Founded in 2014, Folklore Ventures is a leading Australian venture capital firm investing in early stage software and advanced technology start-ups. As of August 2025, Folklore oversees two ESVCLPs: Folklore Ventures Fund 2 and Folklore Ventures Fund 3.

Investors in Folklore funds include institutions, family offices and sophisticated private investors seeking exposure into high-growth Australian technology businesses and investments managed by an experienced funds manager.

The Folklore team brings deep founding and operational experience to the firm, having built and scaled contemporary technology companies across the United States, UK, Europe and Australia. Leveraging nearly 80 years of collective first-hand experience, they provide founders with capital, strategic support and practical operating insights through their 'Support Stack' offering.

Folklore takes an industry-agnostic approach to selecting investee companies, as long as software is at the core of their competitive advantage.

The Folklore investment strategy capitalises on the innovation and ambition of local talent in Australia and New Zealand, with a history of producing successful business-focused technology companies, as demonstrated by the A$300+ billion of shareholder value created by local B2B technology companies over the last 25 years.

Supporting local founders scale life changing companies - meet HealthMatch

In 2018, Folklore invested in HealthMatch, an Australian technology company accelerating medical breakthroughs by making clinical trials more accessible to everyone. Founded by Dr. Manuri Gunawardena, HealthMatch is reshaping drug discovery and clinical trials, an industry that acts as a bottleneck for over $200B of pharmaceutical R&D. 

Having already secured a foothold in the Asia-Pacific market, the company now partners with leading pharmaceutical providers in the US, a market that suffers the most from drug trial inefficiency and complexity.

Features

  • Folklore Ventures is a leading Australian venture capital firm that backs the next generation of Australia and New Zealand’s ‘impossible’ companies.
  • Folklore-backed HealthMatch built software to assist in accelerating medical breakthroughs, by aiding efficiency in clinical trial placement and management.
  • Since Folklore’s first investment, HealthMatch has established key pharmaceutical partnerships worldwide, currently gaining market share in the US. Since inception, HealthMatch has registered over 2 million patients and recruited for 558 clinical trials, as of August 2025.
Folklore continues to support HealthMatch, since its first investment in 2018. Their belief in the company and its founder continues, as the company continues to deliver a material change to healthcare globally.

How the Government has helped

The ESVCLP program ensures that venture capital fund managers like Folklore Ventures can invest in entrepreneurial start-ups like HealthMatch. Investing in start-ups boosts Australia’s investment in its own technology ideas with massive benefits for the broader economy.