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 88 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, High Tech. As of Jan 2026, Cicada Innovations has 1 unicorn under its belt and has witnessed 19 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in
its portfolio include Regrow, Bugcrowd and Happy. The program is backed by a team of 27 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 Sydney.
Cicada Innovations' List of Top Investments
Cicada Innovations has a portfolio of 88 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 27 other sectors, across stages such as Seed stage. Here is the list of top investments by Cicada Innovations:1. Regrow
AI-powered platform for resilient agriculture, emissions reduction, and supply chain sustainability. This is a technology company offering a climate action platform that empowers organizations to achieve sustainability goals through regenerative agriculture. The platform provides sustainability insights, rigorous scope 3 analysis, and actionable carbon reduction plans. It delivers measurable, reportable, and verifiable (MRV) progress against sustainability commitments. The company utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and remote sensing to trace emissions, plan high-ROI sustainability investments, and report sustainability progress. It supports various sectors, including consumer goods, retail, agribusiness, and the public sector, enabling them to build resilient supply chains, meet sustainable commodity demands, and generate certified carbon assets. The platform helps turn sustainability commitments into audit-ready results, facilitating credible impact reporting and claims. It is a B2B SaaS platform.
Key facts about Regrow
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Durham (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $60.7M
- Employee Count: 103 as on Dec 31, 2023
- Investors: M12, SE Ventures and 28 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Mar 26, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Bugcrowd
Crowdsourced web application security testing platform. It provides crowd-powered pen testing solutions that enable users to identify security issues in the applications. The platform offers web, API, mobile, IoT, and network penetration testing. Features include attack surface management, penetration testing, vulnerability disclosure, and more.
Key facts about Bugcrowd
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series E
- Total Funding till date: $184M
- Employee Count: 198 as on Dec 31, 2024
- Investors: Icon Ventures, Industry Ventures and 20 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Nov 01, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. 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)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $77.9M
- Employee Count: 30 as on Dec 31, 2020
- Investors: Supercharge Capital, Sandalphon Capital and 31 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jan 18, 2022, $*****
- 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: 180 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: firmgroupsinc.com, Sequoia Capital and 12 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 17, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. UpGuard
Cloud based platform offering third party risk management software. The platform features include vendor risk assessment and management, cyber risk management, configuration management, automated security questionnaires, protecting the brand, intellectual property, and customer data, IT compliance management, vulnerability management, and more.
Key facts about UpGuard
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Mountain View (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $46.3M
- Employee Count: 50 as on Dec 31, 2022
- Investors: August Capital, Pelion Venture Partners and 19 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jun 07, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Cicada Innovations' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Cicada Innovations has invested in 89 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 65 Tech companies, 64 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 31 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:
Date | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 13, 2022 | Australia | Seed | 4629 | [+2] | |
Feb 28, 2019 | Australia | Seed | 4498 | - |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 | Crowdsourced web application security testing platform | 2012 | San Francisco | Series E | bvuxd{p |
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 | - | - | 1367 | |
Nov 30, 2021 | - | - | 8679 | |
Aug 25, 2021 | - | - | 3675 | |
Jul 21, 2021 | - | - | 9787 | |
Oct 23, 2020 | - | - | 1082 |
Acquired companies in Cicada Innovations' Portfolio
10 companies from Cicada Innovations' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition were ezyCollect in Oct 2025 by Sidetrade.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 | - | - | 3491 | |
Feb 27, 2024 | - | - | 8979 | |
Jan 11, 2022 | - | - | 4445 | |
Nov 12, 2021 | - | - | 1191 | |
Jun 01, 2018 | - | - | 7870 |
Team profile of Cicada Innovations
Cicada Innovations has a team of 27 members including 11 Partners, 3 Venture Partners and 11 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 | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Westmead | - | ||
Partner | Ultimo | - | - | |
Partner | 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
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Linkage Global Signs LOI to Acquire On-Chain Asset Management Solutions Provider Cicada TechGlobeNewswire•Dec 02, 2025•Linkage Global, Cicada Innovations, Cicada Tech
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Radium Capital Exceeds $1 Billion in Innovation Funding for Australian R&DAustralian FinTech•Nov 05, 2025•Radium, ElectraLith, Cicada Innovations
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Cicada Innovations appoints Dr Katherine Woodthorpe as Chair, progressing diversity in STEM and deep techPR Newswire•Sep 28, 2023•Cicada Innovations
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Cicada Innovations granted $7.8 million to run a new biomedical incubator in Western SydneyStartup Daily•Aug 03, 2023•Cicada Innovations, NSW
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Cicada Innovations to launch new incubator at Westmead Health & Innovation District, backed by Investment NSWPR Newswire•Aug 03, 2023•Cicada Innovations, NSW
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From infinite recycling to bat-like vision for blind people: Cicada Innovations announces the Tech23 startupsPR Newswire•Jun 08, 2023•Cicada Innovations
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Cicada Innovations acquires Tech23, ‘celebrates’ $5.7b combined capital raisingiTWire•Jan 15, 2023•Cicada Innovations, Tech23
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Deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations is helping NSW Health ramp up biotech commercialisationStartup Daily•Jul 06, 2021•Cicada Innovations
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