Unfold.vc

Blackbird is a venture capital fund based in Australia and New Zealand. We invest in every type of technology from software to space, unified by the biggest of ambitions. We invest in wild hearts with the wildest of ideas, right at the beginning. As a result, we have a unique working culture, captured in our Mission & Values and our Operating Principles. We have more than a billion dollars under management and a portfolio of over 80 companies including some of the most successful Australian and Kiwi startups such as Canva, Zoox, SafetyCulture, Ask Nicely, Halter and Partly. We’ve written a lot about what we love at Blackbird, so check out our blog if you want some more information about us. In particular, you should read about our mission and values, our operating principles, our master plan, and what we look for in founders. We offer:Flexible working: Whether it’s working from home or leaving early to pick up the kids from daycare or school. Generous parental leave: We know family comes first and we are proud to offer generous parental leave - 16 weeks for primary carer and 6 weeks for a secondary carer, subject to a 12 month minimum tenure. This includes a continuation of super payments while on unpaid parental leave and a supportive return-to-work policy. Learning & Development: Our team is hungry to continuously learn and you’ll receive a budget to spend on whatever you’d like to learn - from coding courses to meditation. Unplugged weekends: We work hard without letting work get in the way of life. We’ve implemented no Slack or emails on weekends, so you can switch off. Sharing in Blackbird’s success: We think it is important to share successes with the whole team. All Blackbird employees receive carry in our funds and are the equivalent of owners in the management company. Blackbird is a Pledge 1% member - we pledge 1% of our time, equity and profits to help not-for-profit causes in our community. The Blackbird Foundation has been set up explicitly to partner with organisations that believe in the potential of young people, and the importance of creativity.

We are closely connected with the Tech + Startups Community of 10,000+ Startup Founders, VCs, and Tech Leaders. Launched by Denis Hiller (our GP) in 2023, it’s "the conference that never ends," curating engaging experiences in Miami, Silicon Valley, and remotely around the world. We welcome all pitches and are sector agnostic. However, there are areas of interest due to our Miami and Silicon Valley locations: 1) Agentic AI & SaaS 2) FinTech 3) LatAm Why are we called 1001 VC? 650 + 305 + 46 = 1001 Our fund's name represents bridging 3 key ecosystems.​ 650 - Silicon Valley 305 - Miami 46 - Sweden​ We are a US-based fund with a presence in Miami and Silicon Valley. We have a strong relationship with Startups in Stockholm, Sweden so our name incorporates all 3.

Focused on the rising consumption story in India and Indian SaaS companies catering to a global market. CONSUMER TECH Backing tech native businesses for India’s internet users and middle-class. AgriTech EdTech HealthTech SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS) Backing product-led SaaS startups that can reach a global scale. Automation, Collaboration and Intelligence Vertical SaaS SaaS enabled marketplaces FINTECH Backing companies which manage finances in the most tech efficient way Vertical neo banks, lending Embedded Finance, infra APIs Insurtech Alternative investing DEEPTECH Backing companies solving deep engineering problems Artificial Intelligence Robotics / Drones Space tech and Semiconductors OUR APPROACH We invest in people rather than companies. From great entrepreneurs emerge great brands and companies. We are good listeners and that is a trait needed in our profession to grow. We have a non-intrusive approach and we completely believe in the entrepreneurs we have backed. An entrepreneur can think of us more as a resource and a sounding board. WHAT WE LOOK FORWe prefer to invest in mission driven founders who have relevant work experience and domain expertise Significant growth potential over the next 3 to 5 years. We prefer backing founders with at least 4-5 years of prior experience. Differentiated products or services that have strong ‘moats’ built around it. HOW WE INVESTWe invest in pre-seed and seed rounds. We invest ~US$ 250K per startup in the first round and then in follow-on rounds We are open to investing through convertible structures and instruments, however, we prefer straight equity. We generally prefer to co-invest along with other VC funds and micro VC funds In a larger round of fundraising – we co-invest with our select Limited Partners.

We are engineers, developers, scientists and business people – but we‘re all entrepreneurs. We meet you at eye level and do whatever is takes to help you achieving your goals. Strategy, product development, regulatory, hiring or sales – we use our hands and brains for you and your team to become successful. Becoming the next category leader doesn‘t come for free. We fuel your ambition by investing early-stage venture capital. For a reliable long-term relation, we invest early and have a decent reach to support you on your journey. Our international network backs your later rounds. Authentic early-stage investing takes a lot of work and time. We believe that real human-to-human interaction is the key to successful long-term relationships. We are here for you when you need us and at your site if you call for us. That‘s why we mainly invest in teams that we can reach within two hours. Brain We invest in startups, we can offer more than a money investment. That is why we always have a peer on our team who understands your customers, knows your market and feels you dealing with your challenges. We want to be real value-add. Having a long VC history, we gathered a lot of experience in building successful companies. We support you hands on in all your challenges, organize workshops with experts and connect with our numerous partners. Whether it’s first key hires, adapting corporate strategy, support with approval processes and reimbursement or setting up a sales playbook – we are familiar with the many challenges that you as startups face and help to overcome them more quickly. Cash We are an early-stage VC dedicated to investing in technology companies that have the potential to enable or disrupt major industries. Our strategy centers on getting involved early, primarily focusing on Seed stages, with occasional Series A initial investments. We only invest in cases in which we are confident to take the lead, but we don’t always have to do so. We feel comfortable in strong consortia with other VCs and business angels. Technology plays the keyrole in tackling the most pressing challenges of our time and in improving people’s working and living conditions. We work with the best entrepreneurial teams and visionaries, capable of crafting transformative technology. We are a b2b investor. Our focus spans across SaaS/software, IoT, digital solutions, medtech, biotech, new materials and greentech/cleantech. We invest in ventures with a convincing technology core providing strong competitive edge and serving important customers needs. STAGES: (Pre-) Seed | Series A AUM: > 100 Mio. € INITIAL TICKET: 500k € - 2,0 Mio. € MAX AMOUNT: 6,0 Mio. € Proximity We are an ecosystem player, providing a strong regional presence and deep-rooted network. It‘s a crucial part of our mission to offer hands-on support and be there in person when we are needed. We want to keep our approach authentic and reliable. That‘s why we focus our investment activities within a rough two-hour reach from us – that‘s Rhineland area (Germany) and neighbouring Netherlands and Belgium. Given a strong fit and extra conviction, we’re open to investments across whole Germany. The early stages are the period for a startup in which future success is defined. Finding product-market fit and an effective go-to-market strategy early are keys to market dominance. We‘re passionate about sharing our insights in that. The critical role of frequent social interaction cannot be overstated. Network and access are among the most crucial offerings an investor can provide. We facilitate exclusive interaction wtih the established economy via the S-UBG Group, giving young startups access to their first potential customers or partners. The network includes over 150 SME companies resulting from 30 years of investment experience of S-UBG.

We are a venture capital fund supporting forward-thinking founders from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Ukraine. Main focus: Pre-seed to Series A We also do: Secondaries in A+ Ticket size: €0* to 3m Teams backed: 60+ companies *When we invest, the typical starting ticket size is 250k, but sometimes we simply give free advice. We mainly invest in B2B, SaaS, fintech, platforms, software enabled hardware and deep tech, but we don’t limit ourselves to those areas. Partners to outstanding teams We’ve invested in and built long-term relationships with over 60 brilliant teams building tech companies that are really changing the way the world works. Some of them have become superstars already, and others are just preparing to take off. We often support them through several rounds. We’ll make sure you’ll get access to the right people and resources needed to take your company to new heights. Our LP base consists of some of the brightest players in the region. They are either founders or early employees of fast-growing tech companies – such as Veriff, Wise, Bolt, Slack, Pipedrive, F-Secure, Kilo.Health and Vinted – or specialists of a wide range of relevant topics. Quite a few of them are founders of our portfolio companies. What you’ll be dealing with when partnering with us We put people first: We’re investors, but first and foremost, we’re people partnering with others for the long term. Beyond providing capital, we offer founders support, advice, and feedback – always when we’re genuinely able to. After all, we’re human, not superhuman. We are lean and flexible: We are founders too. The entrepreneurship in our DNA makes us fast, flexible and hands-on. We learn, adapt and work quickly, and never let the unnecessary bureaucracy slow things down. We simply prefer to keep it simple. We are open-minded: We might have some preferences regarding the sectors we invest in, but they’re definitely not set in stone. We’re always eager to shift our perspective – especially when we meet founders who inspire that change. We’ve got no hidden agenda: We really try to be the investor you’re proud to call your partner. We’re honest – maybe sometimes a bit too honest – and like to keep things transparent. There will be no shady business when dealing with us.

We want to be the best in supporting people to start, build and join strong tech companies and here’s what we do: We invest in teams in Finland, Estonia and Sweden Our initial investments range from €150-800k No stage is too early for us to invest in We’re always eager to hear from ambitious and diverse teams We have invested in over 70 companies with domain expert founders from companies like Rovio, Pipedrive, Spotify, Wise and Veriff.