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Atlassian
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar launched Atlassian in 2002 after graduating from the University of New South Wales, bootstrapping the company to a...
Atlassian
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar launched Atlassian in 2002 after graduating from the University of New South Wales, bootstrapping the company to a 2015 NASDAQ listing without venture capital. The collaboration-tools business — known for Jira, Confluence, and Trello — generated fortunes for both founders, with Cannon-Brookes's net worth pegged at roughly $12 billion by the Australian Financial Review's 2025 Rich List. While Farquhar largely invests through Skip Capital, Cannon-Brookes channels the majority of his capital and attention through Grok Ventures, a Sydney-based family office that operates with a concentrated, high-conviction mandate. Grok Ventures manages a multi-billion-dollar portfolio spanning venture capital, public equities, private credit, and direct infrastructure stakes. The firm's most visible commitment is decarbonization: Cannon-Brookes led a contested $5.4 billion takeover bid for AGL Energy alongside Brookfield in 2022 to accelerate the utility's coal exit, then acquired a significant stake in Sun Cable, the world's largest solar-energy export project, out of administration in 2023 (per the Australian Financial Review, 2023). Grok has also backed Australian fintech unicorn Zeller, cultivated-meat company Vow, and advanced computing player Psivant, while maintaining a concentrated position in Atlassian stock that serves as the portfolio's liquid anchor. Geographic focus tilts heavily toward Australia, with selective US and Southeast Asian exposures. Cannon-Brookes operates Grok Ventures with a lean team that includes professionals drawn from investment banking, energy markets, and technology operations. The office shares DNA with the Atlassian operating culture — highly autonomous, anti-bureaucratic, and skeptical of traditional asset-management conventions. In September 2024, Scott Farquhar stepped away from day-to-day responsibilities at Atlassian, further distinguishing the two founders' post-operating trajectories: Cannon-Brookes remains Co-CEO of the software company while actively steering Grok's direct-investment agenda and climate philanthropy. Grok Ventures is structurally distinct from most tech-derived family offices in two respects. First, it acts as a private, hybrid investment platform — both a direct investor capable of leading complex infrastructure syndicates and a limited partner in Australia's emerging venture- capital ecosystem. Second, Cannon-Brookes's approach fuses operating, balance sheet, and policy influence: the AGL/Sun Cable campaigns were not passive bets but active interventions in Australia's energy transition, blurring the line between asset management and civil-society pressure.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2002
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Oceania
Country
Australia
City
Sydney
Corporate office
Sydney, Australia
Principals
Mike Cannon-Brookes
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Scott Farquhar
Co-Founder & Co-CEO (until Aug 2024)
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Grok Ventures?
Mike Cannon-Brookes is the ultimate decision-maker. The investment team operates with his direct involvement on major commitments, particularly in energy transition and climate infrastructure. The office maintains a deliberately small headcount relative to its capital base, avoiding the committee-heavy governance common among institutional peers.
Is Grok Ventures a family office or does it operate more like a venture firm?
Grok Ventures is a single-family office that manages Mike Cannon-Brookes's personal capital, not a venture firm raising outside funds. However, its investment behavior — concentrated direct stakes, growth-stage venture checks, and infrastructure takeovers — mirrors an active asset manager with a permanent-capital base. The office does not report to external limited partners.
What investment stages does Grok Ventures typically target?
The office invests across the full lifecycle: early-stage venture (often Australian-founded startups with global ambitions), growth equity, public equities, and control-oriented infrastructure projects. The Sun Cable and AGL Energy campaigns represent the large-scale end of that spectrum, while positions like Zeller and Vow reflect earlier-stage conviction bets.
Which sectors does Grok Ventures explicitly avoid?
The office has not published an exclusion list, but Cannon-Brookes's public commentary and the portfolio composition suggest an active avoidance of thermal coal, oil and gas extraction, and industries incompatible with a net-zero trajectory. Grok also appears to avoid consumer-packaged-goods and traditional retail.
How does Grok Ventures source proprietary deal flow?
A significant share of deal flow originates from Cannon-Brookes's network within Australian technology and energy policy circles, augmented by Atlassian's global relationships. The office also leverages its standing as a non-traditional, long-horizon counterparty: the AGL and Sun Cable situations both involved complex public-facing negotiations where a conventional institutional investor would have been structurally unlikely to lead.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The wealth originates from Atlassian Corporation, the Sydney-founded, NASDAQ-listed enterprise software company behind Jira, Confluence, and Trello. Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar co-founded Atlassian in 2002 without venture funding, retaining substantial equity through the 2015 IPO. Cannon-Brookes's stake has consistently placed him among Australia's five richest individuals (per the Australian Financial Review Rich List, 2025).
Does Grok Ventures maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
Cannon-Brookes has signed the Giving Pledge and channels philanthropic activity through the Boundless Earth foundation and other vehicles, with a focus on climate advocacy. Philanthropy and investment are operationally distinct — Boundless Earth makes grants, while Grok seeks risk-adjusted returns — but the climate thesis runs consistently through both arms, reinforcing a unified decarbonization posture.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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