Morgan Stanley and Schroders back $750M Blackbird fundraise tied to Canva’s $42B empire

Blackbird Ventures, the Australian VC firm best known for turning a $250,000 check into one of the most celebrated venture bets in the Southern Hemisphere, just closed its sixth flagship fund at roughly $1.05 billion. Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Schroders were among the new institutional backers joining the round, which includes a $750 million component earmarked for investments in Australian and New Zealand tech companies. The Canva connection Blackbird first backed Canva during its seed stage in 2013, writing what now looks like one of the most asymmetric checks in venture history: $250,000. Since then, the firm has poured between $150 million and $270 million into the company across multiple subsequent rounds, riding the startup from scrappy design tool to a household name competing with Adobe. Across its lifetime, the firm has deployed more than $3 billion into over 190 companies, generating realized returns exceeding $2.25 billion and a net internal rate of return of 32%. Why global institutions are paying attention For most of its existence, Blackbird’s investor base was dominated by Australian superannuation funds. Those super funds remain in the mix for Fund VI...