{"text":[[{"start":6.6,"text":"Morgan Stanley and Schroders have participated in Australia and New Zealand’s largest venture capital round after backing technology investor Blackbird Ventures’ latest fund."}],[{"start":19.491,"text":"Blackbird, which has carved a reputation as an early-stage investor in a number of the region’s breakout tech start-ups including graphics software developer Canva and fintech Airwallex, has closed a A$1.05bn ($750mn) fund that marks the largest amount raised for the region’s venture capital sector."}],[{"start":39.92,"text":"The round was backed by existing Blackbird investors including superannuation funds and Australia’s sovereign wealth fund but also by a number of international funds including Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Schroders and Adams Street Partners as the appeal of Australian and New Zealand tech has grown in stature."}],[{"start":56.982,"text":"Blackbird partner Samantha Wong told the FT that international investors had historically assumed that businesses founded in the region would be limited to the local market."}],[{"start":66.396,"text":"But the success of companies such as telehealth provider Eucalyptus, which was sold to a US rival for A$1.6bn this year, and autonomous driving start-up Zoox, which was sold to Amazon in 2020 for A$1.5bn, had “definitively” proved this was no longer the case."}],[{"start":84.521,"text":"“These are logos that we’re not really seeing elsewhere in other venture portfolios,” she said of the international growth potential coming out of Australia and New Zealand’s start-up sector."}],[{"start":94.81,"text":"Blackbird has traditionally made early-stage investments in emerging companies with global potential. It has since “doubled down” on those stakes with follow-on investments."}],[{"start":104.22,"text":"In the case of Canva, it originally invested A$250,000 and has maintained its position as the software company’s biggest external investor — with a stake of about 10 per cent — as the business has grown in value."}],[{"start":119.12,"text":"Canva, which has been lined up as a potential Nasdaq IPO candidate, is now valued at $35bn internally by Blackbird, lower than the $42bn value attributed last year."}],[{"start":131.44,"text":"More recent investments include New Zealand agricultural technology company Halter and AI infrastructure group Baseten co-founded by Australian mathematicians."}],[{"start":142.72,"text":"At $143mn, the investment in Baseten is the largest single cheque Blackbird has written, part of a fundraise valuing the start-up at $13bn, according to Wong."}],[{"start":149.602,"text":"The Blackbird round is the latest foreign-backed fundraising for Australia’s small venture capital industry after US institutional investors backed a $420mn Airtree Ventures fund last year."}],[{"start":164.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787623833_4553.mp3"}