Stories

What I’m now looking for in Australian and New Zealand SaaS

With eight years of hindsight, our most successful SaaS companies share these key characteristics.

Future-Proof Workspaces with XY Sense

The View From Inside Blackbird’s Engine Room

First hand experience from Dan Danilov about the past 10 months spent working in Blackbird's Operations team.

Rediscovering Mission with Fable

Spotlight On: Soroush Pour

Are You Our Next Blackbird?

At Blackbird, we believe that giant leaps forward are made by a passionate few.

Changing the Food Game with Vow

"10 years from now, if you walk into the supermarket or a restaurant, no matter which country you're in, you're going to have an option of e

Investment Notes: Eucalyptus

We were thrilled to invest in the Series A round, having led the company’s pre-seed round in January 2019, and seed round in October 2019.

The View From the Top with Fleet Space

Fleet’s mission is to connect everything on Earth via sending toaster sized satellites into low Earth orbit.

The Magnetic Effect of a Mission

Introducing Blackbird's first podcast, Wild Hearts.

Earn the Right to Exist with Eucalyptus

Spotlight On: Cortical Labs

Investment Notes: Cortical Labs

Blackbird has invested in the Melbourne-based startup Cortical Labs.

Webinar Debrief: Beating Burnout

Takeaways from our panel event with SafetyCulture on identifying the warning signs of professional burnout and strategies to beat it.

COVID-19 Toolkit for Founders

Investment Notes: Ovira

Blackbird has invested $1M into Ovira.

Blackbird Response to COVID-19

Blackbird Monthly, Edition 02, 2020

Spotlight On: Charlie Gearside, Co-Founder of Eucalyptus

Investment Notes: Dovetail

We’ve finally found a product just for UX researchers in Dovetail.

Systems: A Simple Recipe for Productivity

Blackbird Head of Productivity Clark Carter’s guide to keep you on track.

Investment Notes: Roborigger

We’ve invested $5m in an innovation which promises to make worksites safer.

Welcome, New Blackbirds

Meet the seven newest members of the Blackbird family, who have joined us for 2020 and beyond.

Blackbird is hiring a Fund Accountant

The Third Way: This is Why We Back Our Founders

Investment Notes: Fable

Blackbird is proud to have invested in Fable’s seed round.

Blackbird is Hiring: Financial Accountant

Blackbird Spreads Its Wings

Blackbird is Hiring: Chief of Staff, Portfolio Analyst, People Lead

Investment Notes: Raine

We’re thrilled to have joined the seed round for Raine.

Australian Startups Pave the Way

Blackbird is Hiring: Business Operations

Investment Notes: Incodocs

We’ve invested in Incodocs, a software-as-service platform for trade and shipping.

We Are Sending Robotics Team to World Championships

What I Learnt From My Blackbird Internship

Sunrise Island Reflections: Part 2

Year in Reflection: 2018

Sunrise Island Reflections: Part 1

How We Invest: Rivers of Inquiry

Welcome to the Third Agricultural Revolution

Investment Notes: Sunfed

We have led a NZ$10M investment into plant-based meat company Sunfed.

Investment Notes: Applied

We have led the seed round for hiring platform company, Applied.

Thank You, Wild Hearts

Blackbird Melbourne is Open for Business

Investment Notes: Zoox

We're investing $500K in Aussie-founded autonomous vehicle company Zoox.

Code of Conduct for Blackbird and Startmate

Blackbird is Hiring: Portfolio Intelligence Analyst

FIRST Robotics and Australia’s National Identity

Investment Notes: MOVUS

We're investing in a company connecting machinery to the internet.

The Third Wave

Our third fund is $261M to fund ambitious Australian founders.

The Blackbird Master Plan

Blackbird's master plan for the future has four key steps.

Flip Ups: Not As Scary As You Think

Nuraphones Are Here

Investment Notes: AskNicely

We’re investing in this whose mission is to make NPS actionable for employees.

Blackbird: A Calling

Investment Notes: EARTH AI

EARTH AI is a company helping mineral explorers identify promising areas.

Investment Notes: Gilmour Space

Gilmour Space is developing a rocket to launch small satellites into space.

Company Missions: High Definition and Vivid Colour

How Much is Enough?

Investment Notes: Fleet

Fleet's mission is simple: to create a network of tiny nano-satellites that deliver a global backhaul service for the Internet of Things.

Investment Notes: Nura

Nura is creating headphones that make music even more personal.

What Blackbird Looks For in Founders

We’re Small Not Big

The Australian venture capital industry at the beginning of 2017 is undersized.

Looking Forward: 2017

What we are looking for in founders and companies in 2017.

Startmate’s Diversity & Inclusion Efforts

Investing in the Misunderstood

2016 in Review

Crowdfunding in the Toilet Paper Game

What Emergency Rooms Have in Common with Startups

An AMA with Jodie Auster, former VP of People Ops at Thumbtack and ER doctor.

Great Teams in Great Markets

Revolutionising the Law

Blackbird Mission and Values

Changing the Education Industry

Skipping the Bad Startup Advice

AMA with Founder of DGraph, Manish Rai Jain.

You Can Start Before Funding

From Accounting to Acting

“We Needed to Be Naive and Arrogant”

How naivety and arrogance can help build world-changing businesses

Bringing the Internet to Worksites

AMA with Rory from Propeller Aero.

How to Improve Australia’s Innovation Ecosystem

When Girls Don’t Do STEM, Women Don’t Do Tech

Why We Rejected 1,983 Startups

Successful Founders Must Be Determined

Putting Everything On The Line

Tall Poppy Syndrome Brings Us All Down

Helping (Robotic) Hands

Founders are Inquisitive and Resilient

The best founders are inquisitive and resilient.

No Startups = No Growth

Hidden Importance of Culture

How Investors Fall in Love

Why Some Women in Tech Don’t Support Gender Diversity

The surprising response of women in tech on the gender issue and how can improve gender diversity anyway.

Thoughts on Founder Vesting

Will Blackbird take your vested shares?

The Achilles Heel of Advice

Blackbird Partner Niki Scevak advises against advice.

At What Stage Will Blackbird Invest?

5 Reasons Aussie VC Will Be Thriving 5 Years

Blackbird Founders and Silicon Valley Advisors

The Physics of Startup Financing

There is a fundamental paradox in the startup world: A lot more founders try to raise money than successfully do

What Products and Markets Do We Want?

We have a fairly narrow investment focus which is defined by our ability to add value to a company

The Worst Slide In Your Pitch Deck

Please, don't show us your Exit slide.

Our Next Chapter: Fund 2

We’re pleased to announce the next chapter of Blackbird Ventures with a further $200 million of capital to invest in Australian startups.

5 Reasons Aussie Startups Should Go Global From Day One