Blackbird Ventures
Stories naming Tom Humphrey. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Blackbird partner Tom Humphrey argues AI panic overstates the threat to software firms, sketching four stages from bolting on models to training them, and pointing to Canva's acquisitions and Springboards' new model as proof.
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.
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Springboards, a Queensland AI platform for ad agencies founded by a married couple, has raised a $5m seed round led by Blackbird, after taking part in Google's inaugural AI First accelerator cohort in Sydney.
Blackbird's note describes its new lead investment in Springboards, a Noosa, Queensland AI platform for advertising creatives, covering its product, early adopters, and founding team.
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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.
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Built-world software firm Sitemate has closed a $27.5m Series A led by Blackbird at a valuation above $150m; Blackbird also backed its 2022 seed, and Sitemate bought Nomad Fleet this year.
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Sitemate, an Australian construction-industry software firm, has bought asset-tracking startup Nomad Fleet for $2 million. The profile also recalls the $5.2 million seed round Blackbird led in 2022.
A Blackbird partner argues AI has revived vertical software by turning hard-to-sell customers into product-led buyers, noting the firm recently backed three such startups and recalling Aconex's sale to Oracle.
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Build Club and AWS are launching a six-week Sydney accelerator for 15 technical founders in AI, offering credits, mentoring and a US tour, with two founders already chosen.
Blackbird's yearly letter recaps 2023: 38 investments worth $189 million across Australian and New Zealand startups, heavy AI and deep tech deployment, community programs, and open investment-team roles.
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.
Blackbird announces it led AI search startup Marqo's seed round, joined by January Capital, The Creator Fund and angel investors, having previously backed the company's pre-seed in May 2022.
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Dark web monitoring company Cyble closed a Series B backed by Blackbird, King River and others, with the article recalling its earlier seed and Series A raises.
Blackbird welcomes Michael Tolo, Tom Humphrey and Phoebe Harrop into its investment partnership, citing their craft, founder relationships and contribution to its New Zealand expansion.
Blackbird's investment note explains why it co-led Checkmate's US$5 million seed round, describing the shopping tool's product, its e-commerce thesis, and the Perth-raised founding team behind the startup.
Blackbird's investment note explains why it joined Spice AI's seed round led by Madrona Ventures, describing the web3 data and AI infrastructure platform and its founders.
Blackbird's investment notes explain why it led Sitemate's seed round, tracing the built-world software startup from its 2017 Startmate cohort and pre-seed backing to its collaboration products.
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Blackbird's investment note explains why it co-led cyber intelligence startup Cyble's US$4 million seed round with Spider Capital, describing the dark web monitoring product, its founders, and its Y Combinator background.
Blackbird's investment note announcing it led Forage's US$25 million Series B alongside Lightspeed, Funders Club and new backers, with Tom Humphrey joining the board, plus a profile of Forage's preskilling platform.
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Blackbird Ventures is recruiting three investment associates for its investment team, reporting to principals Michael Tolo, Tom Humphrey and partner Sam Wong. The post describes the role, benefits, culture and the firm's portfolio.
Skills-training platform Forage, which builds virtual work experience programs with employers, has raised a US$25 million Series B led by Blackbird Ventures, roughly a year after its US$9.3 million Series A.
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Weekly roundup reporting Butn's ASX listing, Cicada Innovations' renewed health-sector partnership, and fresh raises by Kāhu, FL0, Lyka, Sourse AI and Evos.
Blackbird's investment note announces it led the seed round into FL0, whose low-code Dev Acceleration platform speeds up back-end engineering, and recounts founders Dale Brett and Rani Adam's earlier ventures Tapify and Willow.
Blackbird introduces Tom Humphrey and Michael Tolo as new investment Principals alongside Tip Piumsomboon, and notes its fourth fund closed at $650 million in late 2020.