Main Sequence just scored $450 million for its third deep tech fund

Main Sequence has scored a tidy $450 million in the first close of its third fund, bringing its total funds under management to over $1 billion. The firm plans on closing out its latest fund by the end of the year.

Founded by the CSIRO in 2017, Main Sequence focuses on deep tech investment. During that time it has invested in 53 startups, including Samsara, Q-CTRL, Eden Brew, and Quasar Satellite Technologies. Its first fund closed at $240 million in 2018 and its second at $330 million in 2021.

The market value of the companies it has invested in is now sitting at over $6.8 billion.

Main Sequence’s new fund has secured participation from a mixture of new and returning investors such as Hostplus, LGT Crestone, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, NGS Super, Australian Ethical Investment, Daiwa Securities Group, and The Grantham Foundation.

The fund will also include the CSIRO’s first half of the committed $150 million in investment announced by the federal government’s Australia’s Economic Accelerator program.

According to Mike Zimmerman, a partner at Main Sequence, the third fund will be focusing on decarbonisation and climate solutions, as well as critical technologies such as cybersecurity, quantum computing, and advanced semiconductor technology.

“Our focus remains on big, global challenges that need scientific backing, patient capital, and long-term vision to solve. The community we have created around this mission cares deeply about finding and scaling solutions to planetary problems like decarbonisation, feeding a growing population, and enabling the next intelligence leap. Thanks to their support, we have the flexibility and fortitude to back and build breakthrough companies grounded in research, and help them actualise their impact for decades to come,” Zimmerman said.

In addition to funding startups, Main Sequence also utilises a ‘Venture Science’ model of investment that pairs scientific knowledge with industry expertise to create businesses.

“Our last fund saw the launch of five Venture Science startups — Endua, Eden Brew, Quasar Sat, Cauldron, and Samsara Eco. We are keeping up this momentum, pioneering new frontiers in biotechnology and plan to continue co-founding new companies at the bleeding edge of exciting advances in food and fibres with Fund 3,” said Gabrielle Munzer, partner at Main Sequence.

“We are continuing to harness the forces of entrepreneurship and research to address the ‘Valley of Death’. We see incredible promise in pre-seed investments and our involvement with Australia’s Economic Accelerator, CSIRO’s ON Accelerator and University accelerator programs like UNSW Founders’ SynBio 10x program means we can deepen our focus on unearthing cutting-edge ideas.”