Frequently asked questions

UniQuest will perform initial due diligence on your opportunity and if the proposal looks sound, you will be asked to fill in a short application form (Investment Application Form). More advanced due diligence will then be performed and depending on the amount of capital being requested you may be asked to pitch to our Investment Advisory Committee.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to qualifying as a great investment—but to be competitive you should ideally have a new technology, valuable intellectual property, strong early market validation, founders with exceptional credentials, a strong business model, a realistic and attainable target market, potential for sustained growth and a credible path to return for investors.

The Extension Fund has a broad investment mandate, not limited to any particular sector, industry or business model. The Extension Fund is interested in a broad range of technology types. Examples of previous investment include—medical, food and beverage, renewable energy and agricultural technology-based companies. We simply require that an innovative technology is central to your product and/or service. 

Essential Investment Criteria: The UEFF will only invest in companies:

• where a proprietary technology solution is central to a product or service and where this technology provides a clear competitive edge and is central to the business plan of the company; and
• where an exit is possible (i.e. no investment in not-for-profit entities); and
• that are not listed on an exchange anywhere in the world; and
• with a scalable business model with a clear path to profitability; and
• with a demonstrable connection to UQ; and
• which demonstrate an understanding of the capital requirements to achieve a value inflexion point and there is compelling evidence of the feasibility of the exit strategy; and
• which can provide clarity on the addressable market opportunity and how that market will be reached; and
• that can show that the market is capable of supporting a sufficiently sized exit to provide appropriate return on investment; and
• which comply with the UniQuest’s Environmental Social Governance Policy.

The Fund only invests in companies with a demonstrable connection to UQ, by at least one of the founder investees:

(Research catchment)

• having an existing research relationship with UQ; or
• being about to commence (pending investment) a fully-funded research project with UQ; or
• having a licence or assignment of UQ intellectual property.

(Student catchment)

• having at least one Founder who is a currently enrolled student of UQ who retains an active role in the company. Exchange students cannot request investment; or
• participating in an incubator, accelerator, growth lab or venture studio programme administered by UQ including iLab, EmPower and Momentum

(Alumni catchment)

• having at least one Founder who retains an active governance or management role in the business who is also an alumni of UQ; or
• having graduated from an incubator, accelerator, growth lab or venture studio programme administered by UQ including iLab, EmPower and Momentum.

The team at the Extension Fund look to support your business.

We facilitate introductions to our industry networks including (UQ academics, industry experts, consultants, etc.), other venture capitalists and key opinion leaders to help solve problems, connect with you to support, and ultimately increase the value of your business.

As we are a small dynamic team we try to find balance between growing our companies actively and allowing them to do what they do best.

Although the Extension Fund doesn’t explicitly overlook any industry or sector, here are some examples of less desirable attributes:

• Incrementally better (“me too”) solutions in crowded markets
• Technology that relies excessively on 3rd party data/access
• Businesses chasing markets or trends
• Historically poor use of capital
• ‘Solutions looking for problems’
• Products that require significant investment or long runways before going to market
• Teams that do not collaborate well

Please don’t approach us with: 

• Opportunities that conflict with our ESG policy 
• Opportunities that are not critically dependent on proprietary technology 
• Opportunities where there is not a strong Founder link to UQ 

Deal terms must not include: 

• Non-compete clauses. 

Deal terms must include: 

• Information Rights regardless of the Financial Instrument used. 

• Clear articulation of the pre and post investment capitalisation. 

• Subscription for or converting into the highest ranked share class. 

Shareholder Rights: 

Must include the ability to vote on approval of: 

• any changes to the rights associated with any particular share class; 

• issuance of a new share class with different rights to an existing class; 

• a change to the nature of the business; 

• an asset sale; 

• a mortgage or encumbrance over the assets of the Company; 

• a change of control. 

Highly desirable 

• The option to transfer the UniQuest shareholding to an Affiliate without consent. 

• Pre-emptive rights 

• Transferable pre-emptive rights 

• Participating liquidation preference 

The diagram below outlines an example of the data room we typically expect to see for companies we are looking to invest into. This may, of course, vary depending on the nature and stage of the company.

If you are an Alumni company requesting more than $100,000 our Investment Process is outlined below (subject to variability on timing depending on complexity of investment opportunity).

The University of Queensland is a rich source of investable opportunities across a broad range of technology areas. Further, UniQuest is a leader in commercialisation of intellectual property (IP), growing new start-ups and leveraging a rich pool of key industry connections to grow businesses towards meaningful impact.

The University ranks in the Top 50 Universities Globally (QS Rankings). UniQuest is a demonstrated leader in early stage commercialisation and represents a high-profile investor for your capitalisation table.

The Extension Fund has a broad investment mandate, not limited to any particular sector, industry or business model. The Extension Fund is interested in a broad range of technology types, examples of previous investment include—medical, food and beverage, renewable energy and agricultural technology-based companies. We simply require that an innovative technology is central to the product and/or service.

UniQuest reduces investment risk by performing extensive due diligence on attractive investments, analysing financial position and projections, market fit, competitive landscape, technical merit, IP position and strategy, corporate structure and many other vital characteristics of the company.