Venture capital fund · 3 deals
Melbourne, VIC
Every published round NextGen Ventures took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GrazeMate | Pre-seed | 2 Feb 2026 | $1.2m | Participant | SmartCompany, Startup Daily, AgFunderNews (Thu 15 Jan 2026), AgFunderNews (Wed 14 Jan 2026), Forbes Australia | |
| Fluency | Pre-seed | 29 Apr 2025 | $1.5m | Participant | Startup Daily (Fri 13 Feb 2026), SmartCompany (Tue 10 Feb 2026), Startup Daily (Mon 9 Feb 2026), Startup Daily (Wed 25 Jun 2025), SmartCompany (Fri 2 May 2025), Startup Daily (Tue 29 Apr 2025), Exhort Ventures portfolio | |
| Fluency | Seed | 4 Aug 2026 | $8.6m | Participant | Startup Daily (Wed 5 Aug 2026), Startup Daily (Fri 13 Feb 2026), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (Mon 9 Feb 2026) |
Companies NextGen Ventures has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
Fund closes reported for NextGen Ventures, as distinct from the investments it has made.
| Fund | Announced | Committed | Target | Close | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | 25 Jun 2025 | $2m | $2.5m | Interim | Forbes Australia, Startup Daily |
Investors that coverage says has money in a fund NextGen Ventures runs. This is a stake in the fund, not in any company the fund has backed.
Companies NextGen Ventures has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal NextGen Ventures did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Gilling | Mentor | Startup Daily |
| Jerry X'Lingson | Head of Investments (former) · Founder | Forbes Australia (Wed 14 Jan 2026), Forbes Australia (Mon 1 Dec 2025), Forbes Australia (Sun 30 Nov 2025), Startup Daily |
| Mitchell Hughes | Founder | Forbes Australia (Mon 1 Dec 2025), Forbes Australia (Sun 30 Nov 2025), Startup Daily (Wed 25 Jun 2025), Startup Daily (Wed 9 Apr 2025), Startup Daily (Tue 2 Apr 2024), Startup Daily (Mon 25 Mar 2024) |
| Niki Scevak | Advisor | Forbes Australia |
| Renee Blethyn | Head of Broker Partnerships | Australian FinTech |
Stories naming NextGen Ventures. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Profile of EstiMate's two trades-turned-founder creators of construction estimating software, covering their early revenue traction, their Startmate program experience and backing from Startmate and NextGen.
Weekly roundup of ten Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling nearly $194 million, topped by Neara's $90 million round at a $1.1 billion valuation, with Splose, Operata, HAMR Energy and Adora also covered.
Melbourne work-documentation startup Fluency raised a US$6 million seed led by Accel at a $30 million valuation, with DST Global and others participating; its founders previously raised $1.5 million.
GrazeMate, a cattle-mustering drone startup founded by 19-year-old Sam Rogers, has raised $1.2m in a pre-seed round led by Y Combinator, with NextGen Ventures, Antler and Meat & Livestock Australia also taking part.
Forbes Australia unveils its 2025 30 Under 30 honourees across technology, sport, finance and the arts, noting startup raises, an early-stage venture fund close and major athlete contracts.
Blackbird shares results from its third year tracking how many women-led teams reach its investment committee, reporting FY25 gains in backing female founders, a market comparison with Cut Through Venture, and new sourcing partnerships.
Frollo, a NextGen subsidiary, launched a portal giving mortgage brokers Open Banking access to verified client financial data, already integrated with aggregators and major banks.
Meliora, Clive Dickens' advisory firm, has started backing AI companies alongside a student-focused venture fund that is closing in on its fundraising target.
Also Forbes Australia
Student-run venture fund NextGen Ventures has locked in $1.5 million toward a $2.5 million target, backed by Blackbird's cofounders, Airtree and angel investors, and has already invested in AI startup Fluency.
Student-run fund NextGen Ventures launches to back university-founded startups, training student investors with partner VC firms and seeking its own capital; its report counts over $1.2 billion raised by student-founded startups since 2012.
A student-run venture fund launches alongside research showing university founders have attracted backing topping $1.2 billion, though women-led teams receive a small share; Blackbird is the most active backer.
Cloud platform Stax becomes standalone from Versent, hires ex-AWS executive Davinia Simon to lead sales amid NZ and Southeast Asia expansion, and recalls A$23.6 million raised in private funding over the past year.