Darren Patterson

Darren Patterson is a seasoned technology executive and venture investor with more than 20 years of experience working with start-up and blue-chip technology companies across Australia, Europe, the United States, and Asia. His career spans telecoms, IT, digital media, fintech, property technology, private equity, venture capital, and public capital markets. He held senior business development and consulting roles at major global firms including Cisco Systems (Senior Consulting Manager, 1998--2001), Procket Networks / Cisco (Business Development Europe, 2002--2004), Cable & Wireless Communications / Energis (Head of Enterprise New Business, 2004--2006), ECI Telecom (Managing Director, 2006--2007), and Yahoo! Emerging Markets (Senior Business Development Director, 2007--2010).

Patterson co-founded BrickX, Australia's only regulated fractional property investment platform, and served as its CEO. BrickX won Platform Innovator of the Year at the Fintech Business Awards 2017. He also served as CEO and Executive Director of Property Connect Holdings (ASX:PCH), a publicly listed property technology company. Through these ventures, he gained deep experience operating at the intersection of fintech, proptech, and public capital markets.

He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2016, he co-founded Alchemy Ventures, a conditionally registered ESVCLP (Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership) fund headquartered in Sydney. The fund targets early- to later-stage opportunities in mining technology, financial technology, agricultural technology, and consumer technology originating from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, with approximately 20% of investments placed outside Australia.

• Fund mandate: Invest in teams and ideas that change lives and industries while having a positive impact on human and environmental wellness.
• Sector focus: Mining technology, fintech, agtech, consumer technology, cloud/SaaS, cybersecurity, and Web3/blockchain.
• Geography: Australia and Asia-Pacific, with selective international exposure (up to 20% outside Australia per ESVCLP rules).
• Stage: Seed through early expansion; targets strong equity positions with board representation and shareholder protections.
• Exit orientation: Backs businesses with strong exit potential and works closely with management teams to build toward acquisition or IPO.
• Fund ambition: Alchemy Ventures launched a AUD 200 million startup fund with the stated mission to "back smart people solving big problems."

| Company | Sector | Notes | |---|---|---| | Unstoppable Domains | Web3 / Blockchain | Became a unicorn in 2022; raised USD 70.2M total | | Nametag | Identity / Security | Acquired (exit) | | Catalyst | DeFi / Web3 | Acquired by LI.FI in February 2025 | | Abyss Solutions | Subsea Robotics / AI | Underwater inspection technology | | Persollo | E-commerce / Social Commerce | Social commerce platform | | Firstwave Cloud Technology | Cloud / Cybersecurity | ASX-listed cloud security company | | Lumific | Technology | Portfolio company | | Datasift | Data Analytics | Patterson secured US venture funding for the company | | Republic Capital Management | Financial Services | Portfolio company | | BrickX | Proptech / Fintech | Co-founded; fractional property investment platform | | LocalAgentFinder | Proptech | Real estate agent comparison platform |