The firm reported a 36% net IRR for the 12 months to 30 June, reflecting strong mark-ups and cash returns after fees, which is a robust result by global VC standards. 

Since launching in 2012, Blackbird has returned $1.6 billion to LPs, including $1.1 billion over the past 18 months. 

After peaking at $9.95 billion in early 2022 and falling to $7.2 billion by June 2022, the portfolio has surpassed those prior highs, with nearly $1 billion of value added in the most recent quarter alone across all funds.

Across 174 investments since 2012, Blackbird now counts 40 companies valued at over $100 million and eight at over $1 billion. Co-founder Rick Baker says the ecosystem is “back to growth”, with stronger rounds at healthier valuations. 

A further $5 million has been allocated to relocate the Sydney Startup Hub into Tech Central, consolidating activity around Central Station across Haymarket, Camperdown and South Eveleigh.

Tech Central already houses flagship tenants like Atlassian, Block (Afterpay), Canva, SafetyCulture and Rokt, alongside the University of Sydney and UTS Startups, underpinning its claim as “Australia’s innovation engine.”

The plan sits atop the 2025–26 NSW Budget’s ~$80 million Innovation Blueprint 2035 package, including $38.5 million earmarked specifically for Tech CentraL

In response, the Opposition slammed the plan as “big on buzzwords but light on delivery,” noting there is still no formal governance model, targets will be set only after the body forms, and previous attempts have “stalled,” chilling investment.😬

Reasonably, critics also flagged hurdles for startups, like high rents, poor intra-precinct connectivity due to major roads and rail. Perhaps, some of that $5M could be earmarked for Limebikes.

A Federal Court judge has sent Employment Hero’s competition case against Seek to a three-week trial starting on 21 September 2026. 🍿

Employment Hero alleges Seek breached competition law by cutting off crucial API access; the startup has interim orders forcing Seek to maintain access while proceedings run. What they’re saying:

Tensions escalated as Employment Hero rolled out Swag Jobs (March 2023) and SmartMatch (October 2023), and publicly positioned itself as a “Seek killer” with “Why Seek when you can be found?” campaigns.

While the details of the partnership remain undisclosed, the tie-up is designed to bridge corporate and startup worlds: fintech founders gain enterprise insight and potential access to CommBank assets (capital, brand, distribution), while emerging bank talent gains hands-on experience inside high-growth ventures.

Triple Bubble positions itself as Oceania’s first fintech-specific, stage-agnostic fund (even investing in listed entities), purpose-built to back early-stage fintech ventures that struggle to raise, and to support companies through startup, scale-up and liquidity phases.

Founded in 2024 by Dom Pym (Up Bank, Ferocia, Pin Payments), Brian Collins (Audacity Ventures, Startup Bootcamp) and Judy Anderson-Firth (Euphemia).

Investment in Australian FinTech startups has always been a slightly awkward affair. Due to the ESVCLP requirements that most VC funds sign up to, for the generous tax concessions and benefits, they’re unable to invest in startups whose predominant activity is finance, insurance or “making investments”. This means VCs can’t invest in a lot of FinTechs (payments, lending, brokerage, wallets, etc.). How do funds invest in startups like Airwallex, I hear you ask? Well, they’ll usually do these through ‘sidecar’ funds or parallel funds that are a non-ESVCLP vehicle that doesn’t jeopardise the main fund’s tax status.

At the National Tech Summit, Minns argued that Australia’s $4 trillion super pool could soon become the world’s second-largest pool of retirement funds but current rules limit VC allocations despite startups delivering returns nearly double those of the ASX 300 over the past two decades.

Minns urged the federal government to act and “bring together” available capital, scaling companies, and world-class universities to keep founders from going overseas.

He warned that Sydney’s housing affordability is hurting tech, with the city losing ~40,000 young people, a core talent demographic, reversing traditional interstate and international migration patterns. 

Ben Kennedy, the 26-year-old founder of Gecko, a rental SaaS company, who relocated from Sydney to San Francisco over a year ago, posted on LinkedIn about the opportunity he’s seeing for other aspirational young founders in SF, saying the “talent is better, people are smarter and friendlier, market is bigger, more VC & angel money”.

Xplor, founded by Melbourne entrepreneur Mark Woodland (who has since founded Kismet, the NDIS platform) in 2016 (sold to TSG in 2019), is now Atlanta-based with Australian offices.

Ezypay (founded in 1996 by George Holman) offers cloud payments, subscription management, invoicing and reporting; it now operates in 10 APAC countries.
Xplor says Ezypay expands its reach in APAC and helps SaaS platforms enter new markets, streamline multi-market operations and deliver a more unified consumer experience.

ViewJobs is a regional jobs platform across Australia listing jobs like butchering, truck driving and pharmacists. According to the roadshow, revenue is expected to rise from $11.2M to $25M by FY27, with EBIT increasing from $7.5M to $17.3M.

The platform has also become the official jobs partner of the Regional Australia Institute, a credibility boost in its target market.

Since its launch in March 2024, the platform has handled ~35,000 applications/month and lists ~150,000 jobs.

Set your ESOP pool early now: Start at ~10% early; plan for ~20% by $1bn so you’re not scrambling for top-ups later.

Budget above the table to close A-players: Expect to pay ~+20% more than the listed averages to secure top talent in this market.

Geo-arbitrage exists; you can use it to your advantage. NSW talent costs +5–6% vs national; VIC/QLD sit ~7–8% under.

If you’re small, sell the mission and equity: Smaller companies pay ~4–10% below market, while mid-sized and larger companies pay at/above market. Early-stage founders need to use ESOP and narrative to compete until they’re at a scale where they can compete on salary.

Message ESOP to what staff actually want: Home ownership is the #1 goal (44%); money/wealth are secondary priorities (31%). Founders should be framing their ESOP education material and communications to these outcomes.

Different sectors pay differently. SaaS/consumer software pays above average, deep tech/fintech slightly below, edtech lags (~-29%).

The structure could enable Rokt to trade in New York and on the ASX simultaneously, broadening access to US and Australian investors and aiming to attract more foreign and Australian-rooted tech firms to the ASX amid a shrinking listings pool.

Rokt (founded in 2012 by Bruce Buchanan) sells e-commerce software that offers placements based on prior purchases. Its last private valuation was US$7.2bn, with major backers including TDM Growth Partners, Square Peg, MA Financial, Tiger Global, Wellington, Whale Rock.

It’s unlikely that Canva will follow suit due to the higher fees and administration requirements outweighing the benefit, and the ASX has a history of losing great tech companies to the US stock exchanges, with examples like Atlassian and Iren, which recently popped.

WoolGrow Australia (Sheri Symons) is turning low-value coarse crossbred wool into biodegradable soil-nourishing pellets that also help conserve water, a materials-to-inputs play rooted in Symons’ fifth-generation farming pedigree in southwest Victoria.

CForge. On-farm upcycling for horticulture: converts unsellable produce into value-added products, cutting waste, emissions and costs while unlocking new revenue streams—a climate-aligned margin expansion tool for growers.

Each startup already received $15k equity-free during the six-week Circular Agriculture Challenge; the extra $35k extends build/validation without cap-table impact.

Brought to you with Tech Ready Women, Scalare Partners and Tank Stream Labs, each city will see a one-day event designed to empower women with the tools, community, and inspiration to truly own their entrepreneurial journeys. Get your tickets here and use code ONEROOF10 for 10% off. Key dates below!

There are also categories recognising outstanding leaders, emerging businesses to watch, and organisations making a significant social impact.

The show promises to deliver networking opportunities, masterclasses, and a showcase of 250 leading business solutions so you can see how others in the market get things done! Grab your free ticket here.

Aimed at HNWIs, advisers and the public to upskill and connect with opportunities across startups and scaleups. Register free here.

This article by Elaine cuts through VC jargon to the stuff that actually moves negotiations: how to think about valuation beyond price (dilution, capital intensity, runway to milestones), who controls what (board/shareholder thresholds, vetoes), and why founder vesting aligns incentives early. E.g. the stuff you should really care about when selling equity (Raising capital)

The article does a great job of also highlighting some of the things founders could miss, like liquidation-preference stacks, stacking SAFE notes, and ESOP sizing/timing.

👔 Connect with me on LinkedIn: Overnight Success, Will Richards

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