Israeli Investor bets big on Melbourne

Israeli venture capitalist Dr Yaron Daniely says that when he first visited Melbourne, “I was flabbergasted with the quality of the science and the depth of the infrastructure here in the life science research ecosystem.”

That impression led Daniely to found the aMoon Innovation Fellows Program, which helps leading academics and clinicians in Victoria find practical uses for their research and work with top investors and industry partners worldwide to bring their ideas to market.

“This initiative provides a unique opportunity for innovators to learn how to successfully interact with the financial community and translate the promise of their projects into products and services that can have global impact on countless lives,” he said.

Speaking to The AJN in Melbourne where he is leading the fourth annual iteration of the program, the general partner at US $1.3 billion (A $2.02 billion) early-stage investment fund aMoon Velocity said he sees Australia as offering “an unfair advantage” for early-stage healthcare investment.

“Phenomenal science, not a lot of experienced global early stage investors. This is the type of blue ocean that we like to to work in. There are many billion-dollar venture funds in Boston. There aren’t that many in areas like Melbourne,” he said.

The timing of the program works perfectly for Daniely, who said he is glad to escape Israel’s searing summer heat. “When it gets too hot in my hemisphere, it gets nice and cool in yours,” he said.

The program began with three Melbourne medical research institutes – Baker, MCRI and WEHI – but has expanded to include almost a dozen institutions across Victoria.

Among the exciting projects emerging from the program are therapeutic platforms targeting immune disorders in novel ways, and diagnostic companies leveraging Australia’s significant investment in bio banking and population data analysis.

Daniely, who holds a PhD from NYU School of Medicine, spent 15 years as an entrepreneur building companies with academic founders before serving as president and CEO of Hebrew University’s technology transfer company, Yissum, and then moved into venture capital six years ago.

“What drew me there was really the ability to sort of complete the circle after being an academic and an entrepreneur and a tech transfer officer,” he said. “To actually be on the side of taking risk and deploying capital into the most exciting early stage Academic Technologies and platforms that I could find.

“It’s a $10 trillion [A $15.4 trillion] market globally, so certainly not something to laugh about, but it’s also an opportunity to have a ‘double line’ impact on on people’s lives.”

Prompted, Daniely expressed interest in expanding the Innovation Fellows Program to other parts of Australia, including Sydney, Perth and Queensland, though he emphasised this would be done through partnerships with local investors rather than “parachuting” into new regions.

Despite current geopolitical tensions, Daniely said he has been received warmly in Australia.

“People are interested in the knowledge and insights that we can share from a more mature innovation ecosystem in Israel and the US,” he said.

“Fundamentally, we got to focus on what connects us. Governments can disagree, but people in research labs are focused on advancing solutions that help communities.”