Co-founder and CEO, Kiki
Stories naming Toby Thomas-Smith. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Subletting app Kiki relaunches its original service months after a controversial switch to a members-only women's club in New York, with its main backer Blackbird publicly endorsing the move.
Kiki co-founder Toby Thomas-Smith apologised for the startup's girls-only club announcement in New York, while Blackbird general partner Samantha Wong defended the firm's earlier investment and addressed venture capital's gender imbalance.
Blackbird partner Samantha Wong responds to recent press about Kiki, explaining why the firm backed the subletting marketplace, how it supports founders through pivots, and its work on funding gender diversity.
Commentary questioning Kiki's pivot from a sublet marketplace to a New York women's club, revisiting its 2023 seed raise and scrutinising Blackbird's investment judgment, governance and record on female founders.
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Blackbird's annual review counts $229 million deployed in 2024 across 41 companies, $1.15 billion invested over five years, and about $1.14 billion returned to LPs through secondaries, Canva's purchase of Leonardo.ai, and Hivery's collapse.
Blackbird partners explain why the fund led a seed round in Kiki, a subletting marketplace born in New Zealand, profitable during its Sydney phase, now launching in New York.