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Venture capital’s $6b ticking clock could reshape Aussie tech

Funds raised during the ZIRP boom face a 2025 deadline to deploy. It could spark a wave of rounds that may push Australian tech further offshore.

Kal Jamshidi Kal is the managing director of Mighty Partners.
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A looming deadline is forcing venture capital funds to deploy billions — with major implications for the local tech scene, writes Kal Jamshidi. Shutterstock.

The clock is ticking on $3.6 billion in Australian venture capital. Funds raised during the ZIRP boom have until roughly the end of 2025 to deploy their dry powder or watch their management fees collapse. The result is a coming wave of mega-rounds driven more by fund economics than business fundamentals.

It all comes down to timing. There’s now a powerful financial incentive for VCs to get their ZIRP-era dry powder out the door.

The mega-funds raised during the zero-interest-rate boom of 2020 to 2022 are nearing the end of their investment windows. When that window closes, so do the economics. General partners stand to lose millions of dollars in annual management fees — not to mention the potential upside from carry — if they fail to deploy their capital in time.

So the pressure to invest is real, and rising fast. That’s why we’re about to see a flurry of “Company X raises $150 million Series D” headlines, even if market fundamentals remain largely unchanged.

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