About Side Stage Ventures
Side Stage Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2022. It is primarily based out of Melbourne, Australia. As of Nov 2025, Side Stage Ventures is an active investor, having invested in 7 companies, with 2 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 Media & Entertainment. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Fabra USA Overall, Side Stage Ventures portfolio has seen 1 acquisition, namely Leonardo Ai. A lot of funds co-invest with Side Stage Ventures, with names like Blackbird Ventures sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Side Stage Ventures has team of 9 people including 3 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed & Series A
Portfolio Acquisitions
Side Stage Ventures' List of Top Investments
Side Stage Ventures has a portfolio of 7 companies. Their most notable investments are in Outstaffer.com and Leonardo Ai.Their portfolio spans across Australia and United States. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Media & Entertainment and 5 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A stages. Here is the list of top investments by Side Stage Ventures:
1. 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
- Investors: Samsung NEXT, Blackbird Ventures and 4 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Dec 06, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
2. Thanks
Coupon based loyalty platform for customers. It rewards users via coupon for the transactions. The platform provides rewards from different brands to optimize customer engagement through discounts and offers. The rewards are personalized based on customer behaviour and preferences.
Key facts about Thanks
- Founded Year: 2023
- Location: Sydney (Australia)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $2.6M
- Investors: Peak XV Partners, Founder Collective and 2 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Mar 11, 2025, $*****
Cloud-based HRMS platform for remote teams. The platform offers features such as recruitment solutions, performance management, employee benefits administration, onboarding, engagement, & retention, compliance management, etc. It also enables tracking workforce productivity, managing desktops, virtual meetings, and collaboration spaces, etc. It is a tool available on the subscription-based pricing model.
Key facts about Outstaffer.com
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Cremorne (Australia)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $1.5M
- Employee Count: 52 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: Spring Capital, SpringCapital Investment and 6 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Oct 18, 2023, $*****
4. TrueState
Platform for building AI systems. The platform offers AI technology, enabling customers to implement AI solutions. Features include containerization of core services, integration of data with models, identity and access management, GPU lifecycle management, CI or CD configuration, security compliance, infrastructure scaling automation, secure data integrations, and more.
Key facts about TrueState
- Founded Year: 2023
- Location: Sydney (Australia)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $1.5M
- Investors: AirTree, Imprint Capital Partners and 2 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jun 18, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Key facts about More Good Days
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Carlton (Australia)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $3.5M
- Investors: Blackbird Ventures, LaunchVic and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Feb 09, 2024, $*****
Side Stage Ventures' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Side Stage Ventures has invested in 7 companies over the last 3 years, with an average of 2 new investments annually in the last 3 years. In 2025, it made 3 investments. Its most recent first time investment was in Fabra USA.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2023 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Side Stage Ventures' Investments by Stage
Side Stage Ventures has made 5 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1.95M and 2 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $13.5M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 5 |
Series A | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Side Stage Ventures' Investments by Sector
Side Stage Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Vertical SaaS, Business Services and Consumer. Notably, it has invested in 5 Software companies, 5 Tech companies, 4 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 2 companies focusing on AI-Native.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 5 |
High Tech | 2 |
Vertical SaaS | 2 |
Business Services | 1 |
Consumer | 1 |
Others | 4 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Side Stage Ventures' Investments by Geography
Side Stage Ventures has made most investments in Australia (6), followed by United States where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Australia | 6 |
United States | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Side Stage Ventures' recent investments
Side Stage Ventures has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Side Stage Ventures:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 11, 2025 | United States | Seed | 4721 | [+2] | |
Sep 18, 2025 | Australia | Seed | 4379 | [+6] | |
Mar 11, 2025 | Australia | Seed | 9687 | [+1] | |
Jun 18, 2024 | Australia | Seed | 8512 | [+2] | |
Dec 06, 2023 | Australia | Series A | 3694 | [+4] |
Acquired companies in Side Stage Ventures' Portfolio
1 company from Side Stage Ventures' portfolio has been acquired. The most recent acquisition were Leonardo Ai in Jul 2024 by Canva.Here are Side Stage Ventures' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 30, 2024 | Dec 06, 2023 | Series A | 5581 |
Team profile of Side Stage Ventures
Side Stage Ventures has a team of 9 members including 3 Partners and 2 Venture Partners located in Australia. Side Stage Ventures' team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Side Stage Ventures:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Sydney | - | ||
Partner | - | - | ||
Partner | - | - | ||
Venture Partner | Melbourne | - | ||
Venture Partner | Australia | - | - |
Co-investors of Side Stage Ventures
Over the past 3 years, 30 investors have co-invested in Side Stage Ventures's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Side Stage Ventures: Smash Capital and TIRTA have invested in rounds before Side Stage Ventures. There is 1 company where Smash Capital has invested before Side Stage Ventures and 1 company where TIRTA has invested before Side Stage Ventures.
- Top Co-investors of Side Stage Ventures: 27 investors entered a company along with Side Stage Ventures. These include investors like Blackbird Ventures (2 companies).
- Invested after Side Stage Ventures: business.gov.au (1 company) is the only investor which has invested in Side Stage Ventures's portfolio after their investments.
Recent News related to Side Stage Ventures
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Fabra Secures $2.8M Pre-Seed Funding to Revolutionize Design Software from Concept to CommerceAustralian Manufacturing Forum•Nov 11, 2025•Side Stage Ventures, January Capital, Fabra USA, Concept and 1 other
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Puralink raises $2.3 million for autonomous robot ferrets that can find leaky pipesSmartCompany•Sep 18, 2025•Puralink, Peak XV Partners, Side Stage Ventures, Wollemi and 2 others
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Retail media startup Thanks bags $2.6 million in seed funding and adds eBay and Zip to partner listRetail Technology Innovation Hub•Mar 11, 2025•Thanks, Peak XV Partners, Founder Collective, Side Stage Ventures
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Aussie-founded retail media ad network Thanks raises $4.1m in seed round as revenue surgesBusiness News Australia•Feb 21, 2025•Thanks, Peak XV Partners, Founder Collective, Side Stage Ventures
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TrueState secures $1.5m to deliver AI app development in daysSmartCompany•Jun 18, 2024•TrueState, Galileo Ventures, Imprint Capital Partners, TrueState and 2 others
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TrueState raises $1.5m towards AI app template platformBusiness News Australia•Jun 18, 2024•TrueState, AirTree, Side Stage Ventures, Galileo Ventures and 1 other
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Leonardo.AI Raises $31 Million to Fuel Generative AI Art PlatformVoicebot.ai•Jan 03, 2024•Leonardo Ai, Blackbird Ventures, Side Stage Ventures, Smash Capital and 1 other
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Leonardo.Ai secures AU$47 million funding for generative AI content production platformMediaweek•Dec 07, 2023•Leonardo Ai, Blackbird Ventures, Side Stage Ventures, Gaorong Capital and 3 others
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Outstaffer Raises $1.5M in FundingFinSMEs•Oct 18, 2023•Outstaffer.com, Utiliti, 1in100 Ventures, Side Stage Ventures and 4 others
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Linktree cofounders back new $15 million VC fundStartup Daily•Aug 07, 2023•Linktr ee, Side Stage Ventures
