Company
San Francisco
Every published round Block 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.
Companies Block has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio companies recorded yet. | ||||
Fund closes reported for Block, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Block has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Block did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of Block is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
Companies Block acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Company | Kind | Announced | Price | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afterpay | Acquisition | 7 Feb 2022 | $29b | Business News Australia, Fintech News Australia, Crunchbase News, Startup Daily (Mon 7 Feb 2022), Startup Daily (Tue 4 Jan 2022), Startup Daily (Tue 17 Aug 2021) |
Stories naming Block. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Payments firm Zepto has elevated long-serving security lead Mariana Paun to a newly created Chief Business Resilience Officer role, pulling information security, operations, risk and compliance together as Australian scam and payment rules tighten.
Payments company Zepto has promoted its first security hire, Mariana Paun, into a newly created executive role, Chief Business Resilience Officer, uniting security, operations, risk and compliance under one leader.
Ranking of Australia’s five best-funded fintechs — Airwallex, Athena, Zeller, InDebted and Brighte — profiling each one’s total raised, most recent raise, backers, valuation and growth moves.
Atlassian is acquiring US developer-analytics firm DX for US$1 billion — its second purchase this month, following The Browser Company and earlier deals for Loom and AirTrack.
Also Forbes Australia
Blackbird partners explain why the firm's 2022 fund led Factor House's $5 million seed round, profiling the Melbourne developer-tools startup, its Kafka and Flink management products, revenue growth and customers.
Also Startup Daily·LaunchVic
Melbourne developer-tools startup Factor House closed its first external round — $5 million, led by Blackbird, valuing it at $25 million — with OIF Ventures, Flying Fox Ventures, the Alice Anderson Fund and two angels joining.
First Australians Capital has reached a $20 million first close on its Catalytic Impact Funds, drawing commitments from foundations, family offices and corporates, plus Queensland government funding for its Indigenous business program.
QBE Foundation grants First Australians Capital $500,000 to seed Indigenous startups; the piece also recalls the $15 million catalytic impact fund close and Block's $3 million backing.
Square Peg profiles its Global Tech Fund, a listed-markets strategy applying its venture investing approach to early-stage public tech companies, and outlines its team, edge, and focus on fintech, software and AI.
ASX-listed venture fund Touch Ventures is parting with chief executive Hein Vogel; the piece recalls its 2021 $100 million listing, heavy write-offs on PlanPay and Till Payments, and Basiq's sale to Cuscal.
Weekly tech wrap: cloud-market trends, Tiger Global's cheques into Stake, Shippit and Carma, new VC funds, several acquisitions, grocery delivery startups Send and Quicko collapsing, and Elaine Stead joining M8 Ventures.
Also Startup Daily
Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup: AirTree raises $700m across three new funds, dozens of Australian startups announce rounds, a wave of acquisitions including Block completing its Afterpay buy, plus Web3 commentary and US market moves.
A year-in-review of Startup Daily's most-read 2021 stories, recalling major Australian tech exits including A Cloud Guru, Afterpay and Sweat, Canva's soaring valuation across three raises, Zero Co's crowdfunding record, and new VC funds.