About Cicada Innovations
Cicada Innovations, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2000, is based in Sydney, Australia. With a presence in 5 countries, it has supported around 89 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, High Tech. As of Oct 2026, Cicada Innovations has 1 unicorn under its belt and has witnessed 19 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in
its portfolio include Happy, Bugcrowd and Propeller Aerobotics. The program is backed by a team of 19 people who primarily support Seed startups based in Australia. Its latest investment was a $3.5M Seed round in Lleaf on Sep 13, 2022, which also saw participation from Alfa Ventures and UNSW.
Cicada Innovations' List of Top Investments
Cicada Innovations has a portfolio of 89 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investmentis in DoclinkTheir portfolio spans across Australia, United States, China and 2 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Food and Agriculture Tech and 28 other sectors, across stages such as Seed stage. Here is the list of top investments by Cicada Innovations:1. Happy
Provider of centralized maintenance, asset, and property management software solutions. The platform offers tools for service requests, unit turnover, preventative maintenance, and scheduling. It facilitates capital project oversight, fixed asset tracking, and property budgeting. The software also supports property inspections, resident satisfaction initiatives, and reporting.
Key facts about Happy
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Carlsbad (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $77.9M
- Employee Count: 251 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Supercharge Capital, Sandalphon Capital and 33 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Sep 22, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Bugcrowd
Provider of crowdsourced security platform offering vulnerability disclosure and penetration testing. The platform facilitates vulnerability submissions from security researchers. It offers penetration testing as a service to meet compliance goals. Red team services simulate real-world threats to uncover risks.
Key facts about Bugcrowd
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series E
- Total Funding till date: $184M
- Employee Count: 3,878 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Icon Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and 21 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Nov 01, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Develops a cloud-based platform for management of drone-gathered data. It enables post-processing of data, as well as sharing it. It also provides various collaboration features. The target market includes both commercial drone operators and enterprises that use drone-based data and services.
Key facts about Propeller Aerobotics
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Surry Hills (Australia)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $57.5M
- Employee Count: 377 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: firmgroupsinc.com, Costanoa and 12 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 17, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Developer of drugs to treat cancer. The company utilizes radiopharmaceutical technology for developing targeted therapies. The company has developed drug candidates used for the neuroendocrine tumour, neuroblastoma, colorectal, glioma, and prostate diseases. The company has also developed programs for companion diagnostics in the preclinical stage.
Key facts about Clarity Pharmaceuticals
5. BugHerd
Provider of website feedback and bug tracking software for teams. The platform enables users to provide feedback directly on websites. It captures technical details and organizes feedback into actionable tasks. The system integrates with project management, customer support, and CRM tools to streamline workflows.
Key facts about BugHerd
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Yarraville (Australia)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $1.52M
- Employee Count: 15 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Tank Stream Ventures, Starfish Ventures and 3 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Aug 25, 2014, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Cicada Innovations' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Cicada Innovations has invested in 90 companies over the last 7 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 5 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Lleaf.Cicada Innovations' Investments by Stage
Cicada Innovations has made 2 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $3.5M.Cicada Innovations' Investments by Sector
Cicada Innovations has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Energy Tech, Enterprise Applications, Environment Tech, Food and Agriculture Tech and Real Estate and Construction Tech. Notably, it has invested in 66 Tech companies, 65 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 32 Software companies and at least 18 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Energy Tech | 1 |
Enterprise Applications | 1 |
Environment Tech | 1 |
Food and Agriculture Tech | 1 |
Real Estate and Construction Tech | 1 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Cicada Innovations' Investments by Geography
Cicada Innovations has made most investments in Australia (2).Cicada Innovations' recent investments
Cicada Innovations has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Cicada Innovations:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 13, 2022 | Australia | Seed | 8891 | [+2] | |
Feb 28, 2019 | Australia | Seed | 8092 | - |
Unicorns in Cicada Innovations' Portfolio
Cicada Innovations has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - Bugcrowd. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Bugcrowd which became a unicorn in 2024, 2 years before Cicada Innovations first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Cicada Innovations' portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
66 | Provider of crowdsourced security platform offering vulnerability disclosure and penetration testing | 2012 | San Francisco | Series E | ateenlk |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Cicada Innovations' Portfolio
9 of Cicada Innovations' portfolio companies have become public. Tetratherix got listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), in Jun 2025 at marketcap of $95.3M and Gelion Technologies got listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at marketcap of $214M.Here are Cicada Innovations' portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 30, 2025 | - | - | 2019 | |
Nov 30, 2021 | - | - | 7411 | |
Aug 25, 2021 | - | - | 3822 | |
Jul 21, 2021 | - | - | 8387 | |
Oct 23, 2020 | - | - | 4958 |
Acquired companies in Cicada Innovations' Portfolio
10 companies from Cicada Innovations' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was ezyCollect in Oct 2025 by Sidetrade for $*****.Here are Cicada Innovations' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 13, 2025 | - | - | 2337 | |
Feb 27, 2024 | - | - | 8193 | |
Jan 11, 2022 | - | - | 8064 | |
Nov 12, 2021 | - | - | 5761 | |
Jun 01, 2018 | - | - | 2435 |
Team profile of Cicada Innovations
Cicada Innovations has a team of 19 members including 8 Partners, 1 Venture Partner and 8 Principals located in Australia and Ireland. Cicada Innovations' team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in Cicada Innovations:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | - | |
Partner | Sydney | - | - | |
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Westmead | - | ||
Partner | Ultimo | - | - | |
Partner | Sydney | - | - | |
Venture Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Principal | - | - | - | |
Principal | Sydney | - | - |
Co-investors of Cicada Innovations
Over the past 7 years, 3 investors have co-invested in Cicada Innovations's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Top Co-investors of Cicada Innovations: 3 investors entered a company along with Cicada Innovations. These include investors like Alfa Ventures (1 company).
Recent News related to Cicada Innovations
•
Linkage Global Signs LOI to Acquire On-Chain Asset Management Solutions Provider Cicada TechGlobeNewswire•Dec 02, 2025•Linkage Global, Cicada Innovations, Cicada Tech
•
Radium Capital Exceeds $1 Billion in Innovation Funding for Australian R&DAustralian FinTech•Nov 05, 2025•Radium, ElectraLith, Cicada Innovations
•
•
Cicada Innovations appoints Dr Katherine Woodthorpe as Chair, progressing diversity in STEM and deep techPR Newswire•Sep 28, 2023•Cicada Innovations
•
Cicada Innovations granted $7.8 million to run a new biomedical incubator in Western SydneyStartup Daily•Aug 03, 2023•Cicada Innovations, Nsw
•
Cicada Innovations to launch new incubator at Westmead Health & Innovation District, backed by Investment NSWPR Newswire•Aug 03, 2023•Cicada Innovations, Nsw
•
From infinite recycling to bat-like vision for blind people: Cicada Innovations announces the Tech23 startupsPR Newswire•Jun 08, 2023•Cicada Innovations
•
Cicada Innovations acquires Tech23, ‘celebrates’ $5.7b combined capital raisingiTWire•Jan 15, 2023•Cicada Innovations, Tech23
•
Deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations is helping NSW Health ramp up biotech commercialisationStartup Daily•Jul 06, 2021•Cicada Innovations
•
