Gates, not paperwork for its own sake
Stage gates exist so support matches venture maturity: what evidence is sufficient for the next milestone, which risks remain material, and which partner conversations are realistic now versus later.
Evidence generation is treated as a strategic sequence — not a catalogue of studies. The aim is to avoid over-building before assumptions are tested, while still meeting standards serious partners expect.
Network support is selective: introductions where diligence and governance can be maintained, and where the narrative is concrete enough to respect partners' time.
Stage definitions and partner mechanisms are being finalised.
Stage 01
Source and select
- Identify innovations aligned to unmet need, evidence maturity, and credible venture potential.
- Apply diligence frameworks suited to academic and clinical governance — not generic scoring templates.
Stage 02
Stage 1 de-risking
- Fund and support work that removes the next material uncertainties: technical, regulatory, or commercial.
- Align evidence plans with the decision that matters next for partners and investors.
Stage 03
Gate review
- Formal checkpoint: advance, change scope, or stop — so capital is not spent on drift.
- Transparent criteria as they are finalised; no implied guarantee of progression.
Stage 04
Stage 2 scale-up
- Deeper build: narrative, operating plan, team gaps, and partner-ready materials.
- Active incubation with decision-grade progress markers — subject to final operating settings.
Stage 05
Partner and capital pathways
- Facilitate introductions where timing, diligence, and governance align across industry, clinical, and investor networks.
- Infrastructure built with partners — not a competing parallel track.
What gates assess
Gate reviews are not administrative checkpoints. They are the points where a venture's assumptions are stress-tested by people with category expertise, and where the decision to advance, pivot, or stop is made with transparency.
Gate decisions are made by the independent advisory board with operator input — not by Proto Axiom alone. In a stage-gated model, an early stop is a success: capital preserved, team redirected, lesson captured.
Platform intake
The first platform cohort is planned for 2026–27, once governance is confirmed and selection criteria are published. The ecosystem work this builds on — Challenger Summit, Pitch for Health, the AusBiotech collaboration and related convenings — is detailed on the Impact page.
Timelines are indicative and subject to governance and program design confirmation.
What success looks like
Success is not measured by the number of ventures admitted. It is measured by whether the platform produces investable, evidence-ready companies that attract follow-on capital and advance toward patients.
6–8 SMEs
Incubated over 5 years
Each selected through open, competitive processes with independent review. Fewer ventures, deeper support.
Majority
Progress to follow-on capital
Ventures exit the platform with evidence plans, regulatory clarity, and investor-ready narratives that attract Series A or partnership capital.
Decision-grade
Evidence plans from day one
Every venture works to evidence sequences aligned to what regulators, payers, and investors will ask for next — not generic study catalogues.
$5M
Per SME (up to)
Milestone-linked funding tied to de-risking steps, not undifferentiated runway. Capital deployed when gates are cleared.
National
Reach across institutions
Innovations sourced from universities, hospitals, and early companies across Australia — not limited to a single campus or city.
Institutional
Governance standard
Independent advisory board, conflict-of-interest protocols, and transparent reporting that meets government co-funder expectations.
The team behind delivery
Proto Axiom brings a 30-person pharma-grade operations team to platform delivery — not a small grant administration office. Capabilities span investment diligence, clinical and regulatory strategy, company building, and capital markets, led by a leadership team that has built 8 portfolio companies from Australian university science with A$45M raised across 33 investors.
Lindsay Wu, PhD
Chief Science Officer
Tony Haddad
Operating Partner
Laura Wimberger, PhD
Investment Associate
Charlie Selth
Chief of Staff
Full operator team details on the governance page.
These are aspirational targets informed by program design. Final metrics and reporting frameworks will be confirmed with governance settings.