Folklore Ventures — Analysis
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This analysis is aimed at giving Australian startup founders the information they need to strategically assess investor's suitability for their business when raising capital.
This analysis complements Startup-Funding.com.au, which is a free community resource that focuses solely on assisting startup founders to strategically search and screen suitable Australian investors and lenders.
Previous Analysis Here:
- Our Innovation Fund
- Equity Venture Partners
- Australian Seed Stage Funding Analysis — For Founders!!!
- Australian Startup Ecosystem Funding Analysis — For Founders!!!
Folklore Ventures (Tempus Partners) is an Australian VC that has a diverse and experienced team investing primarily in B2B software but with their third fund currently being raised, they are expanding into deep tech.
Updated 4-April-2021: Tempus Partners renamed itself to Folklore Ventures
Folklore Ventures (Tempus Partners) Background
Founding Date: 2013
Offices: Sydney
Cheque Sizes: $500k — $3m
Fund 1: launched in 2015
Fund 2: $35m launched in 2017
Fund 3: currently raising their third fund
Website: folklore.vc/
Management Team Cred: Made up of an experienced team of contemporary founders, operators and investors, including an impressive founder exit and a former employee of 3 US and Australian unicorns. | folklore.vc/team
Stated Tech Focus: Software, Hardware, Deep Tech (AI, Advanced Materials, Drones & Robotics, Quantum Computing, IoT, Photonics & Electronics, Bio)
Stated Sector Focus: Sector agnostic but heavy focus on Health & Medical, Transport & Logistics, Software and other business-related sectors
Stated Business Model Focus: B2B (SME & Enterprise)
Other Thematics: Future of Work, Automation, SaaS, Human Interface Technology, Advanced Research
Stated Stage Focus: Seed (some Series A)
Other Useful Links: Fund Story | Investment Notes | Newsletter
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Founding Team Stats
Total Portfolio Founders: 28 across 14 teams
Gender: 29% of founding teams have at least 1 female founder (approx. 22% of founders in Australia are female — article)
Founding Team’s Median Age: ~34 years old (20 youngest/46 oldest)
Founding Team’s Median Domain Experience: ~8 years (3 years lowest/19 years highest)
Previously Founded at Least 1 Businesses by Founding Team: 71% Yes | 29% No
Startup Stats
Total Portfolio Startups: 14
Founders Per Startup: 1 Founder 14% | 2+ Founders 86%
Customer Focus: B2B 93% | B2C 7%
Tech Focus: 93% Software/Internet | 7% Hardware
Years in Operation at First Investment:
Sector Focus: Property & Real-Estate 21% | Health Care 21% | Finance 14% | Education 14%
Other Themes: SaaS, Security, Data, Organisation, Productivity
Portfolio Companies: Adviser Ratings, Ansarada, Aurelius Health, Auror, ExpenseCheck, FeatureFlow, Forever Network, HealthMatch, HappyCo, MentorLoop, Snug, Swoop Aero, Uptick, Wonde
Funding Round Stats
Total Rounds: 24
Initial Investments: 14
Follow-ons: 10
Initial Investments by Stage: 86% Seed | 14% Series A
Other Investment Preferences:
- Typically leads investments
- Frequently takes a board seat
Wrap-up
The Folklore (Tempus) management team has diverse experience in founding and operating contemporary technology businesses (including one large exit and 3 global unicorns), as well as investing, which positions them as invaluable for any founding team.
Based on the data, Folklore Ventures (Tempus Partners) likes to back companies early (69% within 2 years of inception) with ambitious founders that often have deep domain experience (72% with 6+ years). B2B software companies (~93%) with 2+ founders (86%) that have started at least 1 startup in the past (72%) will pique their interest.
Having said this, Folklore (Tempus) has backed more founders with lower domain experience than initially expected.
It is also important to note that Folklore (Tempus) is currently raising their third fund and they have signaled that their focus will widen from mainly B2B software to now include deep tech.
If you are thinking about reaching out to Folklore Ventures (Tempus Partners) then as always, make sure you are familiar with their current portfolio, the team and where your business fits into the portfolio and fund’s focus (complementary or adjacent).
Folkore’s (Tempus) Partner Hannah Field advised me that warm introductions are not necessary, and the team is happy to field direct inquiries on Twitter, LinkedIn, and direct email (hannah@folklore.vc).
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I’m the Aussie Startup Capital Nerd… My name is Warwick Donaldson and I specialise in Australian DeepTech and FinTech Seed and Series A capital raisings. To date I’ve worked on over 150 Pre-seed, Seed, and Series A fundraises. Hit me up if you’d like to chat.
