Impact investment VC fund takes Giant Leap forward
23 March 2021 at 5:12 pm
Giant Leap Fund is seeking independence five years on from its launch
Australia’s first venture capital fund fully dedicated to investing in impact startups is spinning off from its parent company Impact Investment Group and is set to operate as a separate entity.
Giant Leap Fund has announced that a transaction will be completed over the next month to become an independent, management and staff-owned fund.
Will Richardson will become CEO of the new entity, which will maintain the same team and continue to have IIG support.
Richardson said back when Giant Leap was launched in 2016, impact investing was far from a mainstream trend.
He thanked IIG for taking its own leap to launch the fund and incubate its growth.
“Thanks to the success of the fund we’re well-positioned to succeed as a separate entity,” Richardson said.
“I’ve cherished the wisdom of IIG’s chair, Danny Almagor, and I’m grateful he’s keeping his door open to me and the team for advice and support as we keep growing.”
Almagor said he was proud to have nurtured Giant Leap over the past five years.
“We’re looking forward to watching as Will and his team build the next chapter, and we’ll be right alongside them,” Almagor said.
Giant Leap Fund has so far invested in over 18 startups, including Sendle, Work180 and Goterra.
The fund recently created an open source database of the world’s impact venture capital funds, hoping to help grow Australia’s impact startup ecosystem by connecting impact founders with investors.
This was released as a teaser for a benchmarking report set to be launched shortly.
