Kylie and Derek Gerrard are the co-founders of Purpose Ventures, a Perth-based venture capital fund established in 2023 to address the chronic underfunding of Western Australian startups.

Their mission extends beyond financial returns; they are committed to social impact. Notably, they have pledged to donate half of their performance fees to their charitable foundation with the proceeds going to WA charities. Their investment philosophy centres on backing founders who are pursuing their “life cause”, aiming to create innovative solutions with global impact.

Kylie brings a wealth of experience from leading the Perth chapter of the angel investor network Innovation Bay and heading Spacecubed’s Plus Eight Accelerator. Derek established BetterLabs Ventures fund and founded the startup Greensense. Derek and Kylie also served as church pastors for 19 years, reflecting their deep-rooted commitment to community and purpose-driven endeavours.

Together, the Gerrards are catalysing a new era of purpose-led entrepreneurship in Western Australia, blending investment acumen with a deep dedication to social impact.

“One catalyst that was pretty important for us was making impact trips to various developing countries. Realising how fortunate we are motivated us to think strategically about how we can make a difference.” Derek Gerrard

“We sold our business about 10 years ago, which brought a new level of wealth into our world. We felt that our life, from a resource point, had all that it needed so we were living in a place of “enoughness”. Given we had enough the question became what are we meant to do with our excess?” Kylie Gerrard