OneVentures fund realises $116.2m on investment in Employment Hero

The news: Sydney-based venture capital firm OneVentures has notched up returns of $116.2 million in its Growth Fund II, after completing a secondary transaction in human resources technology firm Employment Hero.

The numbers: The nearly $70 million transaction was structured in two parts: the fund directly sold shares worth $30 million into the startup’s funding round in October; it also formed a $38 million continuation secondary fund along with local and South-East Asian investors keen to retain exposure to the company.

The context: OneVentures said its investment in Employment Hero had alone returned 1.5x the value of the entire $75 million Innovation and Growth Fund II. It had already sold $50 million of its holding to US VC Insight Partners in 2021.

What they said: “Providing liquidity options for investors and ensuring we can exit our fund positions, particularly as we move towards end-of-fund life is critical. Direct secondaries into large growth rounds and continuation vehicles provide exit mechanisms for venture capital managers and we have capitalised on this,” OneVentures Managing Director Dr Michelle Deaker said.