Australian venture capital firm Blackbird has closed its sixth venture fund at $1.05 billion, a major milestone for the firm and the wider startup sector. The fund is now the largest venture capital fund ever raised in Australia and New Zealand.
This is also Blackbird’s second fund above the $1 billion mark. Its previous fund, raised in 2022, had $1.032 billion in committed capital. The new fund has passed that record by a small but important margin.
The size of the fund matters because it gives Blackbird a large pool of capital for very early startup bets. The firm has built its reputation around founders who may have little more than an idea, a small team, or an early version of a product.
Blackbird does not need a startup to have large revenue before it makes a decision. Its model allows the firm to enter at a stage when many other investors may still see too much risk.
Blackbird wants to enter earlier
The most notable part of the new fund is not only its size. It is the stage at which Blackbird plans to use the money.
Blackbird has a clear focus on the first steps of a company. The firm says 96% of its first investments from its previous early-stage fund were at the pre-seed or seed stage. These are stages where a company may have little revenue and limited proof that its idea will work.
In some cases, Blackbird is prepared to meet founders before they have a finished product. The firm has also spoken about its interest in founders who are at a stage before a traditional startup even has a clear business plan.
That approach is very different from the usual image of venture capital. Many large funds prefer companies that already have strong sales, a proven product and clear signs of rapid growth. Blackbird wants to take a much earlier risk.
The reason is simple. If a small company becomes a global technology leader, an early investor can gain a much larger share of the value created later.
A strategy shaped by Canva
Blackbird’s history helps explain why it has such strong faith in this model.
One of its best-known investments is Canva. Blackbird was Canva’s first institutional investor in 2013. The firm wrote a $250,000 cheque to the company at a very early stage. Blackbird later continued to support Canva as the company grew into one of Australia’s best-known technology companies.
The Canva story is important because it shows the type of outcome that can make an early-stage venture strategy work.
A venture fund does not need every startup to become a huge company. Most early bets may produce modest results or fail. But a small number of exceptional companies can create returns large enough to cover those losses and deliver strong results for investors.
Blackbird has used this idea across its portfolio. Its companies include names such as Canva, Airwallex, Baseten, Halter, PsiQuantum, SafetyCulture and Gilmour Space.
More global investors join the fund
The new fund also has a wider group of international investors.
Blackbird has brought in Adams Street Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Schroders as new institutional backers. They join Australian investors such as Future Fund, Hostplus, Aware Super and HESTA.
This matters for more than the amount of money available to Blackbird.
International institutions have many places where they can put their capital. Their decision to commit money to an Australian and New Zealand venture fund shows greater confidence in the region’s ability to produce companies with global potential.
For years, Australia and New Zealand have had strong technology founders, but the local venture market has been much smaller than markets such as the United States.
Blackbird’s latest fund shows that the gap may be changing. Global investors now have more evidence that companies from the region can grow well beyond their home markets.
A large pool for very early bets
A fund of $1.05 billion gives Blackbird room to make many early investments while also keeping enough capital for later support.
This is important because a startup’s first funding round is rarely the end of its capital needs. A company that finds product-market fit may need much larger sums as it hires staff, enters new markets and develops more complex technology.
Blackbird’s fund structure supports this path. The firm says it has two funds in each vintage: a Core Fund for the first rounds and a Follow-On Fund for later stages such as Series B and beyond.
That gives Blackbird a way to support its strongest companies over several years instead of selling its position after the first major funding round.
It also gives founders access to an investor that already knows their company well.
The wider startup market
The new fund arrives at a difficult time for venture capital.
Global investors have become more selective after the huge technology funding boom of the early 2020s. Higher interest rates, weaker public markets and slower exits have made venture capital harder for many firms.
Australia has also faced pressure at the early stages. Blackbird said that in 2025, its new investments were still heavily focused on pre-seed and seed companies, even as Australia’s wider market saw a sharp fall in early-stage funding.
That makes the size of this fund even more notable.
Blackbird has not raised $1.05 billion simply because venture capital has become easier. It has convinced major institutions that its past results, strategy and access to founders can justify another large commitment.
What this means for founders
For Australian and New Zealand founders, the new fund could create more opportunities at a very early stage.
A founder does not always need a large team, millions in revenue or a long customer list to attract serious venture capital. If the idea is ambitious and the team has the ability to turn it into a major company, Blackbird wants to hear the story early.
The firm has also backed companies in areas that can require long periods of development. These include space technology, artificial intelligence and other forms of frontier technology.
That matters because deep technology often needs more time and capital than normal software. A large fund can absorb more of that risk.
The real test starts now
A $1.05 billion fund is a major achievement, but the final measure will come years from now.
Blackbird must find the next group of companies that can create very large outcomes. It must also choose the right moments to put more capital behind those winners.
The firm already has a strong record. Blackbird says it has backed 188 companies across Australia and New Zealand, with 10 now worth more than $1 billion and five worth more than $10 billion. As of June 30, 2026, its funds had a 32.24% net IRR.
Those numbers help explain why investors continue to trust the firm with large sums.
A bigger bet on Australia’s future
Blackbird’s $1.05 billion fund is more than another large venture raise. It is a vote of confidence in founders from Australia and New Zealand.
The firm is betting that some of the world’s next major companies may start with very little: a founder, a technical idea and a strong belief that something can be built.
By entering at that point, Blackbird accepts more risk than a later-stage investor. But the potential reward is also much greater.
Its second $1 billion-plus fund shows that the firm believes this strategy still has a long future. More importantly, global institutions have now put substantial capital behind that belief.
For Australia’s startup ecosystem, that may be the biggest message of all. The region is no longer asking whether it can produce global technology companies. With funds of this scale, investors are making a much larger bet that it can produce many more.
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