Local VC Square Peg Capital has grabbed an additional slice of US-based Rokt in a secondary market transaction that sees employees and current investors once again sell down their stake in the ecommerce marketing platform. It’s the sixth time Square Peg has invested in Rokt over its 10 year history, with the VC holding around… Read more »
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 firm Blackbird has raised Australia’s first $1 billion VC fund, with superannuation funds once again cornerstone investors. The announcement comes just a week after Square Peg announced it had raised $860 million for its fifth generation of funds. Combined with another $700 million raised earlier this year by Airtree. that means the country’s… Read more »
Early stage VC firm Sprint Ventures has raised $8 million in the first close of its $50 million second fund. Managing Partner and entrepreneur Llew Jury said the second fund, called the Expansion Capital Fund, follows the success of their first $5 million Vintage Sovereign Seed fund in 2020, which has delivered a return on… Read more »
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 »
Secondaries investment fund SecondQuarter Ventures has raised $83 million as a first close for its second fund, just 18 months after launching with its first $51m fund. With that initial capital already deployed, existing backers have doubled down chipping in more than $50 million towards fund two. Another $30 million has come from new investors,… Read more »
WinVC, the female investor-led initiative aiming to attract more women into VC investment roles is launching this Tuesday 18 October, with a discussion on the state of capital for women in Australia. Founders Andrea Gardiner, CEO & founder of Jelix Ventures; Ingrid Maes, founder & MD of W23; and Michelle Deaker, founding partner & MD… Read more »
Telstra Ventures has closed its third fund having raised $500 million to invest in what it calls “all the Cs”: cloud, cyber, crypto (including blockchain), carbon and climate, coders, creators and consumers. The corporate VC arm of Australia’s largest telco is based in San Francisco and primarily invests in tech firms, having made 88 investments in… Read more »
Investors in OIF Ventures have given the Sydney VC a ringing endorsement pouring another $140 million into its third fund – $40 million more than the original plan. A majority of Fund III’s capital came from existing investors in OIF Ventures Fund I and Fund II, which includes ASX-listed company execs, family offices and high… Read more »
The Victorian government has handed out $900,000 in grants to three new angel investor networks to back early-stage startups. Innovation, medical research and digital economy minister Jaala Pulford said Cut Through Angels, Climate Angel Network and Playbook Angel Network, each will receive $300,000. The grants will help the angel groups to establish operations in Victoria and… Read more »
WA mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has turned his investment attention to the health tech sector, with a new $250 million venture capital fund. The VC, Tenmile, is being backed by Tattarang, the Fortescue Metal Group founder’s private investment company. Tenmile will target startups focused on unmet medical needs that support sustainable and equitable healthcare, offering seed… Read more »
Early stage venture capital fund Tidal Ventures has appointed Georgina Turner as Partner as the VC continues raising $80 million for its third seed-stage fund. A former investment banker, Turner has been a principal at Tidal since 2019, leading six deals and working on more than 20 others, including exits and IPO listings. Tidal Partner… Read more »
Airtree has followed in the footsteps of major VCs Square Peg Capital and Blackbird Ventures, cutting the valuation of its holding in tech giant Canva by 36%. The decision drags down the value of its early funds by Sydney investor by 18%. Blackbird and Square Peg had already reduced the value of their stakes in… Read more »
Welcome to Giant Leap’s Small Steps, a newsletter offering global insights and news on the impact startups landscape. We share an edited version with Startup Daily readers every fortnight. Giant Leap is Australia’s first impact venture fund, and they use this newsletter to surface the ideas and businesses that intrigue and inspire them and broaden… Read more »
Welcome to Giant Leap’s Small Steps, a newsletter offering global insights and news on the impact startups landscape. We’ll be sharing an edited version with Startup Daily readers every fortnight. Giant Leap is Australia’s first impact venture fund, and they use this newsletter to surface the ideas and businesses that intrigue and inspire them and… Read more »
The Canva brand is now worth more than Woolies, Telstra and Bunnings
VC-backed crowdfunding platform Stride Equity is offering a new funding model for startups
Female-founded fermentation startup Cauldron lands $10.5 million to transform how new foods and fibres are developed
Shares in Afterpay’s parent company are getting slaughtered after a short seller accused Block of ‘facilitating criminal activity’
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
