal and external stakeholders.

Alongside working at OneVentures, Mariam is studying a Bachelor of Humanitarian and Development Studies – majoring in Psychology at Western University. She brings her knowledge, skills, and passions to contribute meaningfully to society and her role at OneVentures.

Jill Allen

Corporate Controller
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Jill Allen

Corporate Controller

|   BEc, CA   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Jill started her career in corporate tax, ultimately having decided to transition into commercial accounting. She is essential for critical business functions and provides financial controlling as part of the F&O team.

She is an experienced and dedicated finance professional, also providing leadership and administrative support to keep the office running smoothly.

Jill looks after the finance function for the OneVentures corporate entities, including financial accounting, taxation, management accounting and corporate secretarial.

She also supports Risk Management in the firm, looking after many internal controls, insurances for the business and provides assistance to the Risk Management Committee.

She oversees the outsourced IT support function and assists with HR administration (onboarding, offboarding, employment contracts).

Jill used to run an accounting business for which she managed a successful merger with another practice to create a profitable business.

Lenny Zeng

Financial Accountant
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Lenny Zeng

Financial Accountant

|   BCom / Master of Economics   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Lenny brings his 10 years finance experience to the OneVentures team. He has a solid background on financial reporting, management reporting, statutory reporting and fund administration.

Lenny’s role as a financial accountant is to support the finance, reporting, accounting and operation functions across the 1V investment entities.

Prior to joining OneVentures, Lenny held various roles in finance teams with listed and unlisted fund managers, fund administrator and financial services company.

Lenny has a Bachelor of Commerce degree (double majors in Accounting and Finance) from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Economics degree from Macquarie University. He is also a member of CPA Australia.

Justin Lai

Financial Accountant
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Justin Lai

Financial Accountant

|   CPA, Master of Applied Finance, Bachelor of Arts   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Justin Lai is originally from the Borneo Island part of Malaysia, having done a bachelor’s degree in Singapore whilst working as a translator and also as an editor at a publishing house. He started his career in finance/accounting after coming to Australia in 2009, and has been working in fund accounting/investment administration ever since.

Justin’s role as a financial accountant is to support the finance, reporting, accounting and operation functions across the 1V investment entities.

He has previously worked at IOOF, Link Group, MLC, and most recently, Unity Fund Services, with experience spanning across client reporting, investor reporting, regulatory reporting, NAV calculations, unit pricing, fund accounting, investment administration and trust distribution.

Justin brings over a decade of experience to the OneVentures team, and has a continuing passion to learn and grow. He is a great problem solver who is also always looking to go above and beyond expectations.

Justin is a CPA and Recipient of the Certificate of Excellence, and holds a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and Bachelor of Arts from National University of Singapore.

Rhianna Miller

Marketing & Community Manager
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Rhianna Miller

Marketing & Community Manager

|   Royal Holloway, University of London   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Rhianna Miller is the Marketing & Community Manager at OneVentures, providing opportunities for connection to founders, entrepreneurs and to the broader VC ecosystem.

Rhianna moved to Australia from the UK in 2022. Prior to joining OneVentures she had been working in the European Tech Ecosystem in London, managing a community of women in tech, a women in STEM awards programme and part of the London Tech Week team, contributing to climate, health and early-stage founder communities.

She has a passion for not only making connections, but creating opportunities for people to truly engage, learn and be inspired. She brings her global experience to the Australian VC ecosystem, and is committed to growing the OneVentures community across all our pillars, but especially in the areas of technology and venture credit. She is focused on supporting founders and funders as we drive growth ahead of the curve.

Heather Maini

Team Coordinator
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Heather Maini

Team Coordinator

|   SC 2001, Business Administration Certificate V 2002   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Heather Maini is the team coordinator for OneVentures, having built a long and successful career in office administration.

She brings nearly 20 years’ of experience in client service and office management to the OneVentures team, and provides essential support for both the investment and operations teams.

Board of Directors

Walter Lewin

Chairman, Board of Directors
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Walter Lewin

Chairman, Board of Directors

Mr Lewin is Chair of the Board and Investment Committee for OneVentures Pty Ltd. He is a member of the Advisory Board of VGI Partners, a leading global investment firm based in Sydney and New York. Mr Lewin was a founding shareholding and Chair of the Advisory Board of OneVue (ASX: OVH) and was a founding shareholder and Executive Director of Reverse Corp (ASX: REF). Previously, he was a Managing Director of Ord Minnett and member of its Group Management Committee, a Principal of Elysium Capital Partners in London, a Managing Director (Equities) for Merrill Lynch in London after holding several positions in the Equities and Investment Banking divisions of SBC (now UBS) in London and SBC Dominguez Barry (now UBS) in Sydney.

Mr Lewin received a Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from University of Queensland. He was a visiting lecturer in business finance at the Queensland Institute of Technology. He received the Baillieu Research award in 1989.

Peter Gammell

Director
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Peter Gammell

Director

Peter Gammell is currently the Executive Chairman of Invictus Advisory Pty Ltd and Non-Executive Chairman of Octet Finance Pty Ltd. Prior to this role he was Chief Executive Officer of Seven Group Holdings and Deputy Chairman of Australian Capital Equity Pty Ltd (ACE), the Western Australian based holding company associated with Mr. Kerry Stokes. He was the Managing Director of ACE for 21 years which is now one of Australia’s largest private companies.

He has served as a Director of Seven Network Ltd, RM Williams Ltd, National Hire Ltd, Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd and was the Chairman of Coates Hire. He led the creation of the Seven Media Group, a joint venture between Seven Network Limited and the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in 2006. In June 2010 Mr Gammell was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Seven Group Holdings Limited, a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange which was formed as a result of the merger of Seven Network Limited and WesTrac Holdings Pty Ltd.

He currently serves as a Director of Seven West Media Limited (formed in 2011 by the merger of West Australian Newspapers Holdings with Seven Media Group), is a Director of Thinksmart Ltd, a UK based consumer finance company which is listed on AIM in London, and in January 2018, joined the Board of Directors of OneVentures Pty Ltd.

During Peter’s career he has been instrumental in acquiring and building multi-billion dollar enterprises with in excess of $10 billion of mergers and acquisitions.

Mr Gammell is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Edinburgh.

Roger Massy-Greene

Director
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Roger Massy-Greene

Director

Roger is a director of OneVentures Pty Ltd, a technology venture capital firm, and is the principal shareholder and director of Eureka Capital Partners, a private investment concern. He is also a director of Illawarra Coke Company, an industrial land development concern.

Mr Massy-Greene previously served as the Chair of Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy, having been appointed by the NSW government in 2012 to oversee reform of the NSW electricity distribution sector.

He previously co-founded the ASX 200 company Excel Coal Limited and its predecessor Resource Finance Corporation Ltd, and served as Chair of Excel Coal until its acquisition by Peabody Energy in 2006.

Mr Massy-Greene serves as Chair of Eureka Benevolent Foundation, a family foundation focused on overcoming socio-economic disadvantage.  He is the President of Cranbrook School and a director of The Hunger Project in the USA and Australia.

Portfolio Board Roles

Dr Michelle Deaker

Founding Partner & Managing Director
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Dr Michelle Deaker

Founding Partner & Managing Director

|   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).

Portfolio Board Roles
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Dr Paul Kelly

Founding Partner & Director
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Dr Paul Kelly

Founding Partner & Director

|   MBBS(Hons), MD, FRACP   |   Location: Sydney, AU

Dr Paul Kelly is Founding Partner & Director at OneVentures. Starting with his background as an Australian Physician, Paul has a long history of biotechnology entrepreneurship and healthcare investing, from developing innovation to commercialising at scale and realising substantial returns for investors.

Having returned to Australia in 2010 (after 15 years in the UK and US), he is dedicated to improving healthcare and treatment options for populations across the world. He lives and invests guided by his vision for a better future: through innovation, collaboration, and patient determination.

Paul is an avid reader and can regularly be found immersed in medical journals as well as fiction and non-fiction literature, which he believes “provides perspectives and insights that you would never get from management or business books”.

When he’s not mentoring and encouraging medical professionals to be entrepreneurial, he also looks after the health of our native environment: being highly active in bush regeneration and preservation.

Paul serves on the investment committees of OneVentures’ four main Funds, chairing the Fund III Investment Committee, and leading the healthcare and biotechnology practice across the firm.

Paul is a highly experienced executive and has multiple board responsibilities as either Chair or as a Non-Executive Director within numerous OneVentures portfolio companies. Independently of OneVentures, he is also a Non-Executive Director Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in developing and commercialising biomedical innovations in the United States, Europe, United Kingdom and Australia. While in the UK and US he led early-stage and mid-stage companies, public and private, delivering strong returns for shareholders and investors as a founder and CEO.

Notably, Paul served as Co-Founder and CEO of Gemini Genomics (Nasdaq:GMNI), one of the world’s first clinical genomics companies, commercialising novel gene-based diagnostic and therapeutic targets. At Gemini, Paul led the company in one of the UK’s largest biotechnology IPOs of the time, completed strategic corporate acquisitions in Sweden and Canada, and negotiated collaborations with some of the world’s leading research institutions and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In 2001, Paul led the company’s successful merger with Sequenom (Nasdaq:SQNM), valuing Gemini at over US$250M.

Paul’s other notable achievements include co-founding Agamatrix, now a leading bio-sensing medical device company with operations across the US and South East Asia, and Atomera (Nasdaq ATMR). He then served as President and CEO of Orchid Cellmark (Nasdaq:ORCH) – during his tenure revenues grew by over 50% in 2 years to $60M per annum, and increased the company valuation 10 fold.

While in the US Paul also served as President and CEO of Medcenter Solutions, a US based online medical education and pharmaceutical marketing company.

Before becoming a biotechnology executive, Paul had a distinguished career as a researcher and physician specialising in endocrinology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia. While serving as a researcher at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, and in his postdoctoral work, Paul authored over 100 scientific publications, largely in genetic epidemiology of common metabolic disorders, which have been published in leading journals such as Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, British Medical Journal and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Paul has also served on a number of national governmental advisory bodies, as well as on the boards of public and private companies. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Medicine, Law and Ethics from 2005 to 2008. He also serves on the UNSW Medicine Dean’s Advisory Group and serves on the Board of Directors of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

Portfolio Board Roles
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Anne-Marie Birkill

Co-Founder, Venture Partner & Director
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Anne-Marie Birkill

Co-Founder, Venture Partner & Director

|   BSc(Hons), MBA, GAICD   |   Location: Brisbane, AU

Anne-Marie Birkill is a Co-Founder, Venture Partner, and Director of the Manager at OneVentures. She is well regarded for her passion for and experience of working with early-stage technology companies and entrepreneurs including as an expert advisor within the innovation community. She is based in Brisbane, a strong source of technology innovation opportunities.

Anne-Marie serves on the investment committees of OneVentures’ Funds I, II and III and the REM and Risk Management Committees. She is a director for OneVentures portfolio company Madorra and was Chair of the Board of Charm Health until 2017 when she lead the company to an acquisition by the Citadel Group (ASX:CGL). She originated Vaxxas in 2010 and was an observer to the Vaxxas Board until 2020.

Driven by a passion to grow Australia’s knowledge-based economy; Anne-Marie brings 35+ years’ experience in executive leadership, product development and commercialisation, advisory roles, mentorship, capital raising and exits to the team at OneVentures. Her interest in the innovation sector was forged during 15 years in leadership roles in agri-business companies developing and commercialising new cultivars of ornamental, aquatic, food, and forestry plants. Prior to co-founding OneVentures in 2010, she was CEO of i.lab Incubator, having previously spent five years in the senior management team at UniQuest. During this period Anne-Marie developed successful programs and networks to assist technology commercialisation, start-up formation and growth, capital raising and exit. She has experience of senior management and governance in listed and unlisted companies.

A committed advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, Anne-Marie regularly contributes to thought leadership on this topic including via speaking engagements. For media and speaking enquiries, please contact us.

Her experience and reputation in the technology sector is demonstrated through her active participation in the innovation community. Her current external roles include appointment as an Industry Fellow with The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School, Chair of the Investment Committee for the UQ-lead “Trailblazer” Food and Beverage Accelerator,  and director for InterFinancial Corporate Finance and the PPK Group (ASX:PPK).

Portfolio Board Roles
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