Seed to Harvest Blackbird Co-founder Niki Scevak on investing in successful Aussie startups | Seed To Harvest Ep58
Today, I'm joined by Niki Scevak, Co-founder of Blackbird, a $2.5 billion Australia based venture firm, investing across Australia and New Zealand at the early stage and beyond. Blackbird backs generational ambition with generational ownership by raising funds, investing in the best startup companies all the way through their journey from idea to beyond IPO. Their portfolio is worth over $7B and includes some of the most successful Aussie and Kiwi startups including Canva, Zoox, SafetyCulture and Culture Amp. Blackbird’s companies are united only by their ambition to tackle the world’s greatest problems, led by founders who are doing their life’s work.
Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults.
Connect with Paige 🌱💜
Behind Genius Ventures blog | https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/
Personal Blog | https://paigefinndoherty.com/
Twitter | https://twitter.com/paigefinnn
00:00 Welcome to Seed To Harvest: Niki Scevak
04:35 Blackbird like a paradox
10:07 Parallels of Blackbird and Australia
15:13 Investment decision process
15:34 Women are an asset class
20:19 Confirmatory versus due diligence
Show notes:
Niki Scevak | https://twitter.com/nikiscevak?lang=en
Blackbird | https://www.blackbird.vc/
Sunrise | https://www.blackbird.vc/sunrise-festival/sunrise-aotearoa
Lockheed Martin | https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/aircraft.html
Skunk Works | https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html
Atlassian | https://www.atlassian.com/
Campaign Monitor | https://www.campaignmonitor.com/
RetailMeNot | https://www.retailmenot.com/
Aconex | https://www.oracle.com/industries/construction-engineering/aconex/
Canva | https://www.canva.com/
Melanie Perkins | https://twitter.com/melaniecanva?lang=en
Cliff Obrecht | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-obrecht-79ba9920/?originalSubdomain=au
Cameron Adams | https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/?originalSubdomain=au