Dealmaker who takes it to the world

Michelle Deaker Founding partner of venture capital group OneVentures, which funds start-up companies. Aged in her 50s. Lives on Sydney's lower north shore.

- ALAN DEANS

Michelle Deaker describes herself as a serial entrepreneur. The investment firm OneVentures is among the several businesses she has founded. The first was a tertiary tutoring college, back in her early days at university. “I was always very entrepreneurial, and that taught me the first things about business and making sure you were profitable.”

The second business was Networks Beyond 2000, an online computer retailer. Later, another idea sparked after her mother-in-law was given a gift voucher and Deaker’s partner suggested that selling vouchers online could be a good idea. “I went home and bought all the domain names around gift vouchers, and we created what became one of Australia’s first fintechs,” she recalls. “I sold that to a UK-listed company and started investing my own money.”

Not surprisingly, start-ups became her sole focus. She moved into angel investing, providing funds to entrepreneurs through shares or convertible debt. Insights also came from the work she was doing for a family office and a venture capital firm.

“I thought they were interesting, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. So, I set up OneVentures as its own venture capital firm and raised money for its first fund. We were very fortunate. The Innovation Investment Fund run by AusIndustry had a round open, and we applied. I brought on board two partners, Paul Kelly and AnneMarie Birkill, and it’s gone on from there. The first fund raised $40 million, and we now have $700 million in funds under management.”