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The Outset Team

Experienced operators and deep tech investors, 

Our investment team has 100+ years combined experience in deep tech, from start-up to commercialisation and exits.

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Investment Team

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Angus Blair

General Partner

Led Fund I investment activities. Extensive experience in product development and building high-performance teams.

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Jess Gilbert

General Partner

Experienced private markets investor, ex-Portfolio Manager for the direct investments team at NZ Super Fund.

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Olivia Wensley

Partner - Investor Relations

Experienced in venture, law, ecosystem building, and finance - including serving as in-house counsel at an investment bank in Singapore.

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Isay Acenas

Senior Investment Associate

Isay is a Fulbright Scholar and former Engineer-in-Residence, now supporting founders and portfolio companies. Prior to this, she was part of the investment team at Toyota Ventures.

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Mat Rowe

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Co-founder of Outset, Mint Innovation and Dotterel. Founding employee of LanzaTech

 

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Sir Peter Beck

Investment Committee Member and Advisor

Founder and CEO of Rocket Lab

 

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Dr Sean Simpson

Investment Committee Member and Advisor

Co-founder and former CSO of LanzaTech. Co-founder of Ternary.

 

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Dr Will Barker

Co-Founder, Advisor and IC Chair

Founder and CEO of Mint Innovation

Operations Team

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Michael Bignell

Partner - CFO and Operations

Providing deal execution and support to portfolio companies. Extensive deep tech start-up experience

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Sonya Popoff

Facilities and Laboratory Manager

With many years of experience managing scientists and laboratories. Sonya utilizes her early career experience as a scientist in biotechnology as a resource to help foster young scientists and companies.

 

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Amila Nuhodzic

Community Manager

Amila Nuhodzic brings experience in hospitality and game development, and now keeps everything running smoothly at Outset Ventures. 

 

Our Values

A Little Bit Nerdy

We love getting into the technical details of what you’re building.

Humble Doers

We’re “roll your sleeves up” quiet achievers who are focused on enabling companies to get shit done. We activate and engage our strong networks to deliver.

Risk Takers

We’re attracted to the unknown, we’re unafraid of thinking and supporting big. We move fast, refuse to accept the status quo, and boundary pushing is above all else.

Generous Nurturers

We’re passionate defenders and champions of the deep tech ecosystem. We take a leadership role in nurturing people and providing advocacy for the interests of our community.

Trustworthy Independents

We’re founders ourselves, and value founder ownership and independence very highly. Transparency, integrity and honesty are our keywords.