The Merton Monthly: October
September saw the Merton team celebrating another triumph, attending big events, and planning for upcoming ones.
The Merton team ventured out for a golf session at the Albert Park Driving Range, followed by a dinner at the Middle Park Hotel. It was a great opportunity for everyone to unwind, bond, and enjoy some quality time together outside the office.
Innovation Bay's Venture Down Under
What an incredible week at Innovation Bay’s Venture Down Under conference in Darwin, Northern Territory! It was wonderful to connect with the horizon crew, diving deep into investment discussions and sharing our journeys as founders and investors. Truly inspiring people. Venturedownunder provided a great opportunity to pause and reflect.
This year has been monumental for Merton Lawyers and the Australian tech and investment ecosystem. It was a pleasure to spend time with the broader Innovation Bay community of VCs, founders, and ecosystem players. A real highlight! It was also remarkable to witness the vision and efforts of the Northern Territory Government and the emerging tech and investor ecosystem as they work towards building a $4bn innovation ecosystem in the Northern Territory by 2030. Excited to see this growth and to collaborate on this journey. A huge thanks to Ian Gardiner, Phaedon Stough, Eleanor Salt, Millie Turner, and the entire Innovation Bay team for organizing such an excellent event.
Investment NSW - Going Global Program SF Tech Week & Health Cohort
The Investment NSW - Going Global Program health cohort and SF Tech Week were treated to a panel of Industry experts, including Shaun McAlpine, Anthony Curtin from Merton Lawyers, Albert Bielinko from Titanium Ventures, and Joe Magyer from Seaplane Ventures, to explore the capital-raising landscape for Australian startups in the U.S. during the GGP Workshop 3.
They emphasized the critical need for establishing a Delaware C Corp structure and demonstrating traction with U.S. customers before pursuing fundraising. The discussion highlighted current market trends, noting a decrease in down rounds and a consolidation shift.
Panelists addressed cultural differences and common pitfalls faced by Australian entrepreneurs, offering strategic advice on navigating the fundraising process while reinforcing the importance of strong product development and investor relationships. The session concluded with actionable takeaways for participants on leveraging local resources and preparing for U.S. expansion.
Last month Chris Kounelis, who is in the Merton Litigation department, had his admission moved into the Supreme Court of Victoria. Congratulations Chris on achieving this milestone in your career! We look forward to being a part in your successful future.
Canva Uncovered: How A Young Australian Kitesurfer Built A $3.2 Billion (Profitable!) Startup Phenom
With an impending listing for Canva, we revisited one of the great articles documenting their journey to profitability.
Pitchbooks - Global VC Ecosystem Rankings
Investing in Startups
Listen to Joe Magyer's (from Seaplane Ventures) Podcast with Niki Scevak from Blackbird Ventures - where they spoke about about the power of investing early, how AI companies solve problems for customers and why they're interesting to investors, and how world-beating companies can come from anywhere
New York Times - 36 Hours - Joshua Tree
Upcoming*
SXSW - Sydney
Merton Lawyers will be attending SXSW Sydney, an event that truly stands out as exceptional. Whether you’re passionate about Tech & Innovation, Games, Music, Screen, or all of the above, SXSW Sydney offers something for everyone. With its diverse offerings, we’re sure to walk away with more than we could have ever imagined.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
LaunchVic's 30x30 - Expressions of Interest are open
Expressions of interest are now open for 30X30, LaunchVic's executive education program for the behind-the-scenes operators fuelling Victoria's fastest-growing scaleups.
We're also announcing our latest CivVic Labs cohort with VicHealth, spotlighting women in Life Sciences and celebrating all the fun when the Global Entrepreneurship Congress came to town.
Merton Lawyers x William Buck x Climate Salad - 'Raising Money in the US'
In October Anthony Curtin, Managing Partner of Merton Lawyers, will co-present with Jack Qi of William Buck for Climate Salad's companies looking to expand to the US and raise money there.
Startup Network x Merton Lawyers x William Buck - ESOPS
Merton Lawyers and William Buck will be presenting to the Start Up Network on the realities and practicalities of ESOPs.
Tuesday 8 October
Time: 6pm – 9pm
Location – The Commons Gipps Street, 38 Gipps street, Collingwood VIC 3066
Presenters – Jonathon Larosa, Partner, Tax Services at William Buck
Tony Hood, Partner, Corporate Finance at William Buck
Isaac Hanna, Senior Associate at Merton Lawyers
