💌 Aussie Start-up & Venture Capital Summary! 5th of November

G'day and welcome to Overnight Success, the newsletter that quenches your Australian start-up thirst. A big hello to the 44 new subscribers that have joined since last week! You've just joined 669 other legends learning about Aussie start-ups.

Headlines: 

• 🚀 Blackbird has closed their 5th fund. The record-breaking $1B (Australia’s biggest ever) will be split into three main pools. (Blackbird Announcement)

  • A $284M core fund (new investments), $688M for follow-on investments in portfolio companies and NZ $75M set aside for New Zealand-based investments.

  • 👇 It’s worth taking a look at Blackbird fund performance below. 👇

• 🚗 Jaunt Motors has merged with Zero EV to become Fellten. Jaunt Motors is a Melbourne-based EV conversion company focused on older 4WDs. (Business Wire)

  • Zero EV typically focuses on electric conversion OEM ('original equipment manufacturer') parts, and the combined entity will now sell across three continents targeting workshops and vehicle restorers.

  • Fellten hopes to modernise classic cars by bringing them into the electric era.

• 🏦 Commonwealth Bank writes down Klarna investment following poor performance in the BNPL sector. (Banking Day)

  • CBA invested $470M into Klarna in 2020 for a 5.5% stake in the business. The investment came with 50:50 rights to the Australian and NZ Klarna business.

  • Last year, Klarna raised US$1B at a $31B valuation giving CBA a nice uplift to $2.7B on paper.

  • Following a bumpy year, the same stake is now written down to $408M.

1. Start-up Retro: Australia's start-up raises with a smidge of context.

2. New Fund, Who's this? New VC money.

3. Notice Board: Signposting key events and opportunities.

4. Accredited Tweeters: Snippets from Twitter.

5. (KaaS) Knowledge as a Service: Articles to make you smarter. Or to share with co-workers to make them think you’re smart.

Start-up Retro 

Recycling

♵ Samsara Eco secures a $54M Series A

Samsara Eco, the start-up that utilises enzyme-based technology to break down plastic, has secured a $54M Series A. The round included several new investors, including Breakthrough Victoria, Temasek, Assembly Climate Capital, DCVC and INP Capital. While current investors like Main Sequence Ventures, Woolworths W23 and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation also invested. The capital will be used partly to build a Melbourne recycling facility. Samsara will also expand its enzyme library to break down different types of plastic into its core molecules. The enzymes can break down PET and polyester to break down mixed plastic. The circle continues; these core components can then be used again to create new plastic products. Samsara will soon launch its enzymatically-recycled packaging through a nice partnership with Woolworths; the first step towards a world with minimal need for creating new plastic.

Due Diligence: (Tech Crunch)

AgriTech

🐄 Aimer locks away NZ$1M to give dairy farmers an AI assistant

New Zealand-based Aimer Development has secured $1M to help optimise farm systems for New Zealand farms. The AI assistant, Aimer, will help farmers with their daily decisions. Overwhelming decisions include when and where to graze and how much additional supplement to provide livestock. Aimer looks to help guide farmers to an optimum solution with minimal data entry. After generating a digital version of the farmer's land, the AI runs simulations and tests scenarios that can deliver the best results for the farmer. Aimer focuses on dairy farmers, particularly those who need to optimise livestock, farmland and dairy output. Interestingly, a primary differentiator of the software is the 'conversational' touch points which can communicate with farmers via text, email and chatbots. The capital came from Sprout after completing their 12-week accelerator, which focuses on agriculture and food value chain start-ups.

Due Diligence: (Startup Daily)

AgriTech

🌾 DataFarming secures a Pre-Series A round to help growers optimise their farms

Australian-based DataFarming has locked away a Pre-Series A from Investible. The company, based in Toowoomba, is currently used by over 40% of Aussie farms, which equates to 28,000 farms. The front end is called The Digital Agronomist, which utilises machine learning and spatial data to give farmers better data. The service differs from Aimer as it focuses on crop farmers, not dairy livestock. The data includes crop health assessments, productivity zoning, and offers a more profound understanding of yield and soil mapping. The capital will be further invested into the product to give farmers a deeper knowledge of their plots. The platform looks to become a one-stop shop for the agricultural industry, from plantation to harvesting. On top of improving output, there is a clear climate motive behind DataFarming. Agriculture significantly contributes to climate change, with 24% of greenhouse gases coming from agriculture. Precision farming will allow farmers to produce high output with minimal greenhouse effects. 

Due Diligence: (Investment Notes - Investible)

If you're a founder or investor who has just closed a round, please reach out!

New Fund, Who's This?

• Sprint Ventures announces first close of $8M on its 2nd fund.

  • The 2nd fund will cap out at $50M.

  • Sprint is quite agnostic with its investing type. Previously it has invested in ausbiz, VAPAR and YouPay. In total, the VC fund has made 13 investments to date.

• Blackbird announce one billion for the ambitious. (Smart Company)

  • "We are here to change the system, to change the culture." Okay okay, we get it. But what has Blackbird really done for us? The new Blackbird fund is record breaking and follows a massive new fund from Square Peg last week. All in all, great for the Aussie ecosystem. But why give Blackbird your money? What's their track record?

Blackbird Fund Performance To Date*

• Fund 1: 2013. Fund Size - $29M. Current Valuation $1.1B. Net IRR 61.3%

• Fund 2: 2015. Fund Size - $193M. Current Valuation $2.3B. Net IRR 54.9%

• Fund 3: 2018. Fund Size - $261M. Current Valuation $1.1B. Net IRR 50.7%

• Fund 4: 2020. Fund Size - $648M. Current Valuation $780M. Net IRR 26.4% (Still quite new)

*Estimations from Blackbird website. 

Notice Board

• Sunrise Festival (November 10th & 11th) still has tickets available here. Get in quick, rumour is they're selling out very fast.

• _SOUTHSTART START/UP WEEK kicks off on November 14th at multiple locations across South Australia, providing a taster of the March festival program (7th - 10th March). Get tickets here.

• My Start-Up Gig: Over 3,000 Australian start-up jobs are currently listed here.

• Venture Capital Careers lists all the Australian Venture Capital Jobs available here.

  • Square Peg is looking for portfolio analysts, Antler would like some scouting analysts, Giant Leap is looking for an investment manager, and Archangel is looking for a VC Associate to join their team!

Accredited Tweeters

(KaaS) Knowledge as a Service

• What do boards actually do? by Mark Suster

• The 7 basic plots of storytelling and how a start-up can leverage them to tell their story by Bronte McHenry (LinkedIn post)

• Embracing Imposter Syndrome by Darren Ryan

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