Episode Summary:
Peter Devine is CEO of Uniseed, Australia’s longest running venture fund which works with researchers, businesses and industry to provide the best pathway to commercialise cutting-edge research. Peter has been with Uniseed since 2003, and additionally in his long career has served as Chair or Non-Executive Director for more than twenty organisations, including many technology and biotechnology startups. In his conversation with Adam, Peter discusses how he started his career as a researcher before moving into the business side of research commercialisation, as well as his belief that while there is a significant amount of funding for early stage software and B2B startups, for those reliant on cutting-edge research, what he refers to as “deep tech”, early stage funding is harder to come by.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Day One Podcast
00:31 Meet Peter Devine
01:46 Peter's Transition from Research to Business
02:45 Insights on the Australian Startup Ecosystem
05:03 The Evolution of Uni Seed
07:50 Gaps in the Startup Ecosystem
10:14 Challenges with Deep Tech Funding
14:19 Advice for New Founders
18:49 Improving the Startup Community
20:57 Bottlenecks in Early and Expansion Capital
23:07 Pivotal Moments in the Australian Startup Ecosystem
26:39 Closing Remarks