This Month In Venture With Tobi Skovron & Gavin Appel

Biggest stories from mid-March to mid-April 2024

CANVA
– Completed US$2.4bn (AU$3.6bn) secondary share sale at a valuation of US$26bn ($39.4bn).
– BIG winners: early employees, investors
– Blackbird’s nets $800m payday, 2012 fund reaping a return of around 2,600x!
– Airtree returned its first fund thanks to Canva
– Square Peg announced it has returned over $1bn to shareholders since its inception 12 years ago with thanks to Canva too
– Plenty of newly minted angels too
– All still have plenty of skin left in the Canva game

UBER
– Market cap peaking at US$150B
– Last month: we spoke about fifth-largest class action settlement in Australian legal history of $272m
– This month: GoCatch being sued by rival taxi app GoCatch, who claim the ridesharing company used underhanded tactics to gain an edge more than a decade ago
– Meanwhile, Uber’s dominance in Australia intensifies as Indian ridesharing company Ola exits after 6 years

UP
– Australia’s first unicorn since the tech funding market soured in early 2022 has arrived in workforce management platform Deputy after receiving a $37m investment
– Third-largest ever Series A funding round for an Aussie tech company, home insurance disruptor Honey Insurance raised $108m
– Another monster Series A is Constantinople’s “bank in a box” platform with $50m

DOWN
– Startup deals fall to six-year low as tech winter persists
– First quarter stats: 66 Australian companies raised a total of $703m, total funding has dropped 45% YoY.
– Plutora brings in the administrators for their Australian operations
– Sunfed valuation slashed
– Baraja written down to zero
– Good human into liquidation

PEOPLE MOVEMENTS
– Elaine Stead joined Main Sequence as Partner
– VC syndicate TEN13 appointed Sophie Robertson as Partner and Anthropic’s Joel Pobar as Venture Partner
– Rampersand’s Taryn Pieterse has been promoted to Partner and Andrew Poesaste has joined as Partner.

ROLLERCOASTER CONTINUES
– Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in jail for multibillion-dollar FTX fraud
– Adam Neumann’s back with Flow, his new multi-family community concept after WeWork. In parallel, he has made a fresh push to buy WeWork as they race to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to emerge from bankruptcy and avoid a sale

CONFERENCES
– Blackbird’s Sunrise – May 1 & 2, 2024
– Innovation Bay’s Inspire – May 22, 2024

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ABOUT

Tobi Skovron and Gavin Appel spearhead our monthly vlog – a must-watch for those seeking insights into the local startup and VC sphere. Captivating audiences with their infectious enthusiasm for the startup and venture capital landscape, Tobi and Gavin unpack the latest trends and events.

The vlog consistently delivers high-quality, engaging content, covering everything from fundraising, M&A, product launches, new venture funds, and more. Tobi and Gavin rapidly explore each topic, while making complex concepts accessible. It’s an indispensable resource for those hungry for knowledge about the local startup and VC scene.

Gavin is the Founder and CEO of Ignition Lane, where he advises founders and leaders growing tech companies. He has 25 years of experience in the technology industry across startups, corporates and venture capital. Gavin was a founding VC Partner at Square Peg, an SVP of Product and Technology at Experian, and was one of the first employees and CTO at Hitwise – a venture-backed startup that was acquired for US$240m in 2007.

Tobi is the CEO and co-founder of CreativeCubes.Co, and has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience across Australia and the U.S.

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