Aura Venture Fund III

The fund provides wholesale investors with exclusive access to a top-quartile venture capital strategy through the Aura Venture Fund III. This vehicle targets high-growth B2B SaaS and AI-specialised startups across Australia and New Zealand, focusing on seed-stage companies poised for global expansion. By leveraging valuation arbitrage between local and international markets, the fund aims for an IRR of 25% or above.

Uniquely, the Trust eliminates the inefficiency of capital calls by deploying 100% of capital upfront into a private credit fund, which generates monthly income distributions until the capital is required for venture investments. With a reduced entry threshold of $10,000 and potential tax benefits via ESVCLP registration, the Trust offers a sophisticated, dual-yield approach. It aligns investor interests with a manager that boasts a decade-long track record of delivering superior returns and managing over $1.4 billion in assets.

The fund gives wholesale investors access to a top-quartile venture capital strategy, historically reserved for institutional and ultra-high-net-worth investors.

The fund invests in Aura Venture Fund III (AVF3), an early-stage venture capital fund backing high-growth B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and AI-specialised businesses across Australia and New Zealand, targeting companies at the seed stage that are post-product launch, approaching product-market fit, and poised to scale into large global markets.

To remove the complexity of capital calls, the Trust deploys 100% of your capital upfront into the Aura Private Credit Income Fund (APCIF), generating monthly income distributions until called into AVF3. This means your capital works from day one: earning yield while you wait, with venture capital growth potential once deployed. All through a single vehicle with no capital call management required.

Open to Australian wholesale investors from just $10,000 (versus $250,000 for direct investment into AVF3), the Trust combines Aura Group's decade-long top-quartile venture track record with the potential tax benefits of ESVCLP registration, including a 10% non-refundable tax offset and CGT exemption on qualifying exits.

Investment objective

To provide wholesale investors with exposure to a top-quartile early-stage venture capital strategy, targeting high-growth B2B SaaS and AI-specialised businesses in Australia and New Zealand, while generating monthly income on uncalled capital through a diversified private credit strategy. AVF3 targets an IRR of 25% p.a. or above and a 3x or more return on capital, net of fees.* APCIF targets monthly distributions at the RBA Cash Rate plus 5% p.a.

Investment strategy

AVF3 invests early in Australian and New Zealand startups with global potential, typically at seed stage, with some exposure at pre-seed and Series A. The fund targets companies that are post-product launch, may be post-revenue, and are generally pre-product-market fit, deploying capital to help them reach that inflection point and build a scalable business model.

Aura's strategy is to obtain material ownership positions at Australian valuations, which are low relative to global markets, and work closely with founding teams to raise follow-on capital and scale into foreign markets. This crystallises the benefit of the valuation arbitrage between Australia and markets such as the US.

Uncalled capital is invested in the APCIF, which provides funding to non-bank lenders specialising in Australian business loans. The APCIF has an 8-year track record, holds exposure to over 13,000 loans with an average loan size of approximately $132,000, and has made monthly distributions since inception with no capital losses.

Portfolio construction

AVF3 will build a diversified portfolio of 20 to 30 companies, with initial cheque sizes of $500,000 to $5 million and follow-on capacity of up to $15 million per company. The fund invests primarily at seed stage, with selective pre-seed and Series A exposure, focusing on B2B SaaS and AI-specialised businesses across Australia and New Zealand with pathways to international scale. Aura principals will commit 2% of total AVF3 capital, aligning manager and investor interests.

*This is a target only. The Fund may not achieve this return.

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