History

Melbourne Ventures was formed in late 2003 to act as a central resource for commercialisation activity at the University of Melbourne. It continues the tradition established by its predecessor organisations, Melbourne Enterprises International (MEI) and the Ventures and Investment Division of Melbourne University Private, and draws on much of their accumulated experience.

Commercialisation at the University of Melbourne has a long and distinguished history. Many of the original patents behind Cochlear, one of Australia’s most successful biotech companies, were filed by the University. In addition, a number of listed technology companies can trace their history back to the University, including Iatia, Prana Biotechnology, and Bionomics. The University was also responsible for one of the most successful floats of a University business in 2001 when it raised $80m in the float of Melbourne IT.

More recently, the University has seen its technology put to use in Recaldent, a novel technology to remineralise teeth. Recaldent technology was developed by the University’s Professor Eric Reynolds, Head of the Department of Dentistry. University technology has also been the basis for the formation of 13 companies in the past three years, including Hatchtech and Fibrotech.