Foundry

You bring the idea

We get the founding

About Foundry

Our Thesis

The next generation of consequential companies will be founded by scientists. We exist to back them from day zero.

<25%

ANZ's research-to-venture conversion rate per publication, benchmarked against US/Canada.

~65%

Founder + ESOP equity from day one, rewarding the people doing the work.

2 cohorts

The Foundry has been running for years, it's already past proof-of-concept.

You're inside the lab.

PhD candidate, postdoc, principal investigator, research engineer. You've spent years getting close to something that doesn't exist yet.

You're at TRL 4 or earlier.

The work is real, but pre-product. Pre-revenue. Often pre-incorporation. We invest at the threshold, not after the inflection.

You suspect there's a company in your work.

Maybe a paper. Maybe an unfinished demo. Maybe just an unreasonable hunch. You don't have a deck. We don't need one.

You're based in Australia or New Zealand.

Or you intend to build here. We are unapologetically backing the southern hemisphere's deep-tech generation.

You're allergic to the obvious path.

You've already noticed that the standard route — TTO, license, advisory board — is not how the companies you admire actually got built.

Who It's For

If three or more of these describe you, we want to hear from you.

What Fellows Get

Capital, conviction, and a company-shaped runway.

  1. 01

    Foundational capital

    A no-strings cheque to fund the first months of work — so you can leave the lab without leaving the science.

  2. 02

    A founder-first cap table

    We'll work with your institution, your supervisor, your TTO, so the company starts shaped right — not dragged into shape later.

  3. 03

    The Blackbird network

    Direct access to the partners and the founders behind PsiQuantum, Vow, SunDrive, Cortical Labs, Baraja, and a hundred others.

  4. 04

    A founder education, in motion

    A six-week intensive (in-person + remote) covering company formation, hiring, fundraising, GTM — taught by the founders who've done it.

  5. 05

    Translational support

    IP strategy, regulatory navigation, recruiting your first commercial co-founder, and a path out of your institution — handled.

  6. 06

    A cohort that gets it.

    The other fellows. Probably the most useful thing on this list. People who understand the loneliness of standing at the edge of a problem.

Mentors

Operators, founders, and scientists who've built the kind of company you're trying to build. On call from day one.

David Bell

David Bell

CEO, Co-founder – Remedy Robotics

Hemant Chaurasia

Hemant Chaurasia

CTPO – Fleet Space

Jekaterina Viktorova

Jekaterina Viktorova

CEO, Co-founder – Syenta

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

Co-founders – Vexev

David Bell

David Bell

CEO, Co-founder – Remedy Robotics

Hemant Chaurasia

Hemant Chaurasia

CTPO – Fleet Space

Jekaterina Viktorova

Jekaterina Viktorova

CEO, Co-founder – Syenta

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

Co-founders – Vexev

David Bell

David Bell

CEO, Co-founder – Remedy Robotics

Hemant Chaurasia

Hemant Chaurasia

CTPO – Fleet Space

Jekaterina Viktorova

Jekaterina Viktorova

CEO, Co-founder – Syenta

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

John Carroll & Eamonn Colley

Co-founders – Vexev

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Companies

Operators, founders, and scientists who've built the kind of company you're trying to build. On call from day one.

Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
Blackbird
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Apply

So, build the thing.

June – July 2026

Applications to our inaugural cohort are now open.

Housekeeping