Eucalyptus founder-backed condom biz wants the rubber to hit the road
A Sydney condom medtech is preparing a capital raise via an advisory firm; its earlier backers include a foundation and a startup co-founder, per the article.
Startup · $148m raised
Sydney, NSW
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Eucalyptus raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| AirTree Ventures | Series C · Series B | - |
| Athletic Ventures | Series C | - |
| Blackbird Ventures | Series D+ · Series C · Series B · Series A | - |
| Bond | Series D+ · Series C | - |
| Mary Meeker | Series C | - |
| NewView | Series C · Series B | - |
| OneVentures | Series C | - |
| W23 | Series D+ · Series C · Series B | - |
| Woolies | Series C | - |
| Woolworths | Series A | - |
Every published round Eucalyptus 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauce | Seed | 11 Nov 2022 | $2.3m | Participant | SmartCompany, Startup Daily, Forbes Australia | |
| Alloy Technologies | Pre-seed | 24 Sep 2025 | $4.5m | Participant | Startup Daily (Wed 12 Aug 2026), Startup Daily (Sat 27 Sep 2025), SmartCompany (Fri 26 Sep 2025), SmartCompany (Thu 25 Sep 2025), Startup Daily (Wed 24 Sep 2025), Forbes Australia, Blackbird Ventures, TechCrunch Venture, AirTree Ventures portfolio, Blackbird Ventures portfolio, Blackbird Ventures portfolio |
Companies Eucalyptus has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alloy Technologies | 24 Sep 2025, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Sauce | 11 Nov 2022, Seed | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Eucalyptus, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Eucalyptus has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Eucalyptus did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of Eucalyptus is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
The transaction that ended Eucalyptus's run as a startup, per published coverage. It closes the funding history too, where it is the ladder's last rung.
| Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hims & Hers | Acquisition | Jan 2026 | $1.6b | AFR Technology, Forbes Australia, Blackbird Ventures, Dealroom (Sun 16 Aug 2026), Startup Daily (Mon 2 Mar 2026), SmartCompany (Tue 24 Feb 2026), SmartCompany (Fri 20 Feb 2026), Dealroom (Fri 20 Feb 2026), Startup Daily (Thu 19 Feb 2026), OneVentures portfolio |
Companies Eucalyptus acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Stories naming Eucalyptus. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
A Sydney condom medtech is preparing a capital raise via an advisory firm; its earlier backers include a foundation and a startup co-founder, per the article.
Startup Daily reports Airtree has extended its Frontier founder residency to San Francisco, dangling uncapped US$250,000 SAFE notes at expat Aussie and Kiwi founders; its Sydney edition hosts alumni of major local tech firms.
Roundup of the week's Australia and New Zealand raises: Gridsight, Pearler and Apate.AI secure the biggest cheques, Drumbeat and GonGlobal add smaller sums, and ten AI startups join Airwallex's Latitude 37 program.
AFR Street Talk reports Eucalyptus co-founder Charlie Gearside and Chris Cuffe's Partners Horizon Fund have joined Sydney investment app Pearler's $16 million Series A.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Cut Through Venture·Australian FinTech·fundedstartupsdaily.com
Blackbird announces its new early-stage and growth funds have brought in A$1.05 billion, reflecting on early cheques, portfolio outcomes like Eucalyptus's sale, and new international backers.
Also Dealroom·Dealroom·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Dealroom·This Week in Australian Startups
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
Robot data analysis startup Alloy Robotics has raised $11.5 million in a seed round led by Square Peg, with Blackbird and Airtree participating, less than a year after a $4.5 million pre-seed.
Robotics AI startup Alloy has banked an $8m seed at an $80m valuation, led by Square Peg with Blackbird, Airtree and Skip Capital back again; funds earmarked for engineering hires and growth in the US.
Roundup of eight Australian and New Zealand startups whose late-July funding totals $102 million across space capsules, medical devices, livestock breath analysis, sports analytics and AI crop forecasting.
A OneVentures post announcing the sale of digital health group Eucalyptus to an unnamed New York stock exchange-listed healthcare company for 1.6 billion dollars, set against pharmaceutical appetite for local biotech facing patent expiries.
Blackbird's operating chief reflects on four years of the fund's independent, quarterly valuation process, citing the Eucalyptus acquisition and its returns as proof the 2022 policy endured.
A fund's insights listing: its headline flags Vaxxas naming an ex-Merck vaccines chief as CEO, while linked teasers report Eucalyptus' $1.6b sale and Accel-KKR's takeover of Phocas.
Also OneVentures portfolio·AFR Technology·phocassoftware.com
Leaked details from Blackbird's investor day showcase Airwallex and Canva as standout performers, record valuation cuts for Culture Amp and SafetyCulture, and detail Kiki's New York shutdown and settlement.
Weekly roundup of eight raises totalling $572.12 million, led by Firmus's $500 million round; RAGE Biotech, SunDrive, Number 8 Bio, Fabra, Keeyu, MyGig and Drone-Hand also funded, plus two RAGE Biotech executive appointments.
Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Curated OneVentures roundup: Eucalyptus sold to a New York-listed healthcare group for $1.6 billion and Vaxxas named ex-Merck vaccines president David Peacock as CEO, plus patent-cliff and women-in-tech links.
Blackbird's investment note announces it led Alloy Technologies' $4.5 million pre-seed round, profiling founder Joe Harris and describing the startup's software for robotics companies deploying artificial intelligence.
Also TechCrunch Venture·Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Sydney AI customer-support startup Lorikeet has closed US$35 million in a Series A led by QED Investors, its third round in under a year, lifting total funding beyond $75 million.
Also SmartCompany·Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Square Peg led AI procurement startup Source's US$1.4 million pre-seed round, joined by TEN13 and angels including Stripe's former CTO; the platform automates purchasing for small retailers.
Weekly roundup of seven Australian startup raises, led by Airwallex's Series F, plus EatClub, Kite Magnetics, Termina, Preve, Foremind and Liveheats.
Also Startup Daily
Tim Doyle, cofounder of health startup Eucalyptus, tells a Blackbird Sunrise audience that solving his warehouse of returned sex toys is the route to a job, and offers blunt views on local venture capital.
Athletic Ventures, started by former athletes, has closed its debut fund at $25 million, with about 100 sports stars and several veteran venture figures backing it as limited partners.
Blackbird's note explains why it led Lorikeet's nine-million-US-dollar round alongside co-investors, describing the startup's workflow-first approach to harder support tickets and its results with Eucalyptus.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
OneVentures' insights feed highlights a pharma patent-cliff analysis, an AFR feature, Eucalyptus' $1.6b sale to a US healthcare group, and Vaxxas naming David Peacock chief executive.
Square Peg led Lorikeet's US$5 million seed round for its AI customer-support automation platform, joined by Skip Capital and US angel investors, supporting the team's US expansion.
Also Square Peg Capital portfolio·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Roundup of six Australian funding rounds this week: InDebted, Evolt, Restoke.ai, Mary Technology, Matilda and Demtech.ai, with investors, amounts, InDebted's valuation and a secondary component for early backers and staff.
Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Fintech News Australia·Business News Australia
Weekly roundup of four Australian startup raises: Kismet's $20m seed extension, Primary's $3.5m seed round, Willed's $3m from Seven West Media, and East Forged's $1.5m from a Vietnamese agribusiness's venture arm.
Sydney cash-management startup Primary has completed a $3.5m seed round backed by Carthona Capital and five other funds, with Carthona partner Damian Fox set to join its board.
Also SmartCompany
SmartCompany reports digital health platform Updoc raised $20 million from ASX-listed investor Bailador, its first external capital, and notes the telehealth sector's recent funding activity, including InstantScripts' earlier sale to Wesfarmers.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia
Roundup of the week's funding news: nine companies across Australia and New Zealand secured investment spanning clean energy, construction logistics, legal tech, coaching, research tools, creator media, medtech and marketing software.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·LaunchVic
Woolworths and four international grocers are behind global venture fund W23 Global, each putting in US$25 million, with Ingrid Maes as CEO. The original Australian W23 fund backed Eucalyptus, All G Foods and Longtail UX.
OneVentures insights listing linking to coverage of Eucalyptus's $1.6b sale to a US-listed healthcare company and Vaxxas hiring a former Merck vaccines president as CEO.
Publisher's post about a venture firm multiplying its money thirteen-fold on one startup bet; the page also carries linked reports of Eucalyptus's $1.6 billion sale and Vaxxas naming David Peacock chief executive.
Construction software startup Sitemate has secured $7.5 million in pre-Series A funding, led by Marbruck Investments with Blackbird and Artesian participating, and intends to double headcount during 2024.
Folklore's blog introduces new investor Mitchell Bissinger, who discusses his operating background at a healthcare company, advisory work and a food venture, plus his views on early-stage backing in the region.
Spend management firm Weel has launched Express Expense Completion, which restricts card use until overdue expense reports are completed, lifting receipt collection by 37% within a day, per customers quoted.
Weekly roundup detailing nine Australian startup funding rounds totalling $107.35 million, spanning pet e-commerce, quantum sensors, proptech, agtech, EV charging, sailing apparel, marketing tools, consumer goods and pregnancy wearables.
Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
Blackbird led a $2 million pre-seed raise for MagicBrief, a Sydney martech startup building an advertising creative workflow platform, with Archangel Ventures and several founder-angels also taking part.
A quarterly Cut Through Venture survey reports Australian startups raised $810 million across 90 deals in Q2 2023, listing the largest rounds and noting improved investor sentiment despite a sluggish first half.
Also SmartCompany
Insurer nib has injected a further $15 million into Brisbane online prescriptions platform Midnight Health's Series B, lifting its holding to 77%, having backed the company since 2021; rival Eucalyptus recently banked $50 million.
Eucalyptus buys Jenny Craig's online assets out of administration while stores shut; the health startup's recent raise and earlier rounds are recapped, alongside other distressed-brand acquisitions.