Looking Back to Look Forward
Blackbird partner Samantha Wong reflects on a decade of the firm's Sunrise conference and Australia's startup ecosystem, recalling Atlassian's Nasdaq listing and Aconex's float and sale to Oracle.
Also SmartCompany
Accelerator · 2 deals
Sydney, NSW
Every published round Blue Chilli 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, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gheorg | Accelerator | 20 Dec 2021 | - | Participant | Startup Daily (Mon 20 Dec 2021), Startup Daily (Thu 6 Jun 2019) | |
| She's A Crowd | Accelerator | 8 Dec 2020 | - | Participant | SmartCompany (Tue 8 Dec 2020), SmartCompany (Wed 18 Dec 2019) |
Everyone Blue Chilli has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BindiMaps | SheStarts | 2017 | - | SmartCompany, Startup Daily |
| TalkiPlay | SheStarts | previous cohorts | - | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
Companies Blue Chilli has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gheorg | 20 Dec 2021, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| She's A Crowd | 8 Dec 2020, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| BindiMaps | 2017, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for Blue Chilli, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Blue Chilli has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Blue Chilli did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Natasha Hooper | Program Director | Startup Daily |
Stories naming Blue Chilli. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Blackbird partner Samantha Wong reflects on a decade of the firm's Sunrise conference and Australia's startup ecosystem, recalling Atlassian's Nasdaq listing and Aconex's float and sale to Oracle.
Also SmartCompany
Profile of BindiMaps, a Sydney accessibility wayfinding app founded in 2017, covering its SheStarts grant origins, early funding, customers across Australia and overseas, and expansion plans.
Victoria's women-focused Alice Anderson Fund has made its first investments, backing five women-led startups including Team Timbuktu, mtime, Steppen, Talkiplay and Milkdrop; individual amounts were not disclosed.
Also LaunchVic
Antler Australia streamed its first virtual Demo Day to over 2000 viewers, presenting twelve startups built through its five-month program, and unveiled two new initiatives supporting women founders and online company-building training.
A year-end roundup profiling twelve startups to watch in 2020, recalling their 2019 funding rounds, grants, accelerator cohorts, partnerships and growth plans across food tech, legaltech, cybersecurity and other sectors.
Roundup covering a new Startmate climate accelerator, BlueChilli's shift to scale-ups, Telstra reviewing muru-D, 86 400's home loan launch, Domain buying Real Time Agent, and Uber's Saudi backing.
BlueChilli is pivoting away from early-stage programs toward scale-ups and Asia in 2020 after spending its $10 million venture fund, casting doubt over SheStarts and its proptech accelerator, with job losses expected among its roughly 50 staff.
Profile of Queensland compliance-app maker Quick Safety and its CEO, recalling a 2016 challenge win and a 2018 government fund grant that helped the company bring its electrical safety apps to market.
Compliance app QuickSafety is seeking $1.3 million in a newly opened seed round, after an oversubscribed pre-seed closed in February 2018; supporters include Microsoft, Suncorp Metway, CCIQ, BlueChilli and the METS Ignited accelerator.
Melbourne urban-analytics startup Neighbourlytics has raised seed funding led by Carol Schwartz's Trawalla Group, with Scale Investors and Artesian also participating, to develop its product and shift toward a subscription model.
Also SmartCompany
BlueChilli has named the ten female-led startups joining the third intake of its SheStarts program, chosen from hundreds of applicants, with corporate backers supporting the venture-building effort.
Telstra-backed accelerator muru-D names ten startups for its sixth Sydney intake, each receiving seed funding, while Clean Travel and Okra Solar join Booking.com's sustainable tourism accelerator running in Amsterdam.
A language-learning app for children has closed a seed round led by a women-focused angel group, with the founder reflecting on the accelerator that shaped her and plans to hire and expand into early education centres.
A guide to twelve funding routes for Australian startups, covering venture capital, angels, debt, accelerators, grants, corporate venture, crowdfunding, ICOs and loans, with many past raises cited as examples.
Also Crunchbase News·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture
A funding roundup reporting raises by training marketplace GO1, online grocer YourGrocer and wearable payments startup Inamo, alongside government grant funding and accelerator programs backing Australian startups.