<article>National Australia Bank (NAB) is adding another $35.89 million (A$50 million) over the next two years into NAB Ventures, its corporate venture fund.</article>

National Australia Bank (NAB) is adding another $35.89 million (A$50 million) over the next two years into NAB Ventures, its corporate venture fund.
NAB Ventures was launched in July 2015 with an initial investment of $35.89 million (A$50 million). The fresh injection now brings the total fund size to $71.77 million (A$100 million) until 2020.
According to a statement, NAB Ventures has made 12 investments so far in Australia and overseas. Seven of these publicly announced startups are Data Republic, Medipass Solutions, Veem, Wave, Basiq, ActivePipe, BrickX. These startups focus on various fintech trends ranging from payment solutions to data exchange and property investment.
According to a Financial Review report, the proceeds will focus on data, artificial intelligence (AI), wealth management, agtech and cybersecurity.
NAB Ventures General Partner, Melissa Widner said: “We’ve spoken to thousands of start-ups, tracked more than 1500 companies and looked at more than 300 serious opportunities. We’re very strategic about the companies we invest in, being those start-ups we truly believe we can help grow and create long-term shared value.&#8221;
Australian banks have recently begun developing venture capital capabilities to keep themselves ahead of disruptive fintech trends.
ANZ Banking Group hired Ron Spector to take on the role of managing director of &#8220;new business emerging technology ventures&#8221; earlier this year. They also have a relationship with York Butter Factory, a Melbourne startup incubator.
Commonwealth Bank doesn&#8217;t have a VC fund but has been embarked on several fintech projects. In May, CBA launched a cloud accounting and business management software start-up Wiise with KPMG and Microsoft.

National Australia Bank invests $35.89m more into venture fund

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National Australia Bank invests $35.89m more into venture fund

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