home/team

A small crew
backing founders
through the cycles.

Rampersand was started by ex-operators who wanted to be the fund they wished they'd had. Twelve years on, four funds deep, same people, same principles. We believe the best VC is one that feels like a co-founder.

Funds4
Partners3
Founded2013
Offices2
Our story

We started Rampersand
because the alternatives
weren't good enough.

In 2013, Paul was an operator who kept meeting brilliant ANZ founders, and kept watching them try to raise from funds that didn't understand them, didn't show up, and often didn't keep their word. We thought: we could do this better.

We started small – Fund 1 was $5.4m invested, raised from people who'd worked with us before. The mandate was simple: back ambitious ANZ founders earliest, stay close, keep promises. Twelve years on, the mandate hasn't changed. The cheques are bigger, the team is bigger, the network is bigger, but the fundamentals are the same.

We've lived through two booms and three downturns. We've lost money, made money, pivoted with founders, led down rounds, celebrated IPOs, and closed a few companies with dignity. The thing that survived all of that – and the thing we're proudest of – is our reputation. Ask the founders we've backed. The answer should always be the same.

– Paul Naphtali, Founder & Managing Partner
How we show up

What we believe,
written down.

Principles only matter when the going gets hard. Here's what we hold ourselves to – across bulls, bears, and everything in between.

/01

Earn the cap table.

Founders give us equity; we give them capital. The rest – time, intros, work – is how we earn the equity. Capital alone is a commodity; we refuse to treat it like one.

/02

Reply to everyone.

No ghosting. No "let me come back to you next month." If we're not going to invest, we say so – with a reason. If we can help even when we don't invest, we do.

/03

Conviction is a practice.

We write down what we need to believe, then test it honestly. We'd rather pass on a deal we can't underwrite than chase heat.

/04

Small team, heavy work.

Four partners. Ten people. Deliberately small. The person who does diligence with you is the same person on the other end of the phone three years later.

/05

The long game is the only game.

Our careers are measured in decades. The worst thing we could do is burn a reputation for a return. The reputation is the return.

/06

We invest in people first.

Markets shift, products change, theses evolve. Founders are the constant. If we're wrong on the founder, the rest doesn't matter.

The crew

Small by design.
Senior by default.

Three partners, an operations lead, a senior associate, and four venture partners who put real time in with our founders. The person who leads your deal stays with you – from first cheque through every round after.

Partners & Operators 04 HUMANS
Venture Partners 05 HUMANS
Two offices · all over Australia

Where you'll find us.

We're based all over Australia, with our two main offices in Melbourne and Sydney.

MelbourneHQ
Open · 09:42 AEDT
11–13 Cubitt Street
Cremorne VIC 3121
Sydney
Open · 09:42 AEDT
Level 1, 251 Riley Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Work with us

We're not hiring.
Our portfolio is.

No open roles at Rampersand right now. If you'd like us to keep your name on file for when something comes up, email hello@rampersand.com. The more direct path into our world is below – open roles at the companies we back.

How we help our companies hire.

Three ways the firm shows up on hiring for portfolio:

/01 Senior hires

The Connected Network.

We run targeted shortlist searches for portfolio CEOs through our operator-bench – partner-led, not LinkedIn-spam. Director, VP and C-suite hires across product, engineering, sales and ops.

/02 Junior & mid roles

Posting via Hatch.

Hatch is a Rampersand portfolio company and the platform we use to fill junior-to-mid roles. Used by Dovetail, Spriggy, Hnry – fast, founder-friendly, and free for our founders to post.

/03 Specialist talent

Operator referrals.

The Product Counsel and Code & Coffee crews vet senior product, engineering and AI talent for portfolio. The hardest hires – the ones every founder dreads – we work on with you.

Open roles in portfolio.

8 companies hiring · curated this week

List curated weekly. Roles change fast – the linked careers pages are the source of truth. Spotted an outdated entry? tell us.