Exceptional Innovation. Curated Investment Opportunities.

Access to university-originated companies with the potential to shape tomorrow’s industries.

PrimaryMarkets is pleased to present a curated selection of investment opportunities originated by Out The Back Ventures, connecting sophisticated investors with emerging companies born from leading university research and innovation ecosystems.

OTB Ventures identifies, originates and curates companies with the potential to translate world-class research, intellectual property and technological innovation into commercially scalable businesses.

Each opportunity presented through this channel has been originated and curated by Out The Back Ventures, with the underlying companies progressing through its investment and due diligence process before being presented to investors.

About Out The Back Ventures

7 companies created since 2023

2 companies now within listed companies

$13.3 million in government grants and research tax refunds

$19.9 million in private capital attracted

Out The Back Ventures works alongside universities, national laboratories, research institutions and researchers internationally to identify promising frontier technologies and build companies around scientific discoveries.

Its role extends beyond identifying investment opportunities. OTB brings together intellectual property, technical development, commercial strategy, management, funding and industry relationships to help transform research into investable businesses.

By combining technology origination and company creation with commercialisation expertise and access to private capital and other funding pathways, OTB works to advance frontier technologies towards commercial application.

Please ensure this positioning is reflected consistently throughout the page, including the opening introduction where appropriate.

Why Out The Back Ventures?

Origination

Access opportunities sourced directly from university and research ecosystems, providing exposure to companies at the intersection of scientific discovery, intellectual property and commercialisation.

Curation

Out The Back Ventures applies an investment-led selection process to identify companies it believes demonstrate compelling technology, commercial potential and scalable opportunities.

Due Diligence

Opportunities undergo due diligence and assessment by Out The Back Ventures prior to being presented through this channel, providing investors with an additional layer of screening and analysis.

Access

A single destination to explore selected investment opportunities that may otherwise be difficult for sophisticated investors to identify and access directly.

Making Capital Work Harder

Out The Back Ventures works to identify and access relevant university funding, government grants, research programs and R&D incentives alongside private investment, where available and applicable.

By combining these funding pathways, OTB aims to support technical development and commercialisation while potentially extending the impact of private capital.

This integrated approach is an important part of OTB's model, helping companies progress from early-stage research towards commercially viable businesses.

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How it works

From Research to Commercialisation

Universities and research institutions are generating technologies capable of addressing some of the world's most significant challenges. The opportunity lies in identifying the companies capable of taking those technologies from research and intellectual property through to commercialisation.

Out The Back Ventures seeks to identify these opportunities early, work with the underlying companies and curate a pipeline of businesses with the potential to create significant long-term value.

The Team Behind Out The Back Ventures

Keong Chan

Managing Director and co-founder

More than twenty years in early stage investing. Sits on the investment committee of the UK’s Henry Royce Institute.

John Rock

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder

Twenty five years starting, building and selling businesses. Joined the Iondrive board after its acquisition.

Dr Jasper Holman

Impact Partner, Europe and UK

PhD from Cambridge. Fourteen years at BP, then Vitol. Invests alongside OTB when a company is formed.

Dr Chris Burns

Partner, United States

Co-founder and former chief executive of NOVONIX, a listed battery materials company.

Steve Martin

Investment Partner

Leads licence terms, agreements with institutions and deal structuring.

"We spend about a third of our time each in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and bring in specialists for each company."

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Discover the Opportunities

Explore a selection of companies developing technologies and solutions across emerging and high-growth sectors.

Each opportunity provides investors with access to information on the company, its technology and commercial proposition, key milestones achieved, capital requirements and the investment opportunity.

Want to learn more?

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