Black Nova, Australia’s newest VC fund – and recent lead investor of Perth-based Functionly – has closed $10M and is poised to reach $20M for its venture capital fund by the end of the year.
Black Nova is looking to invest strategic capital in early and growth-stage companies at pre-seed, seed and Series A stage, with technologies and solutions related to enterprise and software applications.
The VC is also setting aside 25% of its fund for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) ethical impact investments.
With initial cheque sizes ranging from $100,000 to $1M, Black Nova has completed investments in 23 Australian startups to date, in various industries in the B2B sectors, such as Functionly and Sydney-based Remote Social.
Black Nova is co-founded by Matt Browne and (Perth-based) Darcy Naunton, who bring their expertise from a successful exit with WHS software Donesafe in 2020, with a vision to establish a hands-on fund ‘for founders, by founders’.
According to Matt Browne, Black Nova embraces a ‘boring is better’ mentality when it comes to investing.
“Our focus is on taking what is traditionally considered ‘un-sexy’ and ‘boring’ enterprise-focussed startups, and moulding these opportunities into returns that are out of this world.
“The majority of our portfolio companies are faced with the arduous task of having to sell into big enterprises with long sales cycles. As a genuine founder-first VC we see tremendous value in embedding ourselves into their business, where they can lean into our strengths – from GTM, brand, product advice to hiring, business strategy and operations.
“No other VC fund of our size and stage has so many experienced venture partners.”
Matt also said the fund is already on track to see huge returns.
“It’s testament to the fact we have a successful operator-heavy VC model that is primed for growth. We intend to continue to raise over the course of next year and look forward to seeing more incredible Australian start-ups get the funding they deserve.”
For additional information or to keep up to date with Black Nova’s investments, visit https://blacknova.vc
