NICTA Board appoints OneVentures CEO Dr Michelle Deaker

NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence, has appointed Dr Michelle Deaker to its Board. As Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of funds management company OneVentures Pty Ltd., Dr Deaker brings a wealth of relevant ICT industry experience to her new position.

“I am looking forward to being part of the NICTA Board, especially as it gives me a wonderful opportunity to support new IT and Communications businesses as they make their way out of laboratories and into the marketplace,” said Dr Deaker.

NICTA Chairman Neville Stevens, AO, welcomed Dr Deaker today. “Michelle’s skills in founding, building and successfully exiting early stage technology companies are uniquely suited to the position and will complement those of our other distinguished Board members,” he said.

Dr Deaker replaces Emeritus Professor Graham Hellestrand, who is standing down from the Board to concentrate on other activities. “Dr Hellestrand has been an extremely valuable member of the NICTA Board, bringing a high level of entrepreneurial skill and intellectual rigour to the role. He will be missed,” said Mr Stevens. Dr Hellestrand is Emeritus Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of NSW and Founder and CEO of Embedded Systems Technology.

Dr Deaker has worked in the IT Industry for over 10 years as a successful business owner and entrepreneur. She established OneVentures in 2006 after selling her market-leading electronic gift card and voucher company E Com Industries to a publicly listed UK company. The sale returned $30m cash to investors.

Through her interest in high growth companies, Dr Deaker has provided advice for, invested in and raised capital for emerging technology companies. She has extensive experience in the development of early stage companies, a strong background in Australian R&D and expertise in international business expansion. Michelle has active board and advisory positions with OneVentures IT investee companies including Datacastle (Seattle), BuzzNumbers (Sydney) and AdGent 007 (San Francisco).

OneVentures is a participant in the Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program. In February this year, OneVentures received a licence from the IIF for its $40m Innovation Fund, made up of $20m in Government funding to match $20m private sector capital.
Dr Deaker joins the nine other members of the NICTA Board: Mr Neville Stevens AO (Chair), Dr David Skellern (CEO), Prof. Michael Brooks, Ms Jennifer Clark, Mr Loftus Harris AM, Dr Chris Beare, Mr George Campbell OAM, Prof. Barney Glover and Mr Brand Hoff.

Document(s): NICTA Board appoints OneVentures CEO Dr Michelle Deaker
Contact: Dorothy Kennedy
Phone: +61 2 9376 2098 or +61 2 488 229 687
Email: dorothy.kennedy@nicta.com.au