Former JPMorgan banker launches $157m AUKUS fund
Washington | Venture capital investor DYNE Maritime has launched a $US100 million ($157 million) fund to invest in maritime technologies related to the AUKUS military intelligence-sharing pact.
The fund will focus on investments in dual-use technologies – those with military and civilian applications – including innovations in ocean exploration and monitoring.
The fund has won cornerstone financial backing from Irongate Capital Advisors, a top US-based national security fund that has invested in dozens of technologies, from unmanned systems to communications app Wickr, which uses encrypted and content-expiring messages.
Capital is pouring into the defence and maritime industries. Getty
DYNE Maritime was started by Australian and former JPMorgan investment banker Matthew Kibble and former US Navy surface warfare and intelligence officer Tom Hennessey.
“In an increasingly fractured world, the acceleration of collaboration among allies is essential for the continued exploration, safe passage, and environmental protection of our oceans,” Mr Kibble told The Australian Financial Review.
“True partnerships driven by private technology innovation and national security knowhow will deliver security and prosperity.”
DYNE Maritime is expected to deploy funds within three months, with several investments lined up. Mr Hennessey said the war in Ukraine and now the conflict in Israel were driving greater interest in defence-related technology start-ups.
“It’s suddenly very in vogue to be working in the national defence space right now,” he said.
“A series of geopolitical events have really shaken up what is now seen as acceptable in Silicon Valley. Before this, Silicon Valley was a lot more cautious about working in the defence space.”
The fund has appointed two managing partners with reputations in ocean-related industries, including oceanographer Tim Gallaudet, a retired rear admiral in the US Navy who has served as under-secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in the US government.
Graham Talbot, who was previously chief financial officer for Seaspan, the world’s largest independent container ship leasing company, was also appointed.
The fund’s launch comes as AUKUS members Australia, the US and Britain move closer to implementing the pact, including removing export controls to transfer sensitive technology between countries, to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) that President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were set to discuss maritime investments at their White House meeting, including “undersea cable infrastructure and maritime infrastructure”.
Mr Kirby said the Biden administration was asking Congress for additional funding to expand the US submarine industrial base, which was connected to AUKUS. But “it’s also tied to our larger equities in the Indo-Pacific region... we have maintained a significant amount of military capability and a lot of that is naval capability”.
The US is stepping up the promotion of investments in the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s growing influence. The White House last week hosted an investor network of the Quad group, which comprises the US, Japan, India and Australia
Lael Brainard, director of the US National Economic Council and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo addressed the group of more than 40 business executives, who gathered to discuss joint investment in strategic goods such as cutting-edge semiconductors and critical minerals.
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