- NRFC partners with Brandon Capital to accelerate the creation and commercialisation of Australian-developed innovations including therapeutics, medical devices, and vaccines.
- Investment of $150 million will be allocated to the Brandon BioCatalyst 6 fund (BB6) and will be dedicated to backing early and late-stage Australian medical science companies, supporting business formation, technical and clinical development, skilled jobs creation and commercial growth.
- This investment means the NRFC has exceeded its $550 million investment target for the 2025 financial year.
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) today announces that it is partnering with leading life science venture capital firm Brandon Capital to help bring more Australian medical innovations to market.
The $150 million investment, allocated to Brandon Capital’s BB6 fund, will see the NRFC delivering on its commitment to support Australian-developed therapeutics, vaccines, and medical devices and marks a major step forward in translating world-class research into real-world health solutions.
NRFC CEO David Gall said, “Australia produces some of the world’s best medical research, but these promising discoveries are often lost offshore at the point of commercialisation and Australian medical manufacturing makes up only 0.3 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product.”
“Our partnership with Brandon Capital will help to ensure that more of Australia’s world-class medical innovation makes the full onshore journey from laboratory to commercial viability so that highly skilled jobs can contribute to Australia’s commercialisation of important medical innovation."
"Medical science has long development timelines, and it is important for the NRFC to make early and considered investments in the sector to attract the talent and capital that we will need to build our local commercialisation capabilities. If we want medical science jobs and industries to exist in Australia in ten years, we need to invest in them today."
The NRFC’s investment will bolster Australia’s sovereign medical manufacturing capability, building long-term resilience in the nation’s medical science ecosystem, while helping to crowd-in future private capital. Other investors in Brandon Capital’s BB6 fund include Hostplus, HESTA, QIC, the WA Government and CSL.
Brandon Capital Founding Partner and Managing Director, Dr Chris Nave said, “The allocation from the NRFC takes Brandon Capital’s BB6 fund to $439 million in committed capital, making it Brandon’s largest fund to date.”
“The NRFC’s investment will support some of Australia’s most promising biomedical companies, providing the level of funding required to support the development and commercialisation of their novel technologies and importantly, enabling them to do this from an Australian base.”
“The NRFC’s investment is a vote of confidence in the future of Australian medical science, providing the opportunity for more of our local innovations to be developed into life-saving medical products, as well as creating jobs and income for the country.”
While the NRFC’s investment allocation will primarily help late-stage ventures to grow, complete clinical development and pursue regulatory approval, a third of the funding will also be dedicated to early-stage ventures to help support the next generation of medical breakthroughs.
NRFC Chief Investment Officer, Dr Mary Manning said, “Our investment in Brandon Capital caps off a strong year for the NRFC and this investment puts our combined investments above the financial year target of $550 million.”
“Our partnership with Brandon will help us to achieve our broader goals of deploying capital into the medical science priority area and commercialising Australian innovation and technology."
“Brandon Capital’s depth and breadth of expertise will help us to build a diversified portfolio in the medical sciences priority area with exposure to both early-stage ventures and scaled-up manufacturing.”
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Media contact: media@nrf.gov.au
About the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC)
The NRFC invests to diversify and transform Australia’s industry and economy. It has $15 billion to invest using direct loans, equity investments and loan guarantees. The NRFC investment mandate covers seven priority areas including value-add in resources; transport; medical science; defence capability; renewables and low emission technologies; value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries; and enabling capabilities.
The NRFC’s role is to invest in Australian businesses and projects that design, refine and make in order to transform capability, grow jobs and a skilled workforce, and diversify our economy. NRFC is a corporate Commonwealth entity, established by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Act 2023 (NRFC Act) in September 2023.
For more information, visit nrf.gov.au
About Brandon Capital
Brandon Capital is Australasia’s leading life sciences venture capital firm, with over $1 billion in funds under management it has offices in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The firm invests in early-stage and high-growth medical science companies providing them with the capital and expertise they need to transform their cutting-edge research into globally impactful medical products.
Brandon Capital has been transforming ANZ’s world-leading science into world-leading businesses for nearly two decades and through Brandon BioCatalyst, the medical research institute collaborative network they operate, Brandon Capital partners with entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors to build the next generation of healthcare solutions.
Learn more at brandoncapital.vc(Opens in a new tab/window)