TEN13 are thrilled to announce the promotion of Sophie Robertson to become a Partner within the firm, following three high-impact years as Head of Investor Relations.
At TEN13 we approach early-stage venture capital with a different lens. We didn’t set out to raise a fund, instead we are co-invest by design and have now built Australia and New Zealand’s largest network of early-stage investors, who help us source, diligence, support and invest in the next generation of category defining technology companies.
Sophie has played a pivotal role in our growth over the past three years, especially in a challenging market for attracting investor capital to this category. Through this promotion Sophie’s expertise and strategic vision will continue to drive TEN13's depth and engagement with our investor community.
This recognition underscores how important Sophie’s role leading our investor relations and capital formation function is to the success and continuity of TEN13. Unlike the traditional VC fund model, having an engaged network and investor base is a critical pillar in the continued success of our deal-by-deal investment model.
Stew Glynn
TEN13, Managing Partner and Co-founder
Get to know Sophie Robertson
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Where did your career journey begin?
I have spent my career in investment markets. The first 15 years with global Investment Bank, Credit Suisse (now UBS), covering institutional clients on public equity markets. In Sydney, this consisted of interfacing with portfolio managers and analysts at large superannuation and equity fund managers (e.g. AusSuper, Lazard etc) on listed equity investment opportunities across the ASX; and in London, this was expanded to covering European-based global equity fund managers and sovereign wealth funds (e.g. Fidelity, Norges etc) on listed equities across Asia Pacific. The expansion of my role to Asian listed equity markets (e.g. HK/China, Taiwan, etc) was instrumental in introducing me to the fast-growing, innovative and disruptive tech sectors in these markets, including being involved in the IPO of Alibaba in 2014.
What attracted you to the technology space?
Upon my return to Australia, I had to go searching in private markets to find the wide variety of fast-growing tech companies I’d grown to love covering across Asian markets, and ultimately lead a few Tech Conferences for Credit Suisse to further educate the bank’s client base on the opportunities emerging in this exciting yet nascent sector in Australia. Through that experience, I started to build my network across startups and VCs, and was not only enamoured with the fast growth, being in offence not defence (as was typical for an ASX100 blue chip company), and disruptive nature of these businesses… but also the people behind them, their huge ambition, collaborative nature and pay-it-forward mentality. Having commuted between Brisbane and Sydney for my final few years at CS (they were ahead of their time allowing remote working for someone on a trading floor!), I ultimately decided I wanted to do a career pivot and build a new career in the Australian startup ecosystem.
How did you pivot from investment banking to venture capital?
I completed an Executive MBA and also joined the Startmate Spring 2020 Women’s Fellowship - along with 100 other women keen to springboard their career out of ‘corporate Australia’ and into the world of startups. This was an incredible stepping stone in not only building my network and educating me on the job opportunities in the space, but also helping me hone in on my transferrable skill set and define my values.
Confident I wanted to find my next role in Brisbane (to be alongside my family), yet unsure whether I wanted to build (join a startup) or invest (join a VC), I arranged a bunch of coffee catch-ups and it didn’t take me long to realise that all these conversations were pointing me towards TEN13. Be it Matt Allen - my Startmate coach; Carl Hartmann - my old uni friend and serial tech founder; and even new connections such as Marc Orchard, there was a consensus building that TEN13 was the place for me.
TEN13 at the time was just over 1 year old, they’d deployed $10m and grown their LP base to about 160 people. It was a small yet fiercely smart and driven team, daring to be different and proving it could work at scale. They were the underdogs and early traction was incredible. It was the perfect balance of working at a ‘start-up’ whilst also leveraging my extensive investment market experience, albeit it in a new asset class where I could learn plenty of new tricks/get more tools in my toolkit, something I was itching to do.
Tell us about your journey at TEN13?
I joined TEN13 three years ago (April 2021), my first foray into the venture capital/start-up/fast growth technology world and it’s been a wild ride since. I’ve been blessed to have experienced the zero-interest-rate-fuelled exuberance of 2021 and subsequent ‘normalisation’ in tech markets, and am a firm believer you learn a lot more in a down-market. I’ve been fortunate to join two of our JETSTREAM study tours to San Francisco, hosting ~20 of our LPs in an enriching and immersive week catching up with the best-of-the best in Silicon Valley. I’ve been put out of my comfort zone speaking at public events, be it MC’ing multiple TEN13 Runway Conferences, moderating panels, contributing to panels, or reverse pitching. And I have thoroughly enjoyed every day where I get to meet amazing people from all walks of life looking to fuel the next generation of category defining companies.
What is next at TEN13?
TEN13 is not slowing down and my attention remains on investors and capital formation. We will persist in thoughtfully expanding our network of passionate investors across Australia and NZ, with a personal emphasis on uncovering and empowering more female investors. Our investments will continue to be supercharged by tapping into the collective wisdom and expertise within our network. Most excitingly, I look forward to the opportunities ahead as we further strengthen our presence in the family office and institutional spheres.
I am truly humbled by the chance to contribute to our firm's growth and success, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to my partners, colleagues, and investors for their trust, confidence, and unwavering support.
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