VC firm blog
Everything we hold that Skalata Ventures published.
Every article we hold from Skalata Ventures.
Skalata Ventures, the seed fund and founder-training program led by Paul Little and Rohan Workman, is raising a second vehicle plus growth capital, reporting 30 investments and a 44 per cent IRR.
Touch Ventures' investment lifts commitments in Skalata's second fund beyond $25 million, with Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen investing personally; Touch also recently headed a $5.5 million raise for portfolio company Preezie.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Under Ten13 portfolio ·leads this story in the feed
Australian startup capital climbed 30% in early 2024 even as deal counts fell; Skalata Ventures topped investor activity with 13 participations, ahead of Blackbird and Investible.
Also TechCrunch Venture·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia
Skalata Ventures unveils its October 2021 seed intake of 13 startups, among them Ardacious and Strength By Numbers, and notes alumnus Preezie recently secured a $5.5 million Series A.
Under Ten13 portfolio ·leads this story in the feed
Profile of Skalata Ventures' Rohan Workman and Maxine Lee recounting the firm's founding, pandemic-era restructuring, $7 million raise, second fund deployment, and backing of Flux, Explorate and Preezie.
Skalata announces a $5M allocation from Western Australia's $45M venture capital program to back local startups, recalls its existing WA investments, and plans a permanent WA base from 2025.
Victorian agtech firm Smart Paddock has raised a $1.7m seed round co-led by Breakthrough Victoria and Telstra's muru-D, with Skalata, Twynam and Little Group also investing; Telstra executive Jon Young Flores joins the board.
LaunchVic selected nine Victorian start-ups, including Preezie, for a mentoring bootcamp with executives from Atlassian, Uber, Dropbox, Seek and Canva.
Skalata Ventures uses its recent accolade as Australia's busiest early-stage investor to pitch founders on its hands-on, seed-specialist approach, arguing most VCs overpromise support and underdeliver.
Brisbane logistics-tech firm Explorate has landed A$7.5m from backer EVP and Leigh Jasper, who co-founded Aconex; Paul Little's mentoring through Skalata's program is credited for the young firm's change of direction.
Under Online Brands Group portfolio ·leads this story in the feed
Skalata's rebrand announcement explains its shift to year-round seed investing, wider cheque sizes and follow-on plans, recaps team hires including a Venture Partner and three associates, and notes portfolio companies' Series A raises.
Skalata Ventures' rebrand piece describes its first-cheque approach for AI founders and says its Fund III is now raising, with nothing committed and no figures stated.
Skalata Ventures unveils its rebrand to A Tall Order, restating its first-cheque AI investing thesis with cheques up to A$1M and announcing that its Fund III is now raising.
Venture firm Skalata rebrands itself as Tall Order, a first-money-in backer of AI-native operators, and invites investors into Fund III, citing top-quartile performance of its two earlier funds.
Design software company Canva has acquired Melbourne adtech firm Doohly for $30 million, a deal that hands windfalls to the startup's founders and shareholders Skalata Ventures and Archangel Ventures.
Also Blackbird Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·quadrantpe.com.au·Tech Funding News - Australia·Forbes Australia·Crikey·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Women's Agenda·This Week in Australian Startups·techtimes.com·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture
Skalata's profile of portfolio company Strength by Numbers, whose AxIT hardware measures strength for health professionals, covering the four founders' backgrounds and the two investments Skalata made in 2021 and 2022.
Deals recorded from Skalata Ventures's coverage. A round is listed once, however many of their articles mention it.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength by Numbers | Accelerator | 1 Sep 2026 | - | |
| Ardacious | Accelerator | 1 Sep 2026 | - | |
| Honey Insurance | Series A | 8 Apr 2024 | $108m | |
| Preezie | Series A | 13 Mar 2024 | $5.5m | |
| RelevanceAI | Series A | 11 Dec 2023 | $15m | |
| Explorate | undisclosed | 7 Feb 2022 | $7.5m | |
| Skalata Ventures | undisclosed | 2019 | $3m | |
| Smart Paddock | Accelerator | undated | - |
Companies named in Skalata Ventures's articles, most-covered first.
Investors named in Skalata Ventures's articles, most-covered first.
| Investor | What it does | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| Skalata Ventures | 15 | |
| LaunchVic | 3 | |
| Little Group | 2 | |
| Breakthrough Victoria | 1 | |
| EVP | 1 | |
| King River Capital | 1 | |
| muru-D | 1 | |
| Touch Ventures | 1 | |
| Twynam | 1 | |
| WA Government | 1 |