The wind of change is blowing across Venture Capital. Not confined to a specific market or geography, the relationship between VCs and the companies they invest in has shifted culturally and economically. There is a sense that models are in need of a change to safeguard otherwise resilient sectors such as tech from the fated'bubble' scenario that many sceptics see on the horizon, and with this, the deal structures and ultimately ROI is also changing. With a series of disappointing, or worse still, failed tech IPOs hitting the market over the past year, a rather grey cloud is beginning to shadow the world of start-up financing. You needn't look far to see how even the biggest names in the market have got it wrong; Uber, Lyft, WeWork, Slack, and Spotify are all trading way off their initial listings – which for their venture backers isn't boding well for forecasted targeted IRR.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Mint's win at the first ever TechCrunch Startup Battlefield competition (back then – lost in the mists of time – it was known as TechCrunch 40). But what is less known about founder Aaron Patzer is that he's one of the pioneers of AI. Now based in the Southern Hemisphere, he's coming to speak at Techcrunch Battlefield Australia. In January this year, he started Vital Software, with Dr. Justin Schrager of Emory University, which makes software for hospital emergency rooms. When you include the fact that it's a mobile patient check-in for patients, and automatically creates electronic medical records designed for doctors and nurses, with the aim being to cut ER wait times in half, you start to understand the AI heritage it's come from. Patzer will join us as a speaker at TechCrunch Battlefield Australia in partnership with ELEVACAO, on November 16th at Australian Technology Park in Sydney.