Great medtech deserves a path to patients. Forge Ventures is making sure it finds one with a sustainable funding ecosystem for medical research translation at Flinders University.

Under the expert guidance of Professor Karen Reynolds, the Medical Device Partnering Program at Flinders has spent 18 years proving that great medical research can become real-world products  — with the right support at the right moment.

Forge is what comes next. Its purpose is simple: to make sure the work that is improving patients' lives continues to progress. Successful projects generate returns. Through Forge Ventures Fund some of those returns fund new ideas. And each cycle builds on the last, compounding the impact of everything that came before it. A virtuous cycle, grounded in 18 years of proven translation and pointed, always, toward the patients who need it most.

Government support continues to grow and remains a vital part of the ecosystem. But Forge Ventures Fund means the program is no longer entirely dependent on it — building its own financial momentum so that the work can continue, expand, and reach more patients, whatever the funding environment looks like.

Forge Ventures Fund is built on two pillars, Forge Foundation, channelling philanthropic support into the earliest and most critical stage of research translation, and Forge Angels, which connects investment-ready ventures with the private capital they need to go further. Each is powerful in its own right. But connected by a single equity recycling mechanism — where the returns from success flow back to fund new beginnings — they become something greater than either could be alone. 

Venture philanthropy — the Forge Foundation. Donor generosity, made durable. The Foundation funds proof-of-concept work and takes a small equity stake — via a SAFE — in the companies it supports. When those companies succeed, the returns flow back. What begins as a gift becomes a renewable source of funding for the next researcher, clinician, innovator, or entrepreneur with a great idea and nowhere to turn. Read more

Angel investment — Forge Angels. Private capital, carefully structured. Working with Southern Angels and GXE Fund Services, Forge Angels connects pre-validated medtech ventures with wholesale investors backing technologies they believe in. The pipeline is curated. The risk is reduced. The opportunity is real. Read more

The connective tissue: Equity Recycling. SAFE conversions from Forge Foundation clients and carried interest from successful Forge Angels investments flow back into the Foundation — creating a loop where every success makes the next cycle more secure. It's the mechanism that turns two programs into one ecosystem, and over the longer term, has the potential to contribute significantly to the financial sustainability of Forge. In the world of research translation, that would be genuinely rare.

More information coming soon.