Flying Fox, Jump Start receive $600,000 in VIC government funding to boost women-led startups

Two new pre-accelerator programs powered by Flying Fox Ventures and Jump Start Studio were announced over the weekend, both focusing on women-led businesses and supported by LaunchVic.

Each will receive $300,000 to help boost female founders and entrepreneurs in the Australian startup ecosystem.

The announcement was made by Victoria’s Minister for Industry and Innovation, Ben Carroll, at LaunchVic’s Victorian Startup Gala.

Flying Fox’ and Jump Start Studio’s programs

Flying Fox will be launching a Female Founders program, which aims to provide more women with industry knowledge and connections.

“We are so grateful for the support that we are receiving from LaunchVic that enables us to do this work in a high-quality and accessible way,” Fly Fox’s co-founding partner, Rachael Neumann, said to SmartCompany.

“LaunchVic has been a critical support structure for the Victorian ecosystem since its inception. This grant is testament to its recognition of the need and opportunity in supporting female founders and taking action to empower firms like Flying Fox to provide high quality programs to meet these shared objectives.”

Jump Start Studio will be focusing on a pre-accelerator program called Press Play, which will support mid-to-senior-level women in the corporate sector as well as startups and scale ups.

This news comes just one week after several prominent Australian VCs announced that they will disclose their funding data to better address the disparity in funding for women-led startups.

This came off the back Cut Through Venture’s latest quarterly funding report, which that female founder deal participation was at a record high across all stages, except for Series A, which is at a five-year low.

We at SmartCompany had our own thoughts about this and the greater need for transparency here.

“Flying Fox Ventures recognises that female founders face unique challenges and barriers in accessing funding and resources,” Neumann added.

“By establishing a program specifically tailored to support and uplift women entrepreneurs, we aim to level the playing field, nurture talent, and unlock the untapped potential of female-led startups. Together, we can cultivate a more vibrant and prosperous innovation landscape in Australia.”

An extra $5 million for the Alice Anderson Fund

Minister Carroll also formally announced an additional $5 million for the Alice Anderson Fund, bringing its total to $15 million. The extra investment was announced as part of the federal budget back in May.

“Super excited to have an additional $5 million announced for LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund (now a $15 million fund!),” the fund’s GM of Investors, Rebecca Rozencwajg, said.

“Loved celebrating at LaunchVic’s Startup Gala last night with many of our fabulous portfolio founders and so many wonderful investors and industry friends.

“Here’s to supporting even more women-led business to succeed and prosper in Victoria!”

The Alice Anderson fund is an angel sidecar of LaunchVic which originally launched in 2021. It co-invests in early-stage funding rounds for businesses led by Victorian women. The amount invested is generally between $50,000 and $300,000.

According to the fund, it takes $0.85 in the dollar in equity, with the remainder provided “as a non-dilutive grant to the startup.”

The first recipients of the fund included Amble Outdoors (previously known as Team Timbuktu), Mtime, Steppen, Talkiplay and Milkdrop.

Since then, the Alice Anderson Fund has become a fixture in the Victorian startup space, investing in 26 women-led startups and unlocking over $36 million in capital. It has invested in the likes of Hex, Smileyscope and Verve – which just raised an additional $3 million to expand its women-focused financial services offerings.

Speaking of July, the Alice Anderson Fund also invested in Kali Healthcare’s pre-seed round earlier this month, helping bring the total to $1 million. It is also one of the Australian VCs that will be disclosing its funding over the next financial year. We’re expecting it to perform well considering its specific focus on women-led startups.

“At LaunchVic, we are committed to building a thriving and diverse ecosystem in Victoria and this additional funding for the next wave of women entrepreneurs will ensure they receive support to grow,” LaunchVic CEO Kate Cornick, said in an email to SmartCompany.

“The additional funding from government is a ringing endorsement of the impact we are making in the ecosystem.”