SYD Ventures

SYD Ventures

SYD Ventures was established in 2012 by Andrey Shirben, an Australian-Israeli serial entrepreneur who previously founded and exited multiple technology companies. The firm operates from Sydney and reflects Shirben's own operator experience, blending seed-stage investing with active support for founders. Yifat Shirben, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, serves as Partner and CMO and manages the firm's brand and portfolio-company marketing capabilities. Strategy centers on early-stage equity across enterprise software, fintech, digital health, and energy transition. SYD Ventures leads or co-leads pre-seed and seed rounds, typically with initial checks between $200,000 and $750,000, and reserves capital for follow-on participation through Series A. The firm's co-investment vehicle, Follow[the]Seed, a venture fund also co-founded by Andrey Shirben, provides additional institutional firepower for breakout portfolio companies. A separate vehicle, Gravity Capital, focuses on crypto and decentralized finance research. Shirben's role as an active Sydney Angels member generates proprietary top-of-funnel deal flow from Australia's early-stage ecosystem. Deployment spans Australia, the United States, Israel, and Southeast Asia. The firm has backed over 40 startups since inception. Portfolio exposure includes a combination of direct equity positions, syndicate deals through Sydney Angels, and select token investments via Gravity Capital. The dual structure — an operator-led venture firm alongside a dedicated follow-on fund — remains uncommon among Australian seed-stage investors. In 2024, the firm expanded its digital-asset research through Gravity Capital, signaling a structured rather than opportunistic posture toward Web3 infrastructure and decentralized finance protocols. SYD Ventures distinguishes itself through a capital structure that separates seed-stage optionality from concentrated follow-on conviction. Where most early-stage Australian firms either raise a single fund or operate as angel syndicates, Shirben runs both: a broad-opportunity seed vehicle for initial discovery and a thematic follow-on fund for compound deployment. This architecture lets the firm preserve exposure to its strongest performers without diluting its early-stage funnel. The husband-and-wife leadership team manages the strategy from its Bellevue Hill office, with Yifat Shirben's AICD governance training informing the firm's board-level engagement with portfolio companies.