Blackbird Ventures

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

‘The next grid will be made of light’: Laser energy startup Aquila takes out Most Innovative Startup

Customer data startup Paperbark signs Unilever brands to tackle ecommerce sales gaps

Paperbark, a Sydney startup helping ecommerce retailers recover lost revenue, was founded by Bryce Antoine and Eli Simic, took $120,000 from Josh Parsons, and has signed Onnit and Olly, two Unilever-owned brands.

Heidi Health expands into AI admin agents to challenge legacy rivals

AI medical scribe firm Heidi Health, backed by Blackbird Ventures, is adding autonomous assistants that handle administrative work for doctors, demoing them at a customer event as it challenges entrenched healthcare software vendors.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #179, 26th September 2026

Weekly roundup recording a dozen raises and acquisitions, Firmus's scheduled float, a new $50m venture fund, a founder share sale, grant winners, an accelerator intake, and an AI agent's government breach.

Also Dynamic Business·DealStreetAsia·This Week in Australian Startups·Dealroom·ABC News Technology

Heidi raises A$475m to expand beyond clinical notes

Heidi, an Australian clinical AI firm, has banked new funding of US$340m, anchored by a Blackbird-led Series C, to move past scribing into AI agents that handle healthcare tasks under clinician oversight.

Heidi hits $1.2 billion valuation with $470 million in fresh funding

Heidi raised US$100m in a Blackbird-led Series C plus US$240m in customer-acquisition finance from General Catalyst, reaching a $1.26 billion valuation as Australia's fourth billion-dollar startup of the year.

Also Dealroom·This Week in Australian Startups·Dynamic Business·This Week in Australian Startups

AI debt recovery fintech OpenDebt bags $2 million in pre-Seed

Sydney fintech OpenDebt, which applies AI agents to debt recovery, has secured $2 million in pre-seed backing from Blackbird and Antler to grow its team and explore US partnerships.

Also Australian FinTech·Business News Australia·This Week in Australian Startups·Dynamic Business

Main Sequence targets $400 million for new fund amid deep tech boom

Deep-tech investor Main Sequence is seeking $400 million for a fourth fund, with $75 million already committed by the federal government, after two portfolio companies reached unicorn status this year.

Startmate alumni Evatto raises $1.02 million pre-Seed

Sydney event-tech startup Evatto has raised a pre-seed round led by Perth firm Purpose Ventures to build its platform and expand abroad, after going through Startmate's Summer 26 program under its earlier name Wiingman.

Also thesaasnews.com·app.fundz.net·trysignalbase.com·Dealroom

Airtree extends its first fund to July 2028 to hold onto Canva stake

Investors approved extending Airtree's 2014 debut fund to mid-2028 so the firm can keep its Canva holding; the piece also recalls Canva's Series A and Airtree's later fund totals.

Skalata named Australia's most active investor for H1 2024

Australian startup capital climbed 30% in early 2024 even as deal counts fell; Skalata Ventures topped investor activity with 13 participations, ahead of Blackbird and Investible.

Also TechCrunch Australia·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Founders and false prophets: a pitch to the founders who’ve stopped listening

Skalata Ventures uses its recent accolade as Australia's busiest early-stage investor to pitch founders on its hands-on, seed-specialist approach, arguing most VCs overpromise support and underdeliver.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #176, 30th August 2026

Weekly roundup: Blackbird confirms a record fund close and Galileo reaches a first close, Genesis merges with Proudi, IREN secures massive debt, and several startups report raises, grants and program wins.

Two ANZ startups that raised $21 million this week

Two raises reported: Superhero has banked $20m of a hoped $30m round led by Salter Brothers at a $176m valuation, while New Zealand crime-intelligence startup Azonic took NZ$1m in a Blackbird-led pre-seed.

Airtree's Canva stoush escalates as investors' patience runs out

Airtree is in a dispute with longtime backers over poor proceeds from its Canva stake and could not rally enough support to prolong its debut fund.

Blackbird mulls new Canva options as VCs battle impatient investors

Blackbird is weighing an early sale of its Canva stake through continuation funds, while Airtree's longtime backers are pushing it to return profits; no deal has been done.

Blackbird nails 2nd $1 billion fund

Blackbird has locked in a second billion-dollar fund — its sixth, slightly bigger than the last — bringing in new institutional backers, and the article recalls portfolio wins, writedowns and failures.

Also Business News Australia

The 8 Australian startups on Forbes Asia's 100 To Watch list

Eight Australian companies make Forbes Asia's annual 100 To Watch list; the piece profiles each and recaps recent raises across climate tech, health and software.

A billion reasons to invest right at the very beginning

Blackbird announces its new early-stage and growth funds have brought in A$1.05 billion, reflecting on early cheques, portfolio outcomes like Eucalyptus's sale, and new international backers.

Also Dealroom·Dealroom·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Australian VC Blackbird raises $752m from Asian investors

Blackbird, a venture capital firm based in Australia, has raised 752 million dollars from backers across Asia; only the headline is visible, as the body sits behind registration.

Big US institutions back Blackbird’s new $1b venture fund

Morgan Stanley and Schroders have committed money to Blackbird Ventures' new $1b fund; the piece also recalls Airtree's $650m fifth fund drawing US institutional backing last year.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #175, 23rd August 2026

Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.

Seven ANZ startups that raised $111.5 million this week

Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.

Canva founder says AI costs down 90% after skyrocketing bills delayed product rollout

At a Sydney event, Canva's co-founder explained how soaring compute bills forced a delay to its AI relaunch, and how homegrown models cut serving costs; he also recalls early government backing.

Canva wipes $11 billion from its valuation, putting IPO plans in doubt

Blackbird and Airtree mark Canva's worth down sharply, the employee share price falls too, and commentators question whether a 2027 sharemarket float remains realistic amid sliding confidence in AI-era software.

This Week in Australian Startups #174, 16th August 2026

Australian startups raised funds including Alloy Robotics, Farmbot and Atmo Biosciences. Firmus Technologies acquired Benmax while Tabcorp bought BetMakers. SafetyCulture rebranded to Mitti.

Eight ANZ startups that raised $67.4 million this week

Eight Australian and New Zealand startups secured a combined $67.4 million in funding across various sectors including agtech, medtech, robotics, and fintech.

Canva’s big backers slash $10b from software giant amid AI pivot

Blackbird Ventures and Airtree reduced Canva's valuation by ten billion dollars as the design platform faces challenges integrating artificial intelligence tools.

Canva investors wipe $10b from valuation

Blackbird and Airtree have marked down their Canva holdings by a combined figure above $10 billion, exceeded by Canva's own internal write-down, after the company lowered its growth outlook on rising AI costs.

The Big 3 VCs back robot testing startup’s $11.5 million Seed raise

Robot data analysis startup Alloy Robotics has raised $11.5 million in a seed round led by Square Peg, with Blackbird and Airtree participating, less than a year after a $4.5 million pre-seed.

Also SmartCompany

Rising Australian AI start-up star set to seal $1b ‘unicorn’ status

Heidi Health is negotiating a funding round exceeding 100 million dollars that would value the medical AI company at over one billion dollars.

Also Dealroom·Forbes Australia·Dealroom·Dynamic Business

Alloy raises $8M seed to help engineers debug robot fleets with AI

Robotics AI startup Alloy has banked an $8m seed at an $80m valuation, led by Square Peg with Blackbird, Airtree and Skip Capital back again; funds earmarked for engineering hires and growth in the US.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #173, 9th August 2026

Weekly roundup: Firmus completes its $2.85b round; Procore acquires DroneDeploy; Atlassian rebounds while Canva cuts guidance; plus fresh raises for Zabidou, BioScout, Vexev, Enrola, Spacetalk and others.

Also Dealroom·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy

Our Investment in Vexev - Building Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound

Ten13's post explains why it joined the robotics company's latest raise alongside Blackbird, Neotribe, Startmate and Horizons, covering its autonomous scanning device, dialysis focus, founders, and US rollout plans.

Also Dealroom·vexev.com·datapile.co·evtoday.com

Vexev Raises A$8.6 Million to Advance Australian-Built Robotic Ultrasound Platform in the United States

Australian medical robotics firm Vexev has raised A$8.6 million to pursue FDA clearance and US commercialisation of its VxWave robotic ultrasound platform, with backing from existing and new investors.

Also Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups·SmartCompany

Blackbird leads $14 million Seed round for the 'Canva of financial advice'

AI startup Marloo, built for financial advisers, raised a Seed round led by Blackbird Ventures, bringing total funding to over $18m in under a year.

Eight ANZ startups that raised $102 million this fortnight

Roundup of eight Australian and New Zealand startups whose late-July funding totals $102 million across space capsules, medical devices, livestock breath analysis, sports analytics and AI crop forecasting.

Why we fell for the founders building sport's data layer: our investment in Superstat

Blackbird's post explains why it led Superstat's seed round alongside Startmate and angel backers, praising the founding trio's decade-long shared focus and rapid early growth in amateur basketball analytics.

Also Startup Daily·Dealroom·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Meet the inaugural Foundry Fellows

Blackbird introduces the twelve engineers, mathematicians and researchers chosen for the first Foundry Fellowship, a program connecting technical people with founders and investors across Australia and New Zealand.