Venture Studio Nakatomi pulls in $3.5m to ‘back and build’ Aussie startups

Entrepreneurs

The founders of Leonardo.AI and Active Hotels chipped in on the raise, which will help to launch up to four new ventures a year.
startups
Nakatomi founders Andy Timms and Ben Bray. Image: Nakatomi

Fresh on the back of its success launching femtech platform Ovum, venture studio Nakatomi has raised $3.5 million in funds to invest in the next generation of Aussie startups.

The Nakatomi model is unique in that it provides services beyond those of a typical VC firm. It is one of the first ‘venture studios’ in the Australian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“We step in as early-stage partners, helping you validate, build, and launch your idea before the rest of the world is ready to believe in it too,” the company site states.

Nakatomi partner Andy Timms says early-stage venture creation is what he loves.

“We work hard to uncover non-obvious connections and patterns that unlock differentiated products and ventures,” says Timms.

One of the founders who benefited from that approach is Dr Heffernan-Marks, the creator of femtech platform Ovum.

“I first came to Nakatomi with nothing more than an idea – to empower women with knowledge and data to advocate for their health and transform women’s health outcomes,” says Heffernan-Marks. 

“Nakatomi believed in my vision to co-create the app that Ovum is today. Four years on, I now have a team of my own and an app that is used by women across Australia. I simply couldn’t have done it without them.”

Farmer Bobby Miller founded Ruminati in 2022. He and his co-founders turned to Nakatomi to build the Ruminati platform.

“Nakatomi took our ideas, anecdotes, beliefs and hypotheses and turned them into a great product,” says Miller.

Co-founder Ben Bray says the innovation ecosystem is ready for a ‘shakeup.’

“Everyone at Nakatomi creates and it’s that first-hand experience that helps us build businesses with a greater chance of success. We provide new ventures with an expert team from day one so they can go further, faster than they could on their own,” says Bray.

Projects listed anonymously on the Nakatomi website include an empathetic AI workflow companion, a platform for residential AI, and an online travel agency platform.

Raising to launch 3-4 startups per year

A Nakatomi spokesperson says the $3.5 million raise is not a seed round, instead calling it a ‘one-off investment’ from a private equity veteran, alongside founders of Leonardo.AI, Gannet Capital and Scalare Partners.

Adrian Critchlow, one of the co-founders of the Active Hotels platform that became Booking.com, also participated in the raise.

“It’s rare to see a team move this fast without compromising on quality. Nakatomi’s ability to take an idea from research to strategy to launch, and get it spot on, is very impressive. I see this as the future of venture building,” says Critchlow.

Chris Gillis, a co-founder of Leonardo.ai, also invested in the raise.

“The Nakatomi team is made up of good, talented, committed people with a strong track record. I’m excited to back them. By partnering early, they help aspiring founders turn brilliant ideas into real, successful businesses,” says Gillis.

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