Lowering the barrier.
Not the bar.
We love giving back to the ecosystem. Spearheaded by our Partner Taryn Pieterse, the Giant Warm Intro is Australia's longest-running curated investor introduction program for early-stage founders. Since 2019, we've facilitated 1,200+ curated founder–investor meetings and tracked $10M+ in capital raised – often for founders who don't have an existing path to investors.
Taryn Pieterse
Taryn runs GWI personally – because giving back to the ecosystem starts with showing up for people who don't have a cap table yet. Since 2019 she's built GWI into Australia's most-recommended program for early-stage founders to meet active investors – with a focus on founders the rest of the industry tends to overlook. The point isn't to lower the bar. The point is to lower the barrier to getting in front of the bar.
To amplify the underrepresented.
Women and founders of underrepresented groups receive only a tiny share of Australian VC funding. We exist to change that – not by lowering the bar, but by lowering the barrier to getting in front of it. In the 2024 cohort, 87% of applicants identified as underrepresented, 38% as women, and 78% were at hyper-early stages. While we welcome all AUS/NZ tech founders, GWI especially focuses on founders the rest of the system keeps walking past.
Deep connections.
Not just intros.
A hybrid event every year – curated founder–investor matching, peer-driven small-group format, real space to share, ask, and walk away with feedback that lands. Most recently GWI x SOUTHSTART in Adelaide. Outcomes that go beyond the room.
Next intake announced soon.
Subscribe to find out when and where the next Giant Warm Intro will take place. Especially keen to hear from women and underrepresented founders.
