About us

At the forefront of innovation

Taronga Ventures is a leading technology and innovation investor focused on real asset sectors and the wider built environment.

Trusted by a network of leading global institutional investors and major real asset owners and operators, we invest into and support scalable technology and innovation.

Through the RealTech Ventures Funds, RealTechX innovation programs, and Taronga Advisory, we facilitate direct real asset technology investment opportunities, provide strategic advice, and support real asset owners and operators to implement innovative technology to achieve better outcomes for their occupants/users, communities and investors.

At the forefront of innovation

At the forefront of innovation

Taronga Ventures is Asia’s leading technology and innovation investor focused on the real estate sector and the wider built environment. 

Trusted by a network of global institutional investors and major real estate corporates, we invest into and support scalable technology and innovation through sustainable and responsible investment practices.

Through our RealTech Ventures Fund, the RealTechX innovation programs, and Taronga Advisory, we facilitate direct real estate technology investment opportunities, provide strategic advice, and support real estate corporates and institutions to implement innovative technology to achieve better outcomes for their clients, communities and shareholders.

Taronga Ventures sustainability

Sustainability is embedded in the way we live, work and operate. We are focused on supporting high-growth built environment innovations, prioritising companies that align with our values.

Real Estate Generates

40%

of total global carbon emissions

Source: United Nations Environment Programme, 2022

Real Estate Generates

39%

of total global carbon emissions

Source: United Nations Environment Programme, 2019

Taronga Ventures is a Certified Carbon Neutral platform

We are focused on supporting sustainable high growth built environment investments, prioritising companies that align with our values.

What is RealTech?

RealTech is technology or innovation that impacts the built environment across its lifecycle. It shapes the way we work, live and play.

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energy, utilities
& infastructure

environment, social & governance (esg)

smart assets & cities

logistics & mobility

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digital construction

data analytics & insights

capital & transactions

asset & portfolio management

Taronga Ventures Ecosystem

Taronga Ventures brings together its investors, partners and portfolio companies through an ecosystem approach, which enables sharing of learnings and deeper collaboration opportunities, as we collectively work to shape the future of the built environment

REAL ESTATE INSTITUTIONS & CORPORATES

VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS

INNOVATION PLATFORM

INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES

Taronga Ventures Ecosystem

Learn about the investors into the RealTech Ventures Fund and our strategic partnerships, including company profiles and case study videos.

Institutions & corporates

VENTURE CAPITAL FUND

INNOVATION PLATFORM

INNOVATION ADVISORY

EMERGING BUSINESSES

Global Perspective

Our active investor and corporate partner network operates asset portfolios across over 100 countries. Our technology investment opportunities are sourced from a global proprietary ecosystem.

Delivering on Sustainability

Leading real estate and infrastructure investors globally are developing and operating sustainable portfolios to benefit stakeholders, the environment, and communities. RealTech supports this change through identifying and investing ahead of the curve. RealTech is focused on making investments that provide real, measurable, and positive change to our built environment, prioritising solutions that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals guidelines to deliver:

Reduced
carbon emissions

Energy savings

Waste reduction

Water reduction

Diversity

New job creation

Community resilience

Health and wellbeing

Our Management Team

Our team are based in Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne, servicing partners across the world. Taronga Ventures is committed to creating a diverse professional environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Learn more about our team below.

Avi Naidu

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Avi has extensive experience across venture capital, private equity and real estate investment, and expertise in advising institutional funds, public company boards, executive management, and government.

Avi jointly founded Taronga Ventures with the aim of identifying and investing into emerging technologies and new operating models that are creating value for or challenging, traditional real asset classes, such as real estate and infrastructure.

Prior to founding Taronga Ventures, Avi was an investment banker with a leading advisory firm and a lawyer specialising in M&A, public capital markets, private equity, and funds management at a leading global firm. Avi also founded a private equity firm focussing on technology and direct real estate investment backed by Asian institutional capital. Avi has experience sitting on public company boards, remuneration and audit committees.

Avi holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Economics) from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and is admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Jonathan Hannam

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Jonathan is a global citizen, having held senior executive and board roles across Asia and Europe in real estate, venture capital, technology, and infrastructure-related investments. 

In 2015, Jonathan jointly founded Taronga Ventures, Asia’s leading technology and innovation investor focused on the real estate sector and the wider built environment. His vision is to bridge the gap between real estate institutions and corporates and the emerging technology companies that are now targeting the real estate sector. Through Taronga Ventures, Jonathan’s focus is on real estate technology (RealTech) investments that drive real and measurable impact across ESG, including carbon reduction, renewable energy, sustainability, and health & safety. 

Prior to Taronga Ventures, Jonathan has also held executive roles at Mirvac, as a Director at AREIM in Sweden and as the Portfolio Manager Asia for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) during a period when ADIA completed more than 40 transactions across Asia. In other roles, Jonathan has lived and worked in China, the Philippines and Singapore with Savills, and was also the Managing Director South East Asia based in Singapore for ING Real Estate. 

Jonathan attended the INSEAD AMP course in Singapore & Abu Dhabi in 2015-2016. He holds an MBA from the University of South Australia, a Bachelor of Planning & Design and a Bachelor of Town & Regional Planning from the University of Melbourne. He also completed postgraduate studies at Tsinghua University and is fluent in Mandarin and Swedish.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Julian Kezelman

Innovation Director

Julian is Innovation Director for the RealTechX innovation program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures. In these roles, he is responsible for supporting the adoption of innovation by partnered corporates in the real estate and built environment sectors and supporting the growth of Taronga Ventures portfolio companies.

Julian has a background in corporate innovation advisory. He has designed and delivered programs using different innovation methods, including open innovation, new venture design and incubator & accelerator programs, within real estate, financial services, retail and government. He has also designed commercialisation programs for research & development corporations and has developed entrepreneurship programs for tertiary institutions.

Prior to his consulting career, Julian worked as a financial analyst in commercial, corporate and institutional banking, originating new lending and managing credit portfolios. He also worked in corporate and institutional asset structuring, implementing capital preservation and turnaround strategies.

Julian holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town and the Copenhagen Business School.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

Taronga-Ventures_0000s_0002_Julian-Kezelman

Dr Sven Sylvester

Investment Director

Sven joined Taronga Group as Corporate Innovation Lead within Taronga Venture Advisory and Investment Director within the RealTech Ventures Fund.

Sven is an experienced management consultant with extensive experience in technical due diligence and business performance optimisation. Prior to joining Taronga Group, Sven was at Bain & Company working across Australia, China and South East Asia. He worked across multiple sectors including technology, telecommunications, consumer products, and resources advising both corporate and private equity clients. He has spent over 2 years doing commercial due diligence projects and worked on projects focussed on scaling business operations in Asia, and specifically in China. Furthermore, Sven spent 6 months on secondment in China starting the Swisse vitamins China office in 2016.

Sven also worked as a Policy Analyst within the Department of Climate Change and was involved in designing the original Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and modelling power plant efficiencies and carbon abatement opportunities across Australia.

Sven holds a Bachelor of Science (Nanotechnology, Hons 1 & the University Medal) from the University of New South Wales and a Doctorate in Philosophy (Physics) from the University of Cambridge where he was a Cambridge International Scholar.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Rebecca Jinks

ESG & Sustainability Director

Rebecca is the ESG & Sustainability Director for Taronga Ventures. She supports our funds and portfolio companies to develop their ESG proposition, and works with our investors and partners to meet their increasing ESG disclosure and action requirements. In addition, Rebecca leads our ESG advisory business to support companies, institutional real asset owners and operators to develop and implement ESG programs.

Rebecca’s career has spanned from in-house ESG focused business strategy development and program deployment to consultancy and advisory. She brings a demonstrated track record of creating meaningful real-world solutions to achieve the vision of the group with a focus on real assets. She has a background in ESG program design and implementation, with a specialist focus on real assets. Rebecca previously worked with the leading real estate managing agent Cushman & Wakefield as their Head of ESG & Sustainability for Asia Pacific, guiding and supporting owners, investors and occupiers to design and realise their ESG visions through program deployment. She has a passion for cutting-edge solutions that promote and advance responsible business practices in the industry and achieve global sustainability goals.

Rebecca’s focus is the intersection of ESG and technology, and how these two specialties come together to drive positive outcomes for real assets.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Science, Environment (hons) from the University of Melbourne and a Masters Degree in Sustainability and Business Management from Monash University.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Andrew Chia

Senior Investment Manager

Andrew has extensive experience across public and private markets, and real estate. Prior to joining Taronga Group, Andrew was at City Developments Limited (‘CDL’), one of Asia’s largest real estate groups listed on the Singapore Exchange. During his 8 year tenure at CDL, Andrew worked in the CEO’s Office and Group Investments where he was responsible for managing the company’s investments in direct real estate, corporate mergers & acquisitions and fund management platforms. He worked across multiple geographies and asset types, including leading CDL’s expansion into Australia and Vietnam. Andrew also managed the group’s corporate venture capital portfolio of built world technologies where he was a board representative on the companies. 

Andrew also worked as an analyst from 2010 to 2014 in a hedge fund, Blue Edge Advisors, where he covered the funds Asia Pacific portfolio of equity and fixed income investments. The fund managed investments for multi-family offices across Asia. 

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Accountancy and second major in Finance from Singapore Management University where he was on the Dean’s List and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Anjalika Singh

Investment Manager

Anjalika is an experienced management consultant with focus on strategy development, transactions support and operating model design. She has worked across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and North America with exposure to the real estate, energy, technology and consumer goods industries. Immediately prior to joining Taronga Ventures, Anjalika was a consultant at Kearney. Previous to that, she was at Wood Mackenzie, focused on energy and policy advisory for the for a variety of private and public companies and the financial community.

Anjalika is passionate about intersection of business and sustainability and, has worked closely with several organizations and investors in this space. In 2017, she completed a fellowship with Sanergy – an MIT-founded start-up focused on sanitation provision in densely populated areas – to design and implement a new pricing strategy for their product. Anjalika also helped drive business strategy and operations for a New York-based start-up connecting consumers and businesses directly with manufacturers, reducing the layers of cost and transportation emissions impact in the middle.    

Anjalika holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronics Engineering) from NTU, Singapore and an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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George Lowndes

Investment Manager

George is an Investment Manager within the investment team, servicing clients in the RealTech Ventures Fund and Taronga Advisory

George is an experienced management consultant with an extensive background working in Asian markets. He was previously at Bain & Company, specialising in business-wide transformations and data analytics solutions for retail and logistics clients. After a few years in Australia, he then spent one and a half years working in Japan and China with leading local and international retailers.

Prior to joining Bain & Company, he spent a year in Shanghai and Beijing, providing strategic and operational support for Value Retail China and Kuke Music.

George holds a Bachelor of Law and Commerce from the University of Auckland and studied Songwriting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, and Valencia, Spain.

George speaks English and Mandarin Chinese.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

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Chanelle Tan

Marketing & Community Manager

Chanelle is Marketing & Community Manager for Taronga Ventures. She has an extensive background in events and marketing within the investment and technology sectors. 

Prior to joining Taronga Ventures, Chanelle worked at FIIG Securities within the marketing team, dedicated to the education and communication of corporate bonds to investors across its Debt Capital Markets, Money Markets, RMBS, and Private Client divisions. She also lead online and in-person events across Australia for FIIG’s institutional and high net worth clients. 

Chanelle also previously held various events and marketing roles at IT media company IDG Communications (now Foundry). At IDG, she was responsible for lead generation, campaign management, and has delivered hundreds of online and in-person events and multi-city roadshows within APAC for some of the world’s leading technology companies.

Chanelle holds a Bachelor of Visual Communications (major in Marketing and Advertising) from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Diploma of Events Management from the Fitzwilliam Institute.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

Taronga-Ventures_0000s_0000_Chanelle-Tan

Dwayne Kaan

Program Manager

Dwayne is Program Manager for the ESG Impact and RealTechX innovation programs, and is based in Singapore. He has extensive experience in innovation, digital transformation, strategy, the public sector, and fostering cross-sector partnerships.

A former management consultant with Kearney, Dwayne has delivered impact on strategy, digital and organisation transformation, and supply chain management engagements across the communications, government, and petrochemical sectors. He has program-managed large-scale transformation programs and has launched and commercialised digital initiatives.

Before management consulting, Dwayne was a Foreign Service Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, where he led and managed events and visits for Heads of State and Government, including the 32nd and 33rd ASEAN Summits and the Singapore-Australia Leaders’ Summit in 2018.

Dwayne holds a BBA in Economics for Management from the University of Toronto, and speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Malay.

Julian Kezelman, Program Director RealTechX

Julian is Program Director for the RealTechX Growth Program and Growth Advisor for Taronga Ventures.

Taronga-Ventures_0000s_0005_Dwayne-Kaan

Join the Taronga Ventures Team

Interested in working with us? If you’re passionate about working in the intersection of innovation and the built environment, please send your resume to [email protected]

Contact us

Speak with our team about investment and partnership opportunities and other matters.