The firm has launched a fund and accelerator called Boab AI that will be run by Deakin University’s former ventures director Andrew Lai.
Australia-based venture capital firm Artesian Ventures has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator and A$100m ($79m) fund that will be led by Deakin University’s former ventures director Andrew Lai, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Lai was the ventures director at Deakin University in 2020, before joining Artesian, and handled the institution’s spinout portfolio.
Artesian has secured an initial $1.2m commitment from LaunchVic, the Victorian state-government’s startup agency, and another $6.3m from unnamed private investors. Once raised, the fund is expected to invest in up to 150 companies across Asia Pacific.
Boab AI will run a six-month programme aimed at scale-up companies in the AI sector. It will invest at least $237,000 per startup and will focus on businesses with existing market traction, mature products and enterprise clients.
Lai said: “The Artesian crew have different thematics and they were quite interested in AI. It was great for me to re-enter the programme and the VC space and this time at a bigger cheque size.”
The accelerator’s first cohort consists of Daitum, Pi.Exchange, Plaetos, Remi AI and Strongroom AI.
Jeremy Colless, chief executive of Artesian, said: “We have invested heavily in verticals such as agtech and clean energy. However, AI is interesting in that it has applications across all industries.
“If the Australian economy is to remain competitive, we need the local capability to create new AI-driven innovations that help to generate economic advantage.”
