Technology
Blackbird backs Airwallex to fix its ‘most expensive’ mistake — Capital Brief
Australia’s largest venture capital firm has conceded that its investment in Airwallex’s US$300 million ($465 million) Series F round is a correction of a nine-year-old misstep. Blackbird passed on the Victorian startup in 2016, forcing Airwallex to turn to overseas investors for its first funding round. Blackbird doesn’t want to miss out again, tipping into […]
Australia’s largest venture capital firm has conceded that its investment in Airwallex’s US$300 million ($465 million) Series F round is a correction of a nine-year-old misstep.
Blackbird passed on the Victorian startup in 2016, forcing Airwallex to turn to overseas investors for its first funding round. Blackbird doesn’t want to miss out again, tipping into a pre-IPO capital raise that valued Airwallex at US$6.2 billion.
“We absolutely made a mistake not investing earlier,” said Blackbird partner Michael Tolo. “And it’s the most expensive one that we have made at Blackbird!”
“As in life, it’s less about the mistakes that you make and more about what you do to correct them. This round presented a rare moment for us to correct our previous mistakes and partner with one of the generational Australian companies.”