Startup · $875m raised
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Zoox raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Cannon-Brookes | Series B | $100,000,000 |
| Blackbird Ventures | Series B | - |
The transaction that ended Zoox'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Acquisition | 29 Jun 2020 | $1.3b | Ten13, Startup Daily (Sun 20 Dec 2020), Startup Daily (Tue 24 Nov 2020), SmartCompany (Tue 4 Aug 2020), SmartCompany (Mon 29 Jun 2020) |
Companies Zoox acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Stories naming Zoox. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Ten13's post explains why it joined the robotics company's latest raise alongside Blackbird, Neotribe, Startmate and Horizons, covering its autonomous scanning device, dialysis focus, founders, and US rollout plans.
Also Dealroom·vexev.com·datapile.co·evtoday.com·ontargetish.com
Mobility newsletter: a new autonomy index puts Chinese robotaxi operators on top; Cargofy raises $11m, XDOF $70m; Carro buys CarPlace; plus driverless partnerships and a Waymo recall.
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
Ten13's year-end post recaps nine new portfolio additions, follow-on support for existing holdings, the Mr Yum and Me&U merger, Go1's Blinkist acquisition, Smileyscope's FDA clearance, and community events.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Ten13 portfolio·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch Venture
Amazon has agreed to buy vacuum maker iRobot for US$1.7 billion, with privacy and antitrust critics warning the deal would extend the tech giant's household data collection through Roomba mapping technology.
Atlassian's Cannon-Brookes, via his family firm Grok Ventures, has invested $200 million in renewables project financier Infradebt days after his AGL bid was rejected; the capital is already funding a Queensland battery project.
Also TechCrunch Venture·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Venture
Blackbird advertises an open Compliance and Risk Manager position in its operations team, describing the compliance duties involved and the benefits of working at the venture firm.
Weekly roundup covering Canva's huge raise and rich-list climb, a run of Australian startup funding rounds including SiteMinder and Mable, Domain's purchase of IDS, and Mailchimp's sale to Intuit.
Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech
Blackbird's Founder Success team is recruiting a Product Operations Specialist, based in Sydney or Melbourne, to scale its community programs such as Giants, the Founder Academy and the Talent Network. Applications have closed.
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.
Blackbird answers common questions about its new Aotearoa Community Lead job, covering the New Zealand team's community events, programmes with partners, ethical investing approach, venture capital business model and application process.
Blackbird is recruiting its first Head of Investor Relations to manage relationships with existing and prospective LPs, describing the role, benefits, and the firm's assets under management and portfolio.
Blackbird advertises for a Portfolio FP&A Manager to analyse portfolio data, describing its billion dollars under management, 68-company portfolio, workplace benefits, and startups including Canva, SafetyCulture and Culture Amp.
Weekly roundup covering Main Sequence's second-fund close, operating partner hires at Blackbird and AirTree, raises by Sea Forest, Adventus.io, Halter and others, acquisitions by Equiem, Stripe and Toyota, plus Big Tech earnings.
Weekly newsletter rounds up venture news: multiple Australian and regional VC fund closes, startup raises including Brighte and Judo, acquisitions of eNett and Sine, neobank collapses, and new revenue-based lenders.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·TechCrunch Venture
Zoox co-founder Tim Kentley-Klay's new robotics venture HYPR has raised a US$10 million seed round from Andrew Forrest and R7 Partners at a reported US$200 million valuation; Zoox was earlier sold to Amazon.
The venture firm advertises an open senior role leading its people and culture functions, describing team growth plans, internal tools, employee benefits, and its portfolio and mission.
Blackbird advertises an Operating Partner role to deepen relationships with late-stage portfolio companies and build operational programs, describing the role, requirements, benefits and the firm's mission.
Blackbird advertises a new People Lead role to channel talent towards its portfolio companies, setting out the job's responsibilities, candidate requirements and the firm's employee benefits.
Blackbird Ventures has closed a $500 million fourth fund backed by Australian institutional and international investors. The article recalls Square Peg and Tidal Ventures raises, Our Innovation Fund's new fund, and Amazon's Zoox acquisition.
Also SmartCompany
Blackbird announces the close of its fourth fund at $500 million, bringing total committed capital to $1.24 billion, and separately announces Mike Cannon-Brookes joining its board as chair.
Also Blackbird Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Amazon is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire self-driving startup Zoox, whose backers include Mike Cannon-Brookes' Grok Ventures, at a valuation below its previous raises, per the Wall Street Journal.
Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire self-driving startup Zoox, co-founded by Australian Tim Kentley-Klay, at a valuation below its 2018 peak, which would hurt Australian backers Blackbird Ventures and Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Also SmartCompany
Roundup covering Checkout.com's acquisition of Perth payments firm Pin Payments, Amazon's bid interest in Zoox, Google's office reopening plans, Twitter's Trump fact-check, and Virgin Orbit's failed rocket launch.
Blackbird Ventures advertises a full-time fund accountant position at its Sydney office, outlining duties across fund reporting, tax compliance, cash management and investor relations; the application period has since closed.
Blackbird describes closing its $29M first fund in 2013 and a GP-led secondary where fund investors sold a minority stake to StepStone and HESTA for about $100M, locking in returns while keeping its portfolio.
Also Blackbird Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·Business News Australia
Blackbird advertises an opening for a financial accountant in its Sydney office to handle reporting, tax compliance and payroll as the venture firm brings finance tasks in-house.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Cannon-Brookes family vehicle commit cornerstone capital to Tenacious Ventures, a new Australian agrifood venture fund backing early-stage startups, and recalls Sundrop Farms' sale to Morrison & Co.
Blackbird, the Australian venture firm, says it will expand to New Zealand with a new early-stage fund, an Auckland office, and its Sunrise conference, while recalling its early backing of companies including Canva.
Foodtech platform Fresho raised $9 million from private investors including Aconex co-founders Rob Phillpot and Leigh Jasper, the Tarascio family, Geoff Tarrant and Andrew Sypkes, to fund growth and hiring.
Blackbird Ventures advertises a full-time Business Operations role at its Sydney office, covering investor reporting, compliance, audit and portfolio support, offering a $90,000 salary plus fund carry participation.
Blackbird's retrospective of its 2018: a third fund launched, new partners and staff hired, Startmate cohorts run, numerous portfolio raises led, Shape Analytics sold, and Shoes of Prey shut down.
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