AirTree Ventures and a number of high-profile figures in Australia’s start-up scene, have poured money into a new specialist pre-seed venture capital fund, that aims to provide founders an alternative to so-called “friends and family” funding rounds and dilutive capital from accelerators.

Co Ventures’ first $5 million fund has attracted backers that include the founders of Mr Yum, Kerry Osborne, Kim Teo and Adrian Osman and Linktree founders Alex Zaccaria, Anthony Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys, as well as some US angel investors.