Tenmile

Tenmile Research

Investment Thesis

Tenmile is an Australian venture capital firm dedicated exclusively to health innovation. Founded in 2022 with an initial capital allocation of AU$250 million from Tattarang (the private investment group of Andrew and Nicola Forrest), Tenmile backs founders and companies building impactful health technology and biotech solutions that address unmet medical needs. The firm's stated philosophy, "Bold ideas deserve bold partners," centers on supporting promising innovations that struggle on their own to reach patients. Tenmile emphasizes rigorous scientific research, clinical impact, commercial viability, and genuine long-term partnership with founders, and layers ESG assessment into every investment decision from the outset. The firm positions itself as proof that "doing good and doing well go hand in hand," pursuing health outcomes and financial returns together.

Stage Focus

Tenmile invests from seed through commercialization, with particular emphasis on early-stage technologies and, in some cases, direct company formation. The firm's own material describes a spectrum from "company formation" through "growth," suggesting Tenmile is comfortable incubating spinouts as well as backing existing founding teams.

Check Size

Not disclosed publicly. Observed portfolio round sizes range widely, from roughly $7M seed rounds (e.g. Proton Intelligence's $6.95M seed) to large syndicated growth rounds exceeding $300M (e.g. AdvanCell's $315M Series D), where Tenmile appears as one of many existing investors rather than the primary capital source. This spread suggests Tenmile writes smaller checks at formation/seed and follows on in later syndicated rounds rather than anchoring large late-stage rounds alone.

Lead Tendency

Mixed. Tenmile appears in syndicates alongside other investors in most disclosed deals (e.g. Proton Intelligence's seed alongside SOSV, We Venture Capital, LongeVC, 15th Rock, Exor, and Trampoline; AdvanCell's Series D alongside Ally Bridge Group, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Fidelity, and others), but its "company formation" language and evergreen-style Managing Director involvement (Steve Burnell as strategic advisor) suggest it also leads and originates deals at the earliest stages.

Recent Activity

• 2026-07-15: Participated as an existing investor in AdvanCell's oversubscribed, upsized US$315M Series D, led by Ally Bridge Group and co-led by Alpha Wave, to advance AdvanCell's targeted alpha radiopharmaceutical therapies (ADVC001) and expand its Lead-212 manufacturing platform.
• 2026-03 (approx.): Most recent new portfolio addition reported by third-party trackers is Cuttlefish Bio (biotechnology), though F4-OS could not independently confirm a primary-source announcement for this specific investment.
• 2024-12-24: Participated in Proton Intelligence's $6.95M seed round (continuous potassium/biomarker monitoring for kidney disease) alongside SOSV, We Venture Capital, LongeVC, 15th Rock, Exor, and Trampoline Venture Partners.
• Fund status: actively deploying, ~28 disclosed investments to date since the 2022 launch, spanning therapeutics, diagnostics, medtech, and digital health.

Portfolio Highlights

Tenmile's portfolio of roughly 28 companies spans oncology therapeutics (AdvanCell, Amaroq Therapeutics, Carina Biotech, Oncko), immunotherapy (Aravax), AMR/vaccines (LimmaTech Biologics, Revagenix), diagnostics and medtech (Lumos Diagnostics, CurveBeam AI, SpeeDx, Proton Intelligence), digital health and care management (Perx Health, Mindset Health, Kantoko, Sweetch), neurology and mental health (Rekover Therapeutics, Syndeio, Xylo, Emyria), gene therapy (Stamford Pharmaceuticals), 3D bioprinting (Inventia Life Science), and AI-driven drug discovery (Creyon Bio, Verge Genomics). AdvanCell's US$315M Series D in 2026 stands out as the portfolio's largest and most visible round to date.

Team

Tenmile is led by an Investment Committee chaired by Managing Director Steve Burnell, with a broader investment team and governance drawn from both operating investors and Tattarang leadership.

• Dr. Steve Burnell — Managing Director & Investment Committee Chair. PhD Population Biology (University of Sydney); prior roles at Roche-Genentech; strategic advisor to Minderoo Foundation.
• Aizaz Syed — Senior Portfolio & Investment Manager. 10 years of early-stage tech investing; former Investment Director at Nightingale Partners; Bachelor of Commerce & Laws (ANU).
• Dr. Michael Lamprecht — Investment Manager. 15+ years in biotech/regulatory affairs; former Director of Regulatory Affairs at EpiBone; PhD Biomedical Engineering (Columbia).
• Dr. Joey Man — Investment Associate. PhD Molecular Biology (Monash); postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO; previously at Main Sequence Ventures.
• Dr. Arjun Balaji — Entrepreneur in Residence. Medical doctor (MD, University of Western Australia) with nephrology and cardiothoracic surgery background, plus computational bioinformatics experience.
• Emily Casey — Community & Partnerships Lead. Founded the "What the Health" healthtech community; previously at Side Stage Ventures.
• Kelsee Sewell — Operations Lead. 10+ years of corporate operations experience.
• John Hartman — Director & Investment Committee Member. CEO of Tattarang ($35bn+ AUM) and CEO of Minderoo Foundation.
• Donna Carrington — Director. Divisional leader at Tattarang (Finance, People, Technology); former CFO at HBF Health.
• Dr. Liz Dallimore — Investment Committee Member. CEO/MD of ASX-listed Argenica Therapeutics; PhD Neuroscience (Oxford & UWA).
• Dr. Ros Wilson — Investment Committee Member. Medical doctor; former Roche executive (led pertuzumab/Perjeta development); former CEO of Factor Therapeutics.

Decision Process

Investment Committee-driven, chaired by Steve Burnell, with ESG factors assessed alongside financial and clinical criteria from the outset of diligence.

Founder Preferences

Tenmile favors founding teams tackling rigorously validated, high-impact unmet medical needs, spanning therapeutics, medtech, diagnostics, and digital health, where the science and clinical pathway are credible and the commercial path to patients is achievable. The firm's heavy bench of MD/PhD investment staff suggests a preference for scientifically sophisticated founders and a willingness to engage deeply on clinical and regulatory strategy, not just capital.

Geographic Focus

Headquartered in Perth, Australia (Tattarang's home base), with an additional office presence reported in Sydney and San Francisco. While rooted in Australian health innovation, Tenmile explicitly frames its mission as connecting local breakthroughs to global markets, and its portfolio includes US-based companies (e.g. Proton Intelligence, Verge Genomics, Creyon Bio).