Uniseed Management – Investing in Australia
February 2008
Uniseed Management – Investing in Australia
Interview with Peter Devine
Uniseed Management – Investing in Australia
In this exclusive interview, Fintan Walton talks to Peter Devine, CEO of Uniseed Management, about the origins of the business. He discusses how it began as a US$20 M fund, founded by the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, to bridge the gap between the Universities’ research and the financial market. He describes how the company has evolved through investment commitment from Westscheme (Western Australia's largest non-government superannuation fund) and the University of New South Wales, along with further investment from the founding Universities. Dr Devine also talks about the criteria used by the company when considering an investment opportunity, as well as discussing a few specific examples of investments made.
About Peter Devine
Dr Peter Devine joined Uniseed in January 2003 and worked as Regional Director, then as Investment Director, before he was appointed CEO in November 2006.
Peter has extensive experience in the biotechnology industry, having held senior R&D, business development and commercialisation positions in four Australian biotechnology companies, as well as in Australian universities. Before joining Uniseed, Peter was Vice President of Business Development at Progen Industries. He was Research, Development and Commercialisation Manager at Brisbane-based PanBio from 1996 to 2000, and also spent 7 months in Business Development at UniQuest, the commercialisation arm of University of Queensland.
About Uniseed Management
Uniseed Management was established as a joint venture pre-seed and seed fund between UQ Holdings/UniQuest and Melbourne Ventures (formerly Melbourne University Private), the commercial arms of the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne, respectively. The company began operations in September 2000 as a US$20 M early-stage venture fund, and has since grown to over US$60 M.
