M8 Ventures

M8 Ventures is a Sydney-based pre-seed and seed specialist venture fund and co-investment syndicate founded in 2018. The firm focuses on discovering and accelerating the next generation of global technology companies, primarily sourced from Australia and New Zealand with reach into emerging markets. M8 applies product management and engineering expertise to identify startups with a strong product nucleus and technical founding team — the firm evaluates the earliest and most formative signals of what will become category-defining businesses. The three-person team is co-founded by Alan Jones (General Partner) and a colleague, with M8's syndicate activity operating through the Aussie Angels platform to bring co-investors alongside each deal. M8 Ventures began actively investing in 2024 and has built a portfolio of 12 companies. The portfolio includes one unicorn — Bugcrowd, a crowdsourced cybersecurity platform — and one acquisition exit (Elev). Recent investments include Flowing Bee, which raised AUD $1.6 million from a round that included Archangel Ventures, the University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, Antler, and LaunchVic; SeenCulture, the firm's first investment alongside Simon Wright and InterValley Ventures; Hola Health, which was used to launch the M8 Syndicate in April; and Preplocal. The firm has also invested in an AI-powered marketing company. M8's investment philosophy holds that the greatest technology businesses are built by exceptional product teams, and that backing founders at the pre-seed and seed stages — before product-market fit is fully established — is where the most meaningful value can be created and where investors with strong product judgment have the clearest advantage.