Canva cofounders Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams. Photo: supplied
Business

EXIT, STAGE BRIGHT: Blackbird offloads $150 million slice of its Canva stake at $39 billion valuation

- August 10, 2023 3 MIN READ

VC firm Blackbird Ventures has cracked open some of its golden eggs, offloading a small slice of its stake in design platform Canva at a US$25.5 billion (A$38.8bn) valuation in a secondary market sale to US investors. The deal with New York’s Coatue Management and San Francisco’s ICONIQ Capital is another step down the path… Read more »

MagicBrief cofounders Dan Nolan and George Howes
Funding

Blackbird leads $2 million pre-Seed round into martech startup MagicBrief

- July 6, 2023 2 MIN READ

 Sydney startup MagicBrief has raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round for its marketing platform which acts like the lovechild of Canva and Pinterest for advertising. The round was led by Blackbird with support from Archangel Ventures. Several individual founders also chipped in as angel investors, including Vimeo’s Zach Klein, UsTwo’s Matt Miller, Tim Doyle… Read more »

Aquila Earth cofounder Billy Jeremijenko
Funding

Blackbird backs energy transmission startup Aquila Earth beams up $3 million Seed round for wireless power network

- June 20, 2023 2 MIN READ

A wild idea to create an “internet of energy”, transmitting power from space using light beams has landed $3 million in Seed funding Aquila Earth is a renewable energy startup looking to create the world’s first global, wireless energy network. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures alongside Possible Ventures, Icehouse Ventures and Startmate. Aquila… Read more »

Eucalyptus
Funding

Telehealth brands startup Eucalyptus lands $50 million from Woolies, Mary Meeker & Blackbird

- April 28, 2023 3 MIN READ

Concerns over mail order weight loss brands Juniper and Pilot by Australian doctors haven’t dampened investor appetite its parent telehealth company, Eucalyptus, which has raised $50 million on a $520 million valuation. The round was backed by several existing Eucalyptus investors,  including Blackbird Ventures, the Woolworths VC fund W23, and US investor Mary Meeker’s BOND… Read more »

MoreGoodDays
Funding

Blackbird, Giant Leap back healthtech startup tackling chronic pain with $3.5 million raise

- March 13, 2023 2 MIN READ

Melbourne  healthtech startup, MoreGoodDays has raised $3.5 million for a digital solution to managing chronic pain.  The round was led by Blackbird, with support from impact fund Giant Leap, Side Stage Ventures, the Snow Foundation, and LaunchVic’s female-focused sidecar investment program, the Alice Anderson Fund.  Neala Fulia and Helena Ngo co-founded the healthtech platform to… Read more »

Phoebe Harrop, Tom Humphrey, Michael Tolo
People

VC Blackbird appoints 3 new partners

- February 21, 2023 2 MIN READ

Venture capital fund Blackbird has appointed three new general partners from within its own ranks Moving from principal to partner are  Michael Tolo and Tom Humphrey in Australia, as well as Phoebe Harrop in New Zealand. It’s just the second time in the 11 years since Rick Baker and Niki Scevak founded Blackbird that the VC has… Read more »

Funding

Blackbird and Airtree back anti-fraud startup from the team behind ThreatMetrix in $15.6 million Seed round

- November 7, 2022 2 MIN READ

Online fraud prevention startup Darwinium has raised US$10 million (A$15.6m) in a Seed round led by local VCs Blackbird and Airtree. The US-based customer protection platform was founded by Bondi entrepreneur Alisdair Faulkner, cofounder of cybersecurity startup ThreatMetrix, which sold in 2018 for more than A$1.2 billion (US$817m). Joining him at Darwinium is former ThreatMetrix… Read more »

Funding

Kiwi employee experience platform Excellent raises $2 million in pre-Seed round

- September 8, 2022 2 MIN READ

New Zealand employee experience design startup Excellent has raised NZ$2 million in a pre-Seed round. ANZ VC Blackbird Ventures led the round, supported by Icehouse Ventures, Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 ), and several other founders, including Sharesies founders Brooke and Leighton Roberts, Phase One Ventures CEO Mahesh Muralidhar, Joyous cofounder Mike Carden, Groov CEO Adam… Read more »

Funding

Proptech startup that’s more ‘Atlassian than Aconex’ raises $5.2 million

- August 1, 2022 2 MIN READ

Sydney startup Sitemate has raised $5.2 million for its no code software tools for companies in the construction sector.  The round was led by Blackbird, with participation from existing investors Shearwater Capital and angels including local tech founders Tim Doyle of Eucalyptus and Rory San Miguel of Propeller. Coincidentally, Blackbird general partner Nick Crocker was… Read more »

First AML
Funding

New Zealand anti-money laundering startup First AML raises $30 million series B

- November 2, 2021 2 MIN READ

Anti-money laundering regtech startup First AML has raised A$28.7 million (NZ$30m) in a series B. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures, with support from new investors Headline Ventures, and existing backers Pushpay founder Eliot Crowther, US firm Bedrock Capital and Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures.  Blackbird partner Samantha Wong will join the board. The funds… Read more »