Early-stage venture capital firm Rampersand has raised more than $40 million for a new fund which is investing in technology start-ups at seed stage.
The Rampersand Future Technology Fund has already made seven investments and has a strong pipeline of potential investments according to co-founder and managing partner Paul Naphtali. Investments so far include Cake Equity, Muso and Mass Dynamics.
Rampersand’s earlier funds were invested in start-ups including: Sendle, Predict HQ, Skedulo, JigSpace and Expert360.
Investors in the new fund include family office the Victor Smorgon Group, Aconex co-founder Leigh Jasper, Kogan chief financial officer David Shafer and co-founder and former chief executive of gelato business Trampoline, Amanda Walton. Walton is also an investor with female founders-focused Scale Investors.
Co-founder Jim Cassidy stepped back from full-time involvement with Rampersand last year and has now taken on an advisory role. Since then, the Melbourne-based firm has added a venture partner to its team, former RMIT Online chief executive Helen Souness.
Other members of the investment team are Hugh Williams, venture partner; Nicole Small, investment director; Taryn Pieterse, investment manager; Chris Quirk, investment manager; Hunter Watkin, investor; Michael Naphtali, partner; and Martin Casey, partner.
Image: Rampersand was a seed investor in 3D presentation technology company JigSpace.