Phoebe Harrop
Auckland
New Zealand

Phoebe Harrop

Auckland
New Zealand

This Blackbird has flown the nest. You can get in touch with them below.

About Me

Kia ora! I grew up in Ngāmotu (New Plymouth), New Zealand. I studied Law and Spanish at the University of Otago before spreading my wings and starting my career as a consultant at Bain & Company, first in Melbourne and then in London. Working with companies like Westpac, Coca Cola and LEGO taught me the basics of business strategy, plus a lot about how people and organisations tick. On the side, I became interested in the idea of combining investment in technology with objectives like improving health outcomes or reducing carbon emissions. This led me to join Generation, a sustainability-focused growth equity fund founded & chaired by Al Gore. After three years in the investment team there, working between London and San Francisco with companies like Asana, Toast, Gusto, M-Kopa, Nature’s Fynd and Remitly I landed my dream job back home in Blackbird’s Aotearoa team. Based in Tāmaki Makarau (Auckland) I invest in the most ambitious Kiwi founders - like Sam from Excellent, Elliot from ThroughLine and Jamie & David from Carepatron - right from the very beginning.

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea” - Isak Dinesan

What do you do at Blackbird?

Based in New Zealand, I invest in unreasonably ambitious Kiwi founders who want to build world-changing companies. I'm interested in make-stuff-better ideas across everything from fintech to healthcare, future food to cleantech.

What did you do before Blackbird?

I was an investor at Generation, working across London and San Francisco, investing in the likes of Nature's Fynd, Convoy, Remitly, Guideline and Elation Health.

What do you believe that others do not?

The "how" often matters a lot more than the "what". A beautiful solution in the abstract means little without customer obsession, product mind-set, and a thriving team

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Phoebe Harrop