Tools for researchers and founders to increase value through growth and innovation

When people hear “Renaissance” they identify it with rebirth and a period in European civilisation that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom.

There were aspects of that period which made rebirth possible:

  • Innovation happing at an intersection of fields, disciplines and cultures

  • Breaking down the barriers between fields and learning from others

  • And making things happen despite failures, risks and uncertainty

If great things can happen at the industry-investor-university intersections, even greater growth can happen by bringing all three together.

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Hello, my name is Olga Hogan.

I am an ex-founder, a full-time VC investor, part-time researcher, an occasional mentor, and a non-executive director in the aged care sector.

I currently work as a pre-seed VC investor, focusing on deep tech start-ups. I am an investment professional with over 20 years of experience across Europe, Asia, and Australia.

After completing a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry at Oxford, I worked at Deloitte (Cambridge and London) for several years. There, I qualified as a chartered accountant while gaining direct experience across many businesses and investment areas in start-ups, VC/PE acquisitions, and exits.

During my corporate finance career, I worked in investor relations for an FTSE100 mining company; managed multiple companies as a CFO/investment manager in a private equity firm in Australia; worked as an independent adviser in the M&A space, and also co-founded a predictive weather analytics start-up for energy traders in Europe.

I am also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University with the Institute for Health Transformation, where I add value through my entrepreneurial experience, as well as (more often than I'd like) experience the pain associated with commercialising evidence-based interventions such as Guided Self-Determination for or students and people living with chronic health conditions.

This site is my way of learning in public, where I consolidate and share my thoughts and tools for early-stage investing in university research spin-outs.