# Elaine Stead

> Elaine Stead is a seed investor at Australian Venture Capital Association Ltd - AVCAL backing E-Commerce. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated…

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Australian Venture Capital Association Ltd - AVCAL](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/australian-venture-capital-association-ltd)
- Location: Brisbane, Australia
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: May 2018
- Lead investor: 100%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainestead
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/ElaineStead
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elaine.stead.54

Elaine Stead is a seed investor at Australian Venture Capital Association Ltd - AVCAL in Brisbane focused on E-Commerce and Shoes. Elaine is the Managing Director of Venture Capital and is responsible for the management of the Blue Sky venture capital fund and portfolio. Established in 2012, the venture capital division has expanded to bear its second fund, VC2014, and over $100 million in assets under management across a broad range of industry sectors.Elaine has workedfor a number of years as a venture capitalist and management consultant to the venture and industry across Australia and the United States. Elaine has also worked in strategic management consulting, with both NASDAQ and ASX listed and private companies based in Australia and the US. Originally trained as a stem cell biologist, Elaine has since spent the last decade within the innovation and investment spectrum, initially in technology commercialisation assisting public institutions and founders translate and commercialise their technology across a broad range of industry sectors including agriculture, healthcare and IT.Elaine has a strong academic foundation holding a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Adelaide. She is actively involved in Australia’s professional venture capital community, as a member of AVCALs venture capital stakeholder committee and as a member of the investment committee of ANUConnect Venture Capital, the Australian National University’s venture capital fund.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E-Commerce | 2 | 67% |
| Shoes | 1 | 33% |
| Retail | 1 | 33% |
| Travel | 1 | 33% |
| Fashion | 1 | 33% |

9 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 33% |
| Series A | 1 | 33% |
| Series B | 1 | 33% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 2 | 67% |
| Australia | 1 | 33% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Shoes of Prey | Shoes of Prey creates bespoke, hand-made women's shoes designed by the customer, and delivers them to anywhere in the world.Shoes of Prey has grown rapidly over 5 years and has won a number of awards including Online Retailer of the Year and Store Design of the Year at the World Retail Awards in Paris 2013.Founded in 2009, the company isheadquartered in Santa Monica, California, United States. |  |  | May 21, 2018 |  |
| Shoes of Prey | Shoes of Prey creates bespoke, hand-made women's shoes designed by the customer, and delivers them to anywhere in the world.Shoes of Prey has grown rapidly over 5 years and has won a number of awards including Online Retailer of the Year and Store Design of the Year at the World Retail Awards in Paris 2013.Founded in 2009, the company isheadquartered in Santa Monica, California, United States. | $15.5M | Series B | Dec 07, 2015 |  |
| HeyLets | HeyLets provides a social network built around experiences. Its platform shows recommendations that are popular with the users, making the process of discovery more social, and the results more relevant. Unlike other companies, there are no 3-star reviews from people with nothing in common on HeyLets, users post pictures and short descriptions ofexperiences that inspire them and that they want to share with the world. | $1.7M | Seed | May 06, 2015 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Greycroft](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/greycroft) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Investible](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/investible) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Nordstrom](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nordstrom) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Australian Venture Capital Association Ltd - AVCAL

VC Fund



1 contacts available at Australian Venture Capital Association Ltd - AVCAL.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Elaine Stead | Committee Member | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/elaine-stead |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Elaine Stead invest in?

Elaine Stead invests primarily in E-Commerce, Shoes and Retail startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Elaine Stead last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Elaine Stead closed in May 2018. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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