Venture Capital

VC Square Peg has already returned $1.1 billion to investors as it gears up for a 6th fund

- March 26, 2024 3 MIN READ

Investments in tech companies such as Fiverr, Vend, Property Guru and Canva have already returned $1.12 billion to Square Peg’s early backers, the VC has revealed as it gears  to raise a sixth fund worth US$500m (A$840m). The exits across 14 portfolio companies have spanned mergers and acquisitions, secondary market share sales and public floats… Read more »

The Lounge team
Funding

Square Peg backs expat Australian’s Facebook alternative for Gen Z in $4 million Seed round

- November 9, 2023 2 MIN READ

With Facebook now the social media version of a nursing home, a rival London-based startup cofounded by expat Australian Jack Symonds, has bagged $4 million in Seed round. The raise for Lounge, which is connecting the current generation of university students on in four countries, including Australia, was led by Square Peg with support from existing… Read more »

Square Peg James Tynan
People

Square Peg names James Tynan as partner

- April 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

Former Startmate boss James Tynan has been named a partner at Square Peg, three years after signing on at the VC. Tynan joined Square Peg in 2020 from the Startmate accelerator program, which also makes pre-seed investments in the startups involved. Since then he’s led investments for Square Peg in companies including culture meat venture… Read more »

Leadership

Square Peg’s Paul Bassat debunked the value of anonymous feedback – just before founders ranked local VCs anonymously

- February 23, 2023 3 MIN READ

Square Peg has ditched anonymous feedback during its reviews, with cofounder Paul Bassat to saying it creates an “all care and no responsibility”mindset. Bassat took to LinkedIn to post about the company’s revised review process, a few days before a new ranking list of Australian and New Zealand VCs based on anonymous feedback from founders… Read more »

Justin Lipman, Taryn Pieterse, Simon Thomsen, James Tynan
Startup Daily TV

Startup Daily TV: VC investors from Square Peg, Rampersand, Giant Leap & EVP share their insights on the state of Australian startup funding

- February 16, 2023 2 MIN READ

Amid a plethora of analysis of Australian venture capital funding in recent weeks, one report truly stands out because it captures the numbers by talking to the venture capital investors involved.  The recently released 2nd edition of The State Of Australian Startup Funding report, from Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures, reveal a record number… Read more »

funding
Venture Capital

Square Peg’s Lucy Tan took a deep dive into the VC’s investments after criticism it didn’t back early stage startups – here’s what she found

- November 30, 2022 3 MIN READ

Three weeks ago, we received an influx of incredibly helpful feedback from founders after Paul Bassat reached out to the community via this LinkedIn post. One recurring theme in the feedback that resonated with me was: telling founders you invest early is actually not that helpful. Founders asked: what does ‘early’ mean? What does ‘seed… Read more »

Venture Capital

VC Square Peg just raised $860 million for two new funds to back new startups and double down on its portfolio

- October 26, 2022 2 MIN READ

Australian VC Square Peg Capital has raised US$550 million (A$860m) for its fifth fund, which it plans to use to continue backing its existing portfolio companies in later stage raises. The new fund takes total capital Square Peg has raised in a decade to more than US$1.6 billion (A$2.5bn) using the funds to back companies… Read more »