Dan Khan

What happened in mental health last week? ⏺️ Medibank (an Australian insurer) announced an additional $50M investment into mental health, including $10M for psychedelic treatments. ⏺️ Mental announced their new AI therapist, Mentla. ⏺️ Motivity raised $27M for their clinical support tool for pediatric autism. ⏺️ NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. initiated the filing of a new drug application to the FDA for NRX-100 (IV Ketamine) for the treatment of Suicidal Depression. If successful, this could cause all current manufacturers of generic ketamine to stop production of racemic ketamine. ⏺️ One Mind included 87 new roles on their job board, highlighting opportunities at the recent accelerator cohort. Definitely check this out if you're looking for a new role! ⏺️ Insurance provider Curative partnered with Rula to deliver mental health services to its members for $0 co-pay and $0 deductible. ⏺️ Fort Health partnered with Colleva to use their AI-powered avatar simulations to train their therapists. Another interesting use case of agentic AI. ⏺️ A new study shared by Li et al, found reviewing client symptom measures before, rather than after a session, leads to faster symptom improvement and better overall outcomes. As Jenna Glover commented on the study: "MBC (measurement based care) isn’t just a checkbox—it’s an active, intentional practice that enhances care." (All links below) __ If you liked this and want insights on the mental health industry in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Hemingway Report newsletter and follow me Steve Duke 📩 #MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth

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Let's talk about Accelerators as VC Funds TIL ANZ has 69 active Accelerators, but only 4 invest: 👉 spreadsheet with all Accelerators in comments 1️⃣ Accelerator as a Business Firstly, Accelerators are shocking businesses. (Don't start one 😅) How do they pay the bills? There are 4 usual business models: 🏛️ Government - you get a grant for 2-3y, the grant stops, you have no revenue, you die 🧳 Corporate - corporate cares about you, until there's a leadership reshuffle, stops caring, you die 🧑‍🎓 Universities - similar to corporate, but more aligned with getting students into working world, usually grant rather than commercial funding 💰 VC - you run it as a VC fund, full alignment of LPs to the outcomes you and founders want to achieve BUT as you've learned in this series (post #5), management fees on SMALL funds are barely enough for a skeleton team So yeah, in short - bad, bad cashflow But ofc if you can make it work >> small funds = better VC returns (post #14) 2️⃣ Accelerators as VC Funds 🤯 there are 69 active Accelerators in Australia and NZ! BUT only 4 that actually invest money. 🔥 1/ UNSW Pretty epic deal at $100k SAFE note 15% discount Varies program by program though, so couldn't exactly find online if the deal still exists and for which program 👀 2/ Techstars Tagline: $180k for 5% + ~5% future equity Reality: [Tranche 1] $30k at $600k post (5%) >> $30k at $600k val 👀🤯 >> not entirely sure how that works, as it also triggers everyone else's MFN clause so you get extra diluted! [Tranche 2] $150k uncapped with MFN >> AU$150k So your startup is really valued at $600k. Note: converted from USD to AUD at $1.50. 😬 3/ Antler Tagline: $260k at $2.2m post-money (12%) Reality: $260k investment - but you don't see the money, because: $75k fee 😱 Effective investment: $185k for 12% which implies $1.5m valuation 😢 Even worse off are actually LPs, because only 😱 45 cents on every $1 invested goes to the founder = working capital 👉 you get charge mgmt fee + expenses (~25%) AND 👉 the investment to startups gets charged back via the fee to Antler (~30%) ❤️ 4/ Startmate ofc biased here, but no hooks nor surprises in our investment terms: Simple SAFE or equity (whatever you prefer) either: 1. $120k at $1.5m post-money (8%) or 2. we match your latest valuation if you have raised $250k previously Fun Fact: Startmate is the only investing Accelerator in NZ 🥝 👉 today's comment request if you liked the content: 🥝 ("kiwi") for the hidden gem and the love for Kiwi founders that Startmate backs ❤️ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ What is this? Day 16/30 - I'm posting one VC fund insight per day this month. I'm often wrong. What did I miss this time? 👉 cut my usual outro as I ran out of characters on this post 🥲

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Queensland founders, you’re in luck! There are several fantastic free programs available to support Queensland founders on their journey. These programs are funded by QIC and come with no strings attached—completely free and equity-free. You’d be crazy not to take advantage of them! If you’re planning to raise capital this year, applications for the 77 Venture Challenge, offered by 77 Partners, are now open. This light-touch, high-impact program bridges the gap between being "pitch-ready" and "investment-ready." Find more details about the Venture Challenge and other programs via the link in the comments below. #founder #entrepreneur #startup #venturecapital #vc #ycombinator

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Investors often talk a lot about product market fit, but we often overlook the other half of the equation: FOUNDER MARKET FIT When the founder is deeply connected to the problem, be it through lived experience, domain knowledge, or genuine obsession, they make better decisions, handle setbacks, and build stronger bonds with the people they serve Founders should avoid chasing just a big market. They should choose the one they are uniquely built to serve.

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𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 👇 Carol Schwartz AO isn’t just backing founders—she’s reshaping who gets to fund the future. Long before “gender lens investing” was a term, Carol was living it. Born to Marc and Eva Besen (founders of retail chain, Sussan and noted philanthropists), she learned early that wealth means little without community impact. Carol says she “never felt wealthy growing up”. With business being inherently risky, they worked hard and never took anything for granted. Watching her parents welcome Jewish refugees at Port Melbourne taught her that true success means using what you have to lift others. Inspired by the women of the second wave of feminism, Carol once imagined herself as a “high-powered businesswoman who would marry at forty and never have children.” Life had other plans. She married at 21, had four children, and still built a formidable career. Seeing how hard it was for mothers to restart careers, Carol decided to pursue an MBA. She was appalled when the University of Melbourne, then, refused part-time study, shutting out women with parenting duties. So she chose Monash University, which welcomed part-time students. After graduating, Carol joined the family’s property business, leading projects like Whitehorse Plaza and Chatswood. Her biggest impact came with redeveloping Highpoint Shopping Centre into a thriving community hub. While some stakeholders saw profit as exploitation, Carol makes no apology—profit fuels reinvestment and builds prosperous communities. Carol calls it “the complicated relationship between making money and creating social good.” Her success led to her invitation to the Property Council Victoria as one of its few female members. Not long after, she became the first woman president of the Property Council in 1994. And of course, she didn’t just take a seat at the table—she changed the table. Meetings moved to family-friendly hours and male-only spaces opened to women. Sadly, some of these initiatives were reversed when she resigned. Such backsliding, she argues, is an indication that the struggle for gender equity has not been won, "…the pressure has to stay on." Today, as co-founder of Trawalla Group and Female-Led Ventures, Carol knows funding women founders isn’t enough. She backs female GPs and fund managers to ensure women lead across the capital stack. “If we want to change the system, we need to fund the people who fund the future—and that means putting more capital in the hands of women.” Through her leadership as our Global Advisory Council member, Beyond The Billion® expanded to Australia, catalyzing over US$400M for women-founded companies in Australia, welcoming firms to our consortium like Blackbird and Artesian (Alternative Investments). Thank you, Carol, for showing us how to lead. ♻️ Repost this so more can be inspired by Carol’s story. #MeritInMotion

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Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) created a guide every founder should read: 1) Is your idea worth it? 2) Protecting your IP. 3) Securing the right funding. 4) Building a team that delivers. After working with startups globally, here’s what founders often miss: - Clear market fit. - A strong pitch. - Game-changing early hires. This guide is practical and Insightful. A must for founders and investors alike. 🔄Share this to help more founders succeed. #founders #investors #venturecapital #guide #markets #insightful #startups

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Mergers and Acquisitions. Usually this comes as a relief to Founders, or even a saving grace in harder situations. Having caught up with an amazing Founder over the weekend who shared a minor horror story around an acquisition offer, I'm sharing some of the common pitfalls and how to (hopefully) avoid them. 1. Done Deal Fallacy: The deal ISN'T done until you have money in the bank. Even papers being signed CAN be walked back on. Always operate on the principal that you're an independent company. 2. Business As Usual : With leadership being tied up with due diligence and negotiations, companies usually lose a little steam during M&A talks. This is a DANGER. If the transaction doesn't go through, it leaves you in a weaker position to grow/fundraise etc. Ensure business as usual at minimum, ideally with light growth plans. 3. Information Compartmentalization : For those who read me regularly, I'm usually a BIG proponent of open information. Telling your team most things, open financials etc. When it comes to M&A, information should ONLY be need to know. Have a small close team (CEO, CFO, maybe 1-2 more) supported by excellent outside advisors. 4. Timeline : Common tricks I've seen across M&A. Drag the transaction out till the company has low/no runway, then lowball. Drag the transaction out while revenue and cash positions continue to increase (over a year), then execute. There are a whole bunch more around timing, but things to remember. Define clear timelines for diligence, transaction docs etc. If there's an unreasonable amount of time being taken, call it out. Set the upper boundary on your timeline comfort and walk away if it isn't happening. When the acquirer is VERY keen, I've seen cases where they deposit part of the transaction amount in escrow. If they walk away or the timeline lapses, you keep the money. 5. Rumour Mill : As tempting as it is, rumour mills have killed a LOT of M&A. The info should be under lock and key 6. Information Guardrails : Sharing all your data with a really close competitor? Again, use escrow above, get a TOP tier legal team, hell you can keep certain information like suppliers/vendors/customer data as conditional upon execution of documents and partial payment. Same thing with your codebase for tech-heavy companies. Founders who've been through this, chip in with more! #venturecapital #startups #mergers #acquisitions

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Funding advice to all founders: the stuff no one tells you. Founders act like they suddenly need money. So they show up to VCs they haven’t spoken to in 8 months with a random deck and no context. Don’t do that. Here’s what I’d tell any founder prepping to raise: 1. Start the conversations early. Not to pitch but to learn. Reach out to investors in your network, and just get their advice. Low pressure. High value. Let them see your curiosity and conviction. 2. Send monthly updates even if they have passed on you One email. Your learnings, insights, progress. Helps the VC build comfort and keeps you top of mind. Because when they do hear your pitch later, they won’t need 50 slides to catch up. 3. Don’t chase “top-tier” funds first. Talk to the accessible ones. They’ll often go deeper, move faster, and genuinely want to help. They don’t see 200 deals a week so you’ll get time, not templates. 4. Do reference checks. Not all money is the same. Ask around: • What happens when things go wrong? • Do they back out last minute? • Do they micromanage the founder? You’re not just raising capital. You’re picking a co-pilot. Founders please choose wisely!

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