Participated · Equity · Oct 2021

Academy Xi provides highly practical, employment-focused online courses developed with industry practitioners and employers to help students build future-ready careers. Launched in 2016, the company says it has helped thousands of students gain work-ready skills in high-demand disciplines. The platform emphasizes social opportunities and close support while positioning learners to meet Australia’s reported ICT workforce shortfall. Management intends to use new funding to bolster growth through acquisition and strategic partnerships. The company highlights a portfolio of courses and sector-leading talent built over the past five years as the basis for significant expansion. Milford described the broader sector as worth more than $700 million and growing at about 8% annually. Academy Xi is a Sydney-based reality edutech startup. The article identifies the company as operating in the edutech sector. It recently closed a $1.7 million (AUD2.25 million) Series A financing. The Series A was led by Perle Ventures and Alium Capital. The article does not provide further details on the company's core products, future plans, or operating metrics.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2021

DesignCrowd, founded in 2007 and based in Sydney, operates a design crowdsourcing marketplace and the complementary DIY platform BrandCrowd. BrandCrowd offers a library of exclusive logos (many bought upfront) plus a logo editor and DIY design tools. Customers can pay one-off fees to download logos or subscribe monthly or annually; many users use both DesignCrowd and BrandCrowd. The company leverages access to more than 800,000 designers to source and curate BrandCrowd’s library. DesignCrowd reported net revenues grew 54% year‑over‑year in 2020 and says BrandCrowd saw over five million sign‑ups in the past 12 months, with more than half of its revenue from the United States. Management plans to use new capital for hiring and product development to accelerate BrandCrowd’s growth and is preparing for a potential IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange. DesignCrowd is a marketplace that connects freelance designers with clients and potential projects. Founded in Sydney in 2007, the company operates offices in Sydney, a customer-service office in the Philippines, and a third office in San Francisco. It takes a 15 percent cut from designers and charges client fees, and it facilitated $20 million worth of projects in 2014, with about 75 percent of revenues coming from outside Australia. DesignCrowd plans to use the new funding to expand its presence in major English-speaking markets—primarily the U.S., Canada and the U.K.—and to scale sales and marketing globally. The company will double its five-person engineering team and its eleven-person customer-service team, hire additional staff in San Francisco, develop new technology, and improve customer service. Management also said it may pursue acquisitions to consolidate the market and has not ruled out a future public listing in Australia or raising capital from non-Australian VCs. DesignCrowd is an Australian crowdsourcing website that lets anyone post a design brief, set a deadline and budget, and invite the platform’s designers to submit work. Projects typically receive 25 to 100+ custom designs, and clients can give feedback and request changes before selecting a final design. The platform pays participating designers who do not win and prevents designers from seeing each other’s work until a project is completed to reduce copying and groupthink. Payments are transferred once a design is selected for use. The site has supported enterprise clients—Harvard Business School received 267 logo designs from 57 designers via the platform. DesignCrowd plans to use new funding for hiring, product development and expansion into the U.S.

Led · Seed · Jun 2019

Hart Dairy produces premium pasture-raised, grass-fed milk products sourced from cows grazed 365 days per year. The company operates on more than 4,000 acres in Waynesboro, Georgia, and positions itself around animal welfare, non-GMO practices, and regenerative grazing techniques. Hart Dairy launched new products in April 2021 and reports authorizations and placements in more than 1,900 retail locations as it expands nationwide. Recently the company added a chief finance officer and a vice president of sales, together bringing extensive dairy industry experience. Hart Dairy plans to use new capital to expand its product line, pursue farm acquisitions as part of a roll-up strategy, and increase marketing to drive per‑store sales velocity. The business emphasizes humane treatment of animals and on-pasture, grass-fed production as core differentiators. Hart Dairy produces premium “Grass 365” dairy products—including fresh milk, yogurt, cheese and butter—sourced from cows that are never confined and grass-fed year-round. The farm sits on more than 4,000 acres near Augusta, Georgia, and the company markets itself as the largest single-source producer of 100% free-range, grass-fed milk in North America. Under the direction of Dr. Richard Watson, Hart Dairy emphasizes pasture-based grazing, Certified Humane® practices, non-GMO standards and regenerative agriculture. The company is actively expanding its retail footprint and recently partnered with Island Ventures to support logistics, supply chain management and product innovation. Hart Dairy announced a strategic investment from Next Gen Nutrition Investment Fund; Next Gen’s general partners James Cali and Andrew Towle joined as investor-advisers and chief marketing advisers. Management says the advisers will help strengthen brand positioning, multichannel marketing and innovation as the company continues national and international expansion. Hart Dairy produces a line of premium "Grass 365" dairy products including fresh milk, yogurt, cheese and butter from 100% free-range, grass-fed cows. The operation sits near Augusta, Georgia on more than 4,000 acres and cares for more than 3,500 cows that are never confined and are grass-fed year-round in a certified non-GMO environment. Hart Dairy was named the first and only pasteurized dairy cow operation in America to earn the Certified Humane® designation from Humane Farm Animal Care. The company says it will use new capital to expand premium and better-for-you product offerings, increase production capabilities, and continue innovating its animal welfare practices. Leadership includes CEO Tim Connell and Dr. Richard Watson, who directs the farm's grazing and pasture-based techniques. The company recently closed a $10 million planned seed round to support its growth plans.

Led · Equity · Jun 2018

Gamurs is a Sydney-based gaming, esports, and entertainment media network led by CEO Riad Chikhani. Its portfolio of 16 digital publications includes Dot Esports, Gamepur, Pro Game Guides, TouchTapPlay, We Got This Covered, and The Mary Sue. The company reaches 55 million monthly active users across its sites. Founded in 2014, Gamurs produces news, journalism, guides, and entertainment content across gaming and pop-culture verticals. It raised $12M in Series A funding. Gamurs intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth strategy and expand into adjacent markets. Gamurs operates Dot Esports, an online publication and community offering breaking news, in-depth coverage of esports personalities and events, and an esports database of rankings and stats for major games. The company also runs DoubleXP, a newer platform focused on player improvement and video guides. Gamurs intends to use new capital for further development of Dot Esports, strategic acquisitions, advanced AI development to improve players' skills, and production of player improvement video content on DoubleXP. The company raised $2.2M USD ($3M AUD) in the reported financing and has $5.7M USD ($7.5M AUD) in total funding to date. Gamurs is led by CEO and founder Riad Chikhani and is based in Sydney, Australia. The product mix centers on media, community, and player training tools within competitive gaming. GAMURS is an Australian eSports media company that began by pitching itself as a Facebook for competitive and social gamers. It produces coverage of competitive gaming and related content and is planning to expand its games coverage. The company says it will invest in new forms of storytelling as part of its growth plan and to support international expansion. The raise follows a strong 12 months during which GAMURS benefited from the rising popularity of eSports, which can draw thousands of spectators to live events. GAMURS has closed a $3.5 million capital raise led by Aura Funds Management to fund these initiatives.

Led · Series A · Mar 2018

Daisee builds and deploys custom AI solutions for enterprise customers, drawing on Deakin University’s AI platform Maestro. Cofounded last year by Richard Kimber, the former managing director for Google in Southeast Asia, the company combines academic research with commercial and technical expertise. Daisee positions itself to design, deploy, and advise companies on AI implementations, citing research that many Australian organisations have yet to adopt AI. The company highlights a domestic adoption gap—its report found just 14% of Australian companies have adopted AI versus a 23% global average. Daisee plans to use new funding to accelerate growth and hire additional software engineers and data scientists. Its team emphasizes helping firms drive efficiencies and gain competitive advantage through real AI solutions.