Will Macnae, formerly of Armitage Associates and UBS, has co-founded a new growth capital firm Venn Partners alongside Mo Ajjaoui, formerly of global investment manager Auctus Investment Group (ASX: AVC).

Melbourne-based Venn Partners plans to focus on equity stakes only investments in profitable, growing, owner-operated Australian small to medium size businesses.

Macnae said fundraising for the firm’s initial fund is well progressed but still open to new investors.

The firm is actively looking to make investments.  

Venn Partners’ investment mandate covers making investments of $5 million to $15 million in businesses with annual earnings (EBIT) of up to $8 million and revenue in the range $2 million to $50 million. The firm will most likely take a significant minority stake alongside owner-operators but has flexibility to make majority investments.

Industry preferences are for healthcare (including veterinary); education, information technology (including SaaS), business-to-business services, niche industrial and consumer non-discretionary.

Image: Venn Partners co-founder Will Macnae.