Andreessen Horowitz backs Folklore investee, Sphere
Folklore Ventures says its investee Sphere has secured US$20 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Y Combinator, Felicis and 20VC also in; Folklore backed Sphere at pre-seed.
Venture capital fund · 4 deals
Every published round 20VC took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sphere | Series A | 19 Nov 2025 | $20m | Participant | Folklore Ventures | |
| EQL | Unnamed stage | 12 Apr 2022 | $25m | Participant | SmartCompany (Wed 28 Jun 2023), Techboard, Startup Daily (Thu 14 Apr 2022), SmartCompany (Tue 12 Apr 2022), Startup Daily (Tue 12 Apr 2022), AirTree Ventures portfolio | |
| CryptoTaxCalculator | Seed | 7 Mar 2022 | $4m | Participant | Startup Daily, TechCrunch Australia | |
| FrankieOne | Series A | 18 Oct 2021 | $20m | Participant | Startup Daily (Tue 29 Nov 2022), Cut Through Venture, Startup Daily (Mon 18 Oct 2021), SmartCompany, Australian FinTech, Tidal Ventures, Startup Daily (Tue 12 Oct 2021), TechCrunch Australia |
Companies 20VC has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sphere | 19 Nov 2025, Series A | 1 | 0 | |
| EQL | 12 Apr 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| CryptoTaxCalculator | 7 Mar 2022, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| FrankieOne | 18 Oct 2021, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for 20VC, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies 20VC has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal 20VC did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Stebbings | Founder | Startup Daily, TechCrunch Australia |
Stories naming 20VC. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Folklore Ventures says its investee Sphere has secured US$20 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Y Combinator, Felicis and 20VC also in; Folklore backed Sphere at pre-seed.
Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht says a public float looks more attractive now, arguing its fresh venture-capital valuation undervalues the company; AI product launches and possible price rises were also flagged.
Melbourne startup EQL raised A$25 million led by Insight Partners and AirTree Ventures, with angels and family offices participating, to grow sales teams and improve its product-launch platform.
Sydney crypto tax software startup CryptoTaxCalculator announced a seed round of A$4 million led by AirTree, with Coinbase Ventures and 20VC participating, to expand its decentralised exchange tax reporting tool into the United States.
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Tidal Ventures' investment note explains why it backed FrankieOne from its 2019 seed and joined the KYC/AML platform's newly announced A$20 million Series A, co-led by Greycroft and Airtree Ventures.
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