(Bloomberg) -- When Julio Ribeiro began tapping venture capital firms last year for his Sydney-based medical technology startup, he feared it would be a hard slog. Instead, Inventia raised A$10 million ($6.8 million) in a matter of months and ended up turning some U.S. investors away.
The strong interest came from an unlikely quarter -- venture capital firms backed by local pension funds. The typically risk-adverse money managers are embracing the sector as they diversify investments to generate higher returns. Funds including Host-Plus Pty and Telstra Super Pty helped VC firms raise a record A$1.3 billion last year, up from A$200 million in 2014 before pension interest took off, Australian Investment Council data show.
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