UNISEED APPOINTS NEW CEO
28 th November, Melbourne, Australia. The Board of
Uniseed would like to welcome Dr Peter Devine as the
new Chief Executive Officer of Uniseed Management Pty
Ltd (Uniseed), and thank the outgoing CEO, Mr Gareth
Dando, for his outstanding contribution to the organisation
over the last 5 years. We wish him every success with
his new venture Southern Cross Venture Partners.
Peter joined Uniseed in 2003 and transitions from his
role as Uniseed's Investment Director to CEO. He has
been responsible for Uniseed's investment activities,
and has played a pivotal role in the sourcing, selection
and management of investments.
Peter has extensive experience at board and executive
management levels in the commercialisation of early
stage technologies, having held senior R&D, business
development and commercialisation positions in a number
of Australian companies and Australian universities.
Before joining Uniseed, Peter was Vice President of
Business Development at Progen Industries Ltd. He was
Research, Development and Commercialisation Manager
at Brisbane-based PanBio Pty Ltd from 1996 to 2000 and
also worked in business development at UniQuest Pty
Ltd, the commercialisation arm of University of Queensland.
Peter holds a PhD from the University of Queensland
and received the Dean's Prize for his MBA Studies at
the Australian Graduate School of Management. He received
a Centenary Medal in 2003 for outstanding contribution
to the business of biotechnology. He is a Graduate and
Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
CONTACT :
Peter Devine
Chief Executive Officer
Uniseed Management Pty Ltd
Tel: 07-3365-3754
Mobile: 0409-631-581
E: p.devine@uniseed.com
About Uniseed:
Uniseed is the largest, most established pre-seed fund
in Australia, with $61 million in committed capital.
Shareholders include three of Australia's leading universities
(Universities of Queensland, NSW and Melbourne), plus
a major superannuation fund (Westscheme).
The fund has been highly successful, with 25 investments
to date, including co-investment or follow-on investment
with 11 local and 6 US venture capital funds, plus 2
local high net worth groups. Over $100 million in follow-on
investment, co-investment and grant funding has been
secured throughout this time. The fund had its first
exit last year (Wedgetail), and was awarded the “Best
Early Stage Deal of 2005” by the Australian Venture
Capital Association (AVCAL).
