AVCJ

Australia's Blackbird raises $173m for third fund

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Australian venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures has reached a first close of A$225 million ($173 million) on its third fund - including a commitment from Future Fund, the country's sovereign wealth fund.

Like the firm's last fund, the new fund is split into two vehicles: a A$100 million core vehicle and a A$125 million follow-on fund. Blackbird co-founder Rick Baker told AVCJ the core fund has already hit its hard cap – the target was A$75 million – while the follow-on fund has reached its target. The firm is waiting for LPs in the follow-on fund to finalize their commitments, which could push the final close higher.

Future Fund's commitment marks its first investment in an Australian VC fund, though A$8 billion of its A$139 billion in assets is allocated to VC and high growth small business globally. Raphael Arndt, the CIO of Future Fund, said last month at the AVCJ Australia & New Zealand Forum that the fund's VC investments are focused on taking advantage of technological disruption in the global economy.

Hostplus and First State Super, which respectively contributed A$35 million and A$110 million to Blackbird's second fund, returned for the new vehicle, along with near 100 individual investors, mainly technology entrepreneurs.

Blackbird was founded in 2012 by Baker, formerly a portfolio manager at MLC, and Bill Baree, managing director of Southern Cross Venture Partners. The firm initially focused on supporting innovative Australian technology start-ups at the seed and Series A stage and has since expanded its scope to include follow-on rounds in successful portfolio companies.

Blackbird's investments include online design start-up Canva, which offers a cloud-based platform and mobile app that allows users to create a custom-designed online presence. The GP joined a $3 million seed round for Canva in 2013 and has made several follow-on investments, including a $40 million round earlier this year led by Sequoia China that valued the company at $1 billion.

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