Starfish invests in Melbourne stroke spin-off

VC fund Starfish Ventures has made an investment into NeuProtect, a company spun out of the Howard Florey Institute, the University of Melbourne and Neurosciences Victoria to develop novel therapies for stroke and myocardial infarction or heart attack.

NeuProtect was formed around IP developed by former Monash University researcher Prof Bevyn Jarrott, who joined the Florey last year, along with Dr Clive May, Assoc Prof Greg Dusting and the University of Melbourne's Dr Owen Woodman.

The therapies are based on novel chemistries designed around existing compounds, which show promise as protective agents that can be used to minimise tissue damage after stroke or heart attack.

"We will take these compounds and go through a development program including both in vitro and in vivo studies to get proof of concept before raising further investment," said Dr Henry De Aizpurua, business development manager at the Florey, and a director of the company. "We're aiming to ensure that our IP position is secure and growing in this area."

De Aizpurua estimated that it would take 18 months to reach proof of concept, with formal pre-clinical and clinical studies 2-3 years away. He said within the two broad indications of stroke and heart attack, there was scope for several intervention points. For example, in stroke patients, early intervention as the patient was on the way to hospital could reduce brain damage, and other compounds might be able to assist with resolution of damage during recovery.

The company was initially funded through equity from Neurosciences Victoria, as well as a AUD$250,000 BIF grant.

Neither Starfish nor NeuProtect would disclose the value of the current investment, but De Aizpurua said it was consistent with similar investments made at the pre-seed stage. The investment has come from Starfish's pre-seed fund, established through the Federal government's pre-seed fund program.

"Starfish has seen NeuProtect as a real opportunity," said De Aizpurua, who is joined on the board of the company by Starfish Ventures' Michael Panaccio and NSV's William Hart.

Starfish fund closes at $62.5m

On Friday, Starfish announced the first close of the Starfish Technology Fund I, at AUD$62.5 million.

"The fundraising is gaining momentum and we are on track to achieve the target fund size of at least $100 million," said Starfish investment principal John Dyson in a statement.

Starfish said the fund was being raised to invest in innovative Australian companies across all fields of technology, including life sciences and IT. "The establishment of the Starfish Technology Fund is the perfect compliment to our existing pre-seed fund," Dyson said. "This gives us the ability to work with technology companies at all stages of development, right from ideas through to profitable businesses."

At the first close the STF has received support from leading private equity investors including Development Australia Fund, Macquarie Funds Management, Quay Partners and Westscheme as well as from international investor Mitsui & Co. The firm said it expected to soon be able to name more local and overseas investors.

The Starfush fund was the first venture capital fund to be established under the Federal government's new venture capital limited partnership (VCLP) structure, introduced in late 2002 to remove barriers to attracting international investors to the Australian private equity market.

Starfish said the fund would focus on investments in private companies that displayed an outstanding management team, that were commercialising innovative technology, and were capable of becoming a global market player.