About Blackbird Ventures
Blackbird Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2012. It is primarily based out of Surry Hills, Australia. As of Aug 2026, Blackbird Ventures is an active investor, having invested in 158 companies, with 11 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in Australia based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to High Tech and Retail. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of Vessev Tech Overall, Blackbird Ventures portfolio has seen 7 unicorns and 25 acquisitions including key companies like Airwallex, SafetyCulture and Leonardo Ai. A lot of funds co-invest with Blackbird Ventures, with names like Icehouse Ventures sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Blackbird Ventures has team of 70 people including 22 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 3 more
Portfolio Unicorns
Deals in last 12 months
Blackbird Ventures' List of Top Investments
Blackbird Ventures has a portfolio of 158 companies, including 7 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Nomad Atomics and SafeStack.Their portfolio spans across Australia, United States, New Zealand and 3 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Retail and 30 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by Blackbird Ventures:
1. Canva
Cloud-based collaborative design platform. It enables users to create various digital content, including social media posts, presentations, and videos, through its drag-and-drop editor. The platform provides access to thousands of templates, photos, and fonts, and offers AI-powered tools for users to enhance design abilities. It allows users to edit images for presentations, invitations, posters, flyers, business cards, and more. The platform offers pre-designed templates and effects. It also provides a stock library of photographs, illustrations, and images.
Key facts about Canva
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Surry Hills (Australia)
- Annual Revenue: $500M - $1B as on Dec 31, 2022
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series F
- Total Funding till date: $589M
- Employee Count: 17,467 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer Investment Group and 55 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series F, May 01, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Airwallex
Provider of financial infrastructure for processing payments and managing treasury. This platform enables businesses to accept payments, issue corporate cards, and manage expenses through integrated software. It facilitates currency conversion, international fund transfers, and automated billing processes. The system provides application programming interfaces for embedding financial services into other software products. It supports account management, payout distribution, and reconciliation workflows for commercial operations.
Key facts about Airwallex
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series H
- Total Funding till date: $1.9B
- Employee Count: 2,725 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford and 51 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series H, Jun 25, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Provider of a platform for workplace operations, safety, and compliance. The platform offers tools for inspections, audits, checklists, training, and asset management. It also provides features for task management, document management, and incident reporting. The platform includes integrations and analytics to improve workflows and identify risks.
Key facts about SafetyCulture
- Founded Year: 2004
- Location: Surry Hills (Australia)
- Annual Revenue: $100M - $500M as on Jun 30, 2024
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series D
- Total Funding till date: $298M
- Employee Count: 910 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: TDM Growth Partners, Insight Partners and 41 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Sep 09, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Mercato
Online grocery delivery connecting customers with local, independent grocers. It is a platform that partners with local and culturally diverse grocers to make healthy, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods more accessible to communities. It provides independent merchants with online shopping and local delivery, bringing more business to the shops. It offers a wide selection of products, including seasonal produce, hand-cut meats, seafood, international specialties, pantry staples, bakery items, specialty beverages, artisanal cheeses, spices, seasonings, and catered meals. Customers can shop from multiple stores in the same order and schedule delivery or in-store pickup. It aims to provide access to healthy, nutritious foods sourced by local grocers, with a focus on choice and dignity. It supports local businesses and empowers communities. The platform offers features like account creation, express checkout, reordering, referral program, and personalized shopping. It is a B2C platform with a social impact.
Key facts about Mercato
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Brooklyn (United States)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $40.8M
- Employee Count: 219 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Flucas Ventures, Cannoli Ventures and 14 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Mar 25, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Leonardo Ai
AI-powered platform to generate assets with models. It creates images, change controls, and create patterns. It allows users to create game assets using natural language commands.
Key facts about Leonardo Ai
- Founded Year: 2022
- Location: Sydney (Australia)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $31M
- Employee Count: 184 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: Gaorong Capital, Samsung NEXT and 4 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Dec 06, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Blackbird Ventures' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Blackbird Ventures has invested in 158 companies over the last 14 years, with an average of 10 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 29 investments, while as of Aug 2026, it has made 15 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Vessev Tech and most recent follow-on round was in Alloy.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 7 | 8 | 15 |
2025 | 15 | 14 | 29 |
2024 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
2023 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
2022 | 17 | 12 | 29 |
2021 | 15 | 12 | 27 |
2020 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
2019 | 11 | 6 | 17 |
2018 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
2017 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
Blackbird Ventures' Investments by Stage
Blackbird Ventures has made 92 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.99M, 26 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $11.3M, 6 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $23.3M, 2 investments in Series F stage with an average round size of $825M and 1 investment in Series D stage with an average round size of $450M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 92 |
Series A | 26 |
Series B | 6 |
Series F | 2 |
Series D | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Blackbird Ventures' Investments by Sector
Blackbird Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Consumer, Retail and Vertical SaaS. Notably, it has invested in 135 Tech companies, 117 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 95 Software companies and at least 53 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 72 |
High Tech | 38 |
Consumer | 21 |
Retail | 14 |
Vertical SaaS | 14 |
Others | 140 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Blackbird Ventures' Investments by Geography
Blackbird Ventures has made most investments in Australia (63), followed by United States where it has made 37 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Australia | 63 |
United States | 37 |
New Zealand | 18 |
United Kingdom | 6 |
Singapore | 4 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Blackbird Ventures' recent investments
Blackbird Ventures has made 15 investments in 2026 so far. Vessev Tech and Sterling are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by Blackbird Ventures:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 21, 2026 | New Zealand | Series A | 7732 | [+5] | |
Aug 14, 2026 | New Zealand | Seed | 9910 | [+1] | |
Aug 12, 2026 | United States | Seed | 2626 | [+2] | |
Aug 07, 2026 | Australia | Series A | 3778 | [+4] | |
Jul 27, 2026 | Australia | Seed | 6363 | [+2] |
Unicorns in Blackbird Ventures' Portfolio
Blackbird Ventures has 7 unicorns in its portfolio - Baseten Technologies, Halter, Bugcrowd and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Baseten Technologies. It became a unicorn in 2025.Here is a list of unicorns in Blackbird Ventures' portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
67 | Platform offering low code based ML powered application development software | 2019 | San Francisco | Series F | vujqzdv | ||
65 | Revolutionizing pasture management with virtual fencing and animal monitoring technology | 2016 | Auckland | Series E | rkduepl | ||
66 | Provider of crowdsourced security platform offering vulnerability disclosure and penetration testing | 2012 | San Francisco | Series E | yfgxooy | ||
73 | Employee experience management platform | 2009 | Richmond | Series F | {lbgqqu | ||
72 | Developer of photon-based universal quantum computers | 2015 | Palo Alto | Series E | joeekfi |
Acquired companies in Blackbird Ventures' Portfolio
25 companies from Blackbird Ventures' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Hall in Jul 2026 by Tracksuit for $*****.Here are Blackbird Ventures' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 20, 2026 | Jul 28, 2025 | Seed | 6565 | |
Jul 17, 2026 | Dec 05, 2022 | Seed | 6414 | |
May 15, 2026 | - | - | 6796 | |
Apr 08, 2026 | May 19, 2014 | Series B | 5225 | |
Feb 19, 2026 | Oct 2019 | Seed | 3323 |
Team profile of Blackbird Ventures
Blackbird Ventures has a team of 70 members including 22 Partners, 4 Venture Partners and 8 Principals located in Australia, United States and 8 more locations. Blackbird Ventures' team sits on the board of 1 company.Here is a list of top team members in Blackbird Ventures:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Australia | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | |||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | Auckland | - | ||
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | New Zealand | - | ||
Partner | Palo Alto | - | - | |
Partner | United Arab Emirates | - | - | |
Partner | Sydney | - | - |
Co-investors of Blackbird Ventures
Over the past 14 years, 687 investors have co-invested in Blackbird Ventures's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Blackbird Ventures: Startmate, Y Combinator and 123 others have invested in rounds before Blackbird Ventures. There are 5 companies where Startmate has invested before Blackbird Ventures and 4 companies where Y Combinator has invested before Blackbird Ventures.
- Top Co-investors of Blackbird Ventures: 239 investors entered a company along with Blackbird Ventures. These include investors like Icehouse Ventures (10 companies).
- Invested after Blackbird Ventures: A total of 323 investors have invested in Blackbird Ventures's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include AirTree (8 companies), Hostplus (8 companies) and HESTA (6 companies).
Recent News related to Blackbird Ventures
•
Auckland's flying ferry maker Vessev lands NZ$32.6m and its first US customerEvsandbeyond•Aug 21, 2026•Vessev Tech, FlyTahoe, Blackbird Ventures, Rypples
•
Kiwi AI startup Stirling raises $3.15m for finance team autopilotStartup Daily•Aug 14, 2026•Blackbird Ventures, stirling.com
•
Partly raises USD $50 million to expand Australia hiringTechDay•Jul 21, 2026•Blackbird Ventures, DST Global, Partly
•
AI Inference Startup Baseten Reportedly Raising $1.5B Months After Last Mega RoundTechCrunch+•Jun 19, 2026•Altimeter Capital, Spark Capital, Wellington, Baseten Technologies and 5 others
•
August Robotics Raises $30M to Scale Construction Automation PlatformVentureburn•May 22, 2026•Futurefamilyoffice, GS Futures, Tanarra, Big Pi Ventures and 3 others
•
•
Blackbird Leads $10M Seed Round for Marloo to Streamline Financial Advisers' Paperwork with AITech Funding News•Apr 28, 2026•Blackbird Ventures, Marloo, Icehouse Ventures
•
NRF invests $10.1m in Syenta to boost semiconductor performanceCapital Brief•Apr 21, 2026•Syenta, Playground, National Reconstruction Fund, Blackbird Ventures and 1 other
•
NextWork Raises $4.45M in Seed FundingFinSMEs•Mar 04, 2026•NextWork, SHAKTI, Global From Day One, Cake Ventures and 3 others
•
