Telstra is taking some of the risk out of its technology investments by backing an external venture capital fund run by regional experts and bankrolled by some of the world's biggest corporate giants.

Monk's Hill Ventures is an $80 million Singapore-based fund hunting for south east Asian technology start-ups worth backing. It is understood Telstra has invested around $10 million alongside tech giants Cisco and Yahoo Japan as well as Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek.