Blackbird describes itself as an Australasian investment firm backing startups founded in Australia and New Zealand. It states that it invests in founders, not sectors or stages, and that it invests in every type of technology from software to space. Its investors page describes two fund types in each vintage: a Core Fund investing in the very first rounds, before revenue and product, and a Follow-On Fund investing at the growth stages from Series B onward in companies already in the portfolio. It also states that it manages a number of direct co-investment vehicles for its investors alongside its discretionary funds. Its people are based in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, with the New Zealand operation known as Blackbird Aotearoa and a local team established in Auckland in 2020.
2012
Blackbird Ventures is founded by Niki Scevak and Rick Baker, per Wikipedia; Blackbird's own August 2026 post says the firm began almost fifteen years earlier.
2013
Blackbird's investors page records a 2013 vintage with A$29M of committed capital across 20 core investments.
2014
Blackbird invests in Zoox, the California autonomous mobility company, per its own portfolio page which gives 2014 as the year invested.
2015
Blackbird's investors page records a 2015 vintage with A$193M of committed capital across 31 core investments.
2018
Blackbird's investors page records a 2018 vintage with A$261M of committed capital across 35 core investments.
2020
Amazon announces on 26 June 2020 that it has signed an agreement to acquire Zoox.
2020
Blackbird establishes a local team in Auckland, the operation it calls Blackbird Aotearoa; its investors page records a 2020 vintage with A$647M of committed capital across 58 core investments.
2022
Blackbird's investors page records a 2022 vintage with A$1,032M of committed capital across 85 core investments.
2024
Blackbird announces in April 2024 that Phoebe Harrop takes over leadership of Blackbird Aotearoa, and states it has raised $140M in funds solely for New Zealand founders.
2025
Blackbird states in its 2025 year in review that it returned $728M to investors during the year, bringing the total returned to over $2.3B, and invested $357M into 20 new and 31 follow-on rounds.
2026
Blackbird announces on 25 August 2026 the close of its sixth fund at A$1.05 billion, presented to the New Zealand market as more than NZ$1.25 billion, and states it has invested more than A$3 billion across 190 companies with a portfolio valued at over A$12.5 billion.