Purpose Ventures

Purpose Ventures Research

Investment Thesis

Purpose Ventures is a Perth-based, Western Australia-focused early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2023 by husband-and-wife team Derek and Kylie Gerrard. The fund's stated mission is to back "founders who are chasing after their life cause" and building companies with genuine global ambition, while addressing what the founders saw as chronic underfunding of Western Australian startups relative to the eastern-seaboard ecosystems (Sydney, Melbourne). The fund is explicitly industry agnostic, screening instead on founder characteristics and market potential rather than a fixed sector thesis. Purpose Ventures has committed to investing at least 70% of the fund into WA-founded or WA-operated companies, while remaining open to backing standout founders elsewhere (e.g. Sydney-based Enrola, London-based Caligra). The firm frames its selection criteria around three "C"s: Character, Competency, and Chemistry, alongside large addressable markets and demonstrated customer demand. Notably, the founders have pledged to donate half of the fund's performance fees to their own charitable foundation, benefiting WA charities.

Sector Focus

Purpose Ventures does not publish a fixed sector thesis and describes itself as industry agnostic. In practice, the portfolio skews toward:

• EdTech / school and training administration (Paperly, IDEAcademy, Coursebox)
• Digital health, aged care, and precision medicine (PlanCare, My Mirror, Gene-S, Andromeda)
• Robotics and AI companions for aged care (Andromeda)
• Enterprise / government decision-intelligence software (Cyndr)
• AI-native sales tooling (Enrola)
• Community and shared-space management platforms (SpacetoCo)
• Consumer and social-impact services (Gathered Here, On The House)
• Developer-focused hardware/productivity tools (Caligra)

Stage Focus

Pre-Seed through Series B, per the firm's own website and investor-facing materials. Observed deals cluster at Seed, with a mix of first checks and follow-on/top-up rounds into existing portfolio companies (e.g. PlanCare's 2024 top-up, Paperly's 2026 follow-on).

Check Size

Purpose Ventures does not publish a formal check-size range. Observed investment amounts across sourced deals span roughly $750K (Coursebox, 2025) to $3M (Paperly follow-on round, 2026, syndicated with Tribe Global Ventures and Skalata), with $1.3M (IDEAcademy, led, 2023) and $2.1M (Enrola, led, 2026) as additional data points. These figures represent total round sizes in most cases rather than confirmed Purpose Ventures-only check sizes, so confidence on an exact range is moderate.

Lead Tendency

Mixed. Purpose Ventures has explicitly led rounds (IDEAcademy's $1.3M raise in 2023; Enrola's $2.1M Seed in 2026, alongside Antler, AfterWork Ventures, and Skalata) and has also participated as a syndicate member alongside other funds (Paperly's 2026 round with Tribe Global Ventures and Skalata). It was also the sole investor in PlanCare's 2024 follow-on round.

Recent Activity

The fund closed its first close at $37M in March 2023, grew to $45M by October 2023 (at the time of its third investment, IDEAcademy), and is now described on its own site as a $55M fund. Recent activity:

• August 2026: Led Enrola's $2.1M AI sales-agent Seed round (with Antler, AfterWork Ventures, Skalata)
• February 2026: Doubled down on Paperly's $3M round (with Tribe Global Ventures, Skalata)
• August 2025: Backed Coursebox's $750K raise (its ninth portfolio investment)
• April 2024: Sole investor in PlanCare's $2.5M follow-on round
• October 2023: Led IDEAcademy's $1.3M raise (third portfolio investment), same period the fund grew to $45M

Fund status reads as actively deploying, with a steady cadence of roughly one new or follow-on investment every few months since 2023.

Portfolio Highlights

Publicly listed portfolio (13 companies) spans EdTech (Paperly, IDEAcademy, Coursebox), digital/precision health (PlanCare, My Mirror, Gene-S), aged-care robotics (Andromeda), enterprise/government decision intelligence (Cyndr), AI sales tooling (Enrola), community/workspace management (SpacetoCo), consumer/social-impact services (Gathered Here, On The House), and developer hardware (Caligra). No disclosed exits or unicorns to date; the fund is young (first close 2023) and still in its early deployment and value-creation phase.

Team

• Derek Gerrard, General Partner — Co-founder of Purpose Ventures; previously established BetterLabs Ventures, a $23M RAC-backed structured venture fund in WA, before leaving to start Purpose Ventures.
• Kylie Gerrard, General Partner — Co-founder of Purpose Ventures; formerly ran the Perth chapter of angel network Innovation Bay and led Spacecubed's Plus Eight Accelerator.
• Kirsty Packer, Investment Manager — Handles deal screening and investment execution.
• Dr Marcus Tan, Venture Partner — Advisory/venture partner supporting portfolio companies.
• Nicole Lockwood, Venture Partner — Principal of Lockwood Advisory; advisory/venture partner role at Purpose Ventures.
• Brodie McCulloch, Venture Partner — Advisory/venture partner supporting portfolio companies.
• Joshua Skalnik, CFO — Oversees fund finance and operations.
• Lachlan Scotford, Community Administrator — Runs the portfolio community/peer-network platform.

Decision Process

Committee-based. Per the firm's published investment process: (1) Application screening (~1 week response), (2) Pitch meeting covering vision, market, team, metrics, and business model, (3) Due diligence (2-3 weeks) covering business documents, product demos, and forecasts, (4) Term sheet discussion, (5) Monthly Investment Committee for final approval, (6) Investment close, (7) Portfolio onboarding ("Growing Together"). The process is open-application (public online application form), not warm-intro gated.

Founder Preferences

Purpose Ventures favors founders with a demonstrated "life cause" — deep personal motivation behind the business — combined with large addressable markets, innovative solutions, and demonstrated customer engagement/demand. The fund's WA-first mandate (70%+ of capital into WA-founded or WA-operated companies) means it particularly favors Western Australian founders building for global markets, though it has made exceptions for standout founders elsewhere (Sydney-based Enrola, London-based Caligra).

Geographic Focus

Primarily Western Australia (Perth), with a formal commitment to deploy at least 70% of the fund into WA-founded or WA-operated companies. The remainder is open to founders anywhere, with observed investments in Sydney (Enrola) and London (Caligra). Portfolio companies are supported in expanding internationally (UK, Asia, broader Australia) post-investment via the fund's network and playbooks.