The investor, whose portfolio includes graphic design platform Canva and robotics company Zoox, said the vehicle is Australia’s largest fund to date and double the size of its last fund, for which raising closed in August 2020.

Sydney-based Blackbird said the fund received commitments from superannuation funds such as AustralianSuper, Hostplus, Australian sovereign wealth fund Future Fund, New Zealand sovereign wealth funds and the New Zealand Growth Capital Partners Elevate fund.

Over 270 individual investors, mostly tech founders and operators, also supported the fund, according to the company.

Founded in 2012, Blackbird will allocate AU$284 million for early-stage investments in Australia, AU$668 million for follow-on investments and $75 million New Zealand dollars (US$44 million) for New Zealand-based investments.

“The vast majority of Blackbird’s capital is in service of the underlying 4.5 million members of our seven superannuation fund investors and each of our sovereign wealth funds,” the company said. “Ultimately, it is the citizens of Australia and New Zealand who will enjoy the spoils of startup progress.”

Blackbird says on its website that it has backed over 100 startups, more than 150 founders and about 6,800 operators.

Blackbird is a key investor in Australian design unicorn Canva. Blackbird first invested US$250,000 in Canva’s very first round before there was a product. Another company that Blackbird backed, Zoox, was sold to Amazon in June 2020 for a reported US$1.3 billion.

Blackbird’s announcement comes a week after Square Peg, Australia’s largest pensions-backed venture capital firm, announced that it had raised US$550 million for its fifth fund, which will focus on tech founders in Australia, Southeast Asia and Israel.