Blackbird Ventures

Venture Capital · Fintech · AI

Milestone

Blackbird closes $752M fund, largest-ever VC raise in Australia/NZ

Global asset managers like Morgan Stanley and Schroders anchoring the fund shows institutional capital now treats Australian startups as a scalable bet.

• Blackbird closed its sixth fund at A$1.05 billion (about US$752 million), the largest venture capital fund ever raised in Australia and New Zealand.
• Sydney-based Blackbird, founded in 2012 by Niki Scevak and Rick Baker, was the first institutional investor in Canva and has since backed over 190 companies.
• New institutional backers Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Schroders Capital and Adams Street Partners joined existing Australian LPs including the Future Fund, Hostplus, Aware Super and HESTA.
• The fund keeps Blackbird's core strategy of pre-seed and seed bets, which made up 96% of its prior fund's initial checks, while reserving capital for later-stage follow-ons.
• Blackbird has now deployed over $3 billion across its 190-plus company portfolio, which it values at more than $12.5 billion, and has returned $2.25 billion to investors at a 32% net IRR.
• The raise follows rival AirTree Ventures' $650 million fifth fund last year, which also drew US insurers, endowments and pension funds, signaling a broader shift of ANZ VC firms toward diversified global LP bases.
• Deep-pocketed global institutions backing a local VC gives Australian founders more runway to build at home rather than relocate for capital, reinforcing Australia's tech sector as it grows faster than the broader economy.