Team
Board of Directors
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
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
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.
Dr Michelle Deaker
Founding & Managing Partner
| Location: Sydney, AU
Michelle is a Founding Partner and the Managing Partner at OneVentures. She serves on the investment committees of OneVentures funds and has led the capital raising activities for the firm. Her focus today is in the technology growth practice, though she has also worked extensively across both healthcare and technology investments.
With over 25 years of experience building and investing in high-growth technology companies in Australia and the US, she has a proven track record in global business expansion and Australian R&D. Michelle has led or co-led and been a Director of key investments in companies such as Employment Hero ($2B valuation, 13x ROI, Returned 1.5x Fund II), Phocas (10x EV growth), Smart Sparrow (acq. Pearson Learning), My Mobile Data (acq. ASX: AYS); Hatchtech (Lic. to NYSE: RDY) and unicorn Vaxxas. She chaired the board of Employment Hero until December 2023 and continues to serve on its board, as well as the boards of Phocas and Buildkite.
A current member of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payment Systems Board, Michelle is also a former board member of Australia’s National ICT Centre of Excellence (NICTA, now Data61), Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) and served on the NSW Government’s Digital Economy Taskforce.
In the lead up to founding OneVentures, Michelle worked for a leading family office on their alternative investments, served as an entrepreneur in residence at Southern Cross Venture Partners and was an angel investor. Prior to her investment career, Michelle was a business entrepreneur and founder, including one of Australia’s first fintech companies, E Com Industries (www.giftvouchers.com) (acq. LSE: ReD, 4.6x, 70% IRR), IT services business, Networks Beyond 2000 and a tertiary tutoring business.
Michelle is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chief Executive Women (CEW). She was a founding advisory board member of Head Over Heels (now Apropela), supporting women entrepreneurs, and served on the advisory board of the Indigenous fund Ochre Ventures.
In addition to these roles, she lectures in the Australian Investment Council’s Foundations of Private Capital Venture Capital Course and is a Co-Founder of WinVC, a non-profit women-led initiative supporting the career trajectory of women investors in venture capital.
Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours), a Master of Science and a PhD in Applied Science.
| BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD
Portfolio Board Roles
In the news
13 February 2024
This VC firm has hit a landmark – and it’s payout time
News, The Australian Financial Review
12 December 2023
How a Sydney VC made 13 times its money on one start-up investment
News, The Australian Financial Review
31 August 2021
OneVentures takes VC industry lead on ESG investment and oversight
Announcement, Media Release
25 July 2021
Tech sector demands a plan to escape lockdown crisis
News, The Australian Financial Review
25 July 2021
Forget unicorns, OneVentures has a start-up dragon
News, The Australian Financial Review
04 July 2021
Hivery scores debt from OneVentures in 10th credit deal
News, The Australian Financial Review
02 March 2021
HR tech firm raises $45m amid remote working boom
News, The Australian Financial Review
22 February 2021
Cash Seek-er: Employment Hero seals funding round
News, The Australian Financial Review
16 February 2021
Newcastle-based software start-up Coassemble raises $1.5m
News, The Australian Financial Review
Other Ventures
Michelle’s previous board appointments include NICTA (now CSIRO’s Data61) and Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) along with OneVentures portfolio companies Smart Sparrow (Chair, acquired by Pearson), Hatchtech (Alt, Asset sale Dr Reddys (Nasdaq: DRL)), Vaxxas (Obs) and My Mobile Data / Sourse.AI.
Notable portfolio exits include part-sale of Employment Hero at 10x money. She has also served in advisory board roles with NSW Government’s Taskforce for the Digital Economy, Heads over Heels (supporting women entrepreneurs) and Australian Investment Council Venture Capital Working Group. She regularly provides lectures and working groups to finance and MBA students on venture capital including for the AIC, mentors new VC fund managers with a focus on female-led organisations and is a founding member of WinVC (Women-in-VC).
Dr Paul Kelly
Founding Partner & Director
| Healthcare
| Location: Sydney, AU
Paul is a Founding Partner of OneVentures, leading the Healthcare and Biotechnology practice. He serves as Fund Lead and Chair of the Investment Committee for Healthcare Fund III and is a voting member of the Investment Committees for Funds I, II, III and V.
With over 30 years of experience in biomedical innovation, Paul provides strategic guidance to portfolio companies. He is Chair of Vaxxas and a Non-Executive Director for BiVACOR and Prota Therapeutics. Previously, he served on the boards of Hatchtech (Chair, licensed to NYSE: DRL), CharmHealth (acquired by ASX: CGL), Clinical Genomics (Enterix acquired by 3TM), Blade and Find Me.
As co-founder of Gemini Genomics (Nasdaq: GMNI), he led one of the UK’s largest biotech IPOs (US$250M valuation) before its merger with Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM). Earlier in his career, he co-founded Agamatrix, a bio-sensing medical device company operating in the US and Southeast Asia as well as Atomera (Nasdaq: ATMR). As CEO of Orchid Cellmark (Nasdaq: ORCH), he drove a tenfold valuation increase and significant revenue growth.
Paul began his career as a researcher and endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney before transitioning into biotechnology. In the US, he held executive roles in leading biotech and medical companies driving the growth of several industry leaders.
He has authored over 100 publications in leading journals and is a Non-Executive Director at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, a member of the UNSW Medicine Dean’s Advisory Group and serves on the Advisory Board of the Australian Government’s Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) program.
Paul holds medical degrees from UNSW and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
| MBBS(Hons), MD, FRACP
Portfolio Board Roles
In the news
29 November 2023
US FDA Grants the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart IDE Approval for First-in-Human Early Feasibility Study
Media Release
18 June 2023
Vaxxas opens world-class manufacturing facility to produce needle-free vaccine patch
News, Announcement
07 October 2021
Blade Therapeutics Announces Publication of Preclinical Evidence Supporting Neuroprotective Effects of Proprietary Calpain Inhibitor in a Rare Inherited Neurodegenerative Disease
Media Release
02 June 2021
Preclinical studies from Vaxxas and Collaborators Reveal Potential of Vaxxas’ Novel High-Density Microarray Patch (HD-MAP) to Effectively Deliver SARS-CoV-2 Spike Vaccine
News, Media Release
Anne-Marie Birkill
Co-Founder, Venture Partner & Director
| Location: Brisbane, AU
Anne-Marie is a Co-Founder of OneVentures and serves as a Director on the OneVentures Board, Responsible Manager and member of the Risk Committee. She is a voting member of the Investment Committees for Funds I, II and III.
She is a Director for OneVentures portfolio company Madorra and previously chaired the CharmHealth board, leading its acquisition by the Citadel Group in 2017 (ASX: CGL).
With 25 years in product development and commercialisation and 15 years in funds management, Anne-Marie has held significant leadership roles, including CEO of i.lab Incubator and General Manager Operations at UniQuest. She is deeply engaged with industry, universities and government, fostering scientific innovation and commercial success.
A champion for diversity, she co-founded Women in Biotechnology (which later merged into Women in Technology), served on the board of Springboard Enterprises and mentors entrepreneurs, scientists and emerging leaders in venture capital.
Anne-Marie is a Director for InterFinancial, ASX-listed PPK Group (ASX: PPK) and UniQuest. She chairs the Project Investment Committee and is a member of the Industry Steering Committee for the University of Queensland-led Trailblazer Food and Beverage Accelerator.
Holding a Bachelor of Science (Hons), an MBA and PS146 accreditation, she is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD), a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE).
| BSc(Hons), MBA, GAICD
Portfolio Board Roles
In the news
06 November 2019
iStaySafe Acquires Find-Me Technologies, Strengthens position in the IoT Industry
Media Release
16 September 2018
VC-backed women’s health company Madorra to begin clinical trials in Australia
Media Release
13 August 2018
OneVentures invests in regional Queensland company developing treatments for autoimmune diseases
Media Release
Nick Gainsley
Partner & Director
| Growth Credit
| Location: Sydney, AU
| BSc(Hons), AMCT
Portfolio Board Roles
In the news
19 September 2022
Venture Credit in Australia — Our first report alongside the Tech Council of Australia
Blog Post
18 November 2021
E-bike subscription service Zoomo raises $60M Series B to disrupt last-mile delivery
News
20 September 2021
Selling a company as easy as posting an eBay listing
News, The Australian Financial Review