08:30

WELCOME | Welcome remarks from the Australian Defence Magazine

Ewen Levick, Publisher, The Australian Defence Magazine

08:35

OPENING | Opening remarks from the Chair

Mark Stevens, Managing Partner, Periscope Partners

OPENING UP AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE ECOSYSTEM TO PRIVATE INVESTMENT

08:40

International Keynote Address | Attracting and Scaling Private Capital for Defense and National Security in the US

• Advancing the mission to develop, integrate, and implement proven partnered capital strategies to shape and scale investment in critical technologies
• The guiding framework for OSC programs to complement existing DoD and US government programs
• Determine technologies to prioritize for investment
• Establishing a collaborative approach to working with private capital markets for national and economic security

LT Graham ‘’Gray” Chynoweth, Director Global Investments, Office of Strategic Capital, US Department of Defense

09:00

Fireside Chat – Office of Strategic Capital and The Australian Defence Magazine

LT Graham ‘’Gray” Chynoweth, Director Global Investments, Office of Strategic Capital, US Department of Defense
Ewen Levick, Publisher, The Australian Defence Magazine

09:20

International Keynote Address | The role, aims and aspirations of the NATO Investment Fund, the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund for defence innovation

• How the fund works, what it is looking to invest in
• Supporting deep technology innovators in providing solutions to NATO’s most critical defence, security, and intelligence challenges
• Connections with other funds such as NATO’s DIANA and the European Investment Fund
• Case studies of recent investments.

Chris O’Çonnor, Partner, NATO Innovation Fund

09:50

International Case Study | Case Study: Defence Financing – The UK Experience

• The appeal of ‘Duel-use’ technology
• What UK VCs look for in Defence investments
• How to position a start-up for investment

William McManners, Managing Partner, MD One Ventures – The European National Security VC

10:20

Morning tea

10:50

Case study: Launching Australia’s first $1bn Defence and National Security fund.

• Working closely with Defence to understand future capability requirements.
• Supporting companies to access global supply chains for AUKUS Pillar One
• Opportunities for Pillar Two investments

Mark Stevens, Managing Partner, Periscope Partners

11:20

Understanding the changes in Defence Procurement Strategy

• The move from a balanced to a focussed force and what this means for industry
• Defence’s current procurement pipeline.
• What will be the focus of future procurement strategies?
• Which technologies and capabilities should we be investing in?

VADM (Ret’d) Peter Jones AO DSC, Director, Maxa Partners

11:50

Financing AUKUS Pillar II: Building a multi-sovereign public-private innovation fund

• How a trilateral Pillar II investment fund could facilitate a uniform investment strategy, aligned to government-defined aims and objectives for AUKUS;
• Creating an innovation ecosystem to match predictable and consistent capital with promising start-ups;
• How a trilateral fund seeded with public and private capital could make investments go further, faster.

Sophie Mayo, Research Associate Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Study Centre

12:20

Panel Discussion: Assessing the appetite of Financial Institutions to invest in Australia’s Defence Sector

• What are banks and superfunds looking for when making investment decisions in the Defence sector?
• Can and should Governments do more to encourage an upturn in investment in this sector?
• Addressing the ESG risks and challenges in investing in Defence

Misha Zelinsky, Director, Australian Super
Kirsten Bernhardt, Investment Manager, Artesian
Nick O’Brien, Managing Director and Head of Consumer and Industrials, Westpac Institutional Bank
Moderated by Dr Alan Dupont AO, CEO, Cognoscenti Group

13:00

Lunch

14:00

Supporting Australian defence businesses to go global.

• Supporting direct exports, and supply chains in Australia and overseas
• Crowding in private sector finance
• Providing working capital, finance for expansion and buyer finance

Andrew Perkins, Head of Partner Sales, Export Finance Australia

14:30

Investing in pre-seed and early-stage Defence technology

• The role of emerging technology in shaping by Defence and National Security operations.
• To invest or not to invest? – key factors influencing venture capital investment in Defence start-ups.
• From deal to scale. What is the model for investment and growth in early-stage Defence tech.

Oscar Leslie, Managing Partner, Phase Alpha

15:00

Afternoon Tea

15:30

Backing businesses that are building sovereign capability

• Successfully managing Australia’s only purpose-built $540m capital growth fund dedicated to SMEs
• What do we invest in and how do the partnerships work?
• Case study: Investing in 3ME Technology to enable an upscale of the business

Tim Haden, Director Origination, Australian Business Growth Fund
Justin Bain, CEO, 3ME Technology

16:00

Accessing US government rapid procurement vehicles for allied nations, including in advanced prototyping and experimentation. 

• US government’s ‘Build Allied’ initiative for an allied defence industrial base.
• The fusion of dual-use technology, private capital and rapid procurement vehicles linked to contracts.
• Challenges and opportunities for allied nations.
• Case study: Other Transaction vehicles for allied nations’ advanced prototyping and experimentation.

Guy Boekenstein, Director – Australia, Armatus Inc.

16:30

Legal considerations for private investors in sovereign projects

• Landscape for private investment in sovereign capability under Australian law
• International regulatory considerations under the AUKUS Pact
• Navigating the Defence and Commonwealth legal system

Steven Patrick, Former General Counsel and Head of Strategy, DMTC

17:00

Closing Remarks and Networking Drinks