Native VC Blackbird and different early stage buyers in SafetyCulture look set for a second chew of the exit cherry as the corporate turns 20 subsequent yr, with as much as $500 million value of current shares being provided on the market to buyers greater than three years after shareholders within the privately-owned enterprise final offloaded stakes
The gross sales comes after firm, finest recognized for its worksite security guidelines app, raised $34 million an a $2.7 billion valuation, a $600 million enhance on 27 months in the past when the Sydney-headquartered enterprise raised $95 millionat $2.1 billion.
Previous to that, SafetyCulture raised $49 million in October 2020 so workers and buyers can money in on the unicorn’s progress. Since then it has greater than doubled in worth. Discussions on the sale of worker shares are anticipated to start this week.
The newest $34 million provides Sydney fund Marbruck Investments to the cap desk alongside long-term buyers Morpheus Ventures and Index Ventures, the latter writing its first cheque in 2016 when the corporate was value simply $160 million.
Blackbird first invested this time eight years in the past in a $6.1 million Collection A at a $50 million valuation. With its first fund coming to the tip of its life after a decade, the VC is now searching for the exits for its unlisted holdings, having lately offered down a few of its Canva stake for $150 million.
Lately, the enterprise has been in acquisition mode, spending $6 million on distant employee security app SHEQSY and $3 million final yr for knowledge and IoT startup Inauro in June.
Founder and budding Hollywood mogul Luke Anear has additionally been busy producing a pay-for-view 4-part documentary collection on Australian startup founders, that includes himself, in addition to Canva’s Melanie Perkins, Brighte’s Katherine McConnell and Finder’s Fred Schebesta.
Whereas there’s nonetheless no signal of SafetyCulture heading to a public itemizing, in November final yr, Anear, the CEO, threatened to register the enterprise as a US company “throughout the subsequent month or two” due to Australia’s firm submitting legal guidelines, complaining that the principles additionally gave abroad opponents an unfair benefit.
“Within the US, corporations can stay personal till they publicly record. It’s no surprise that Canva and others are domiciled there, and now we’re seeking to relocate there too,” he mentioned.
The newest $34 million elevate was revealed in firm filings fairly than through the corporate’s PR agency, which has been busy of late selling the documentary collection.
Anear mentioned on the time that the enterprise “will proceed to put up a loss for the subsequent 5 years or extra” including that “it’s unrealistic to count on to show a revenue early when you’re investing in product improvement and buying prospects in every single place.”
The enterprise was based in 2004.
By March this yr, Anear had shifted that narrative, telling the AFR that: “We’ve shifted the enterprise again from a progress mode to being worthwhile. It means we’ve infinite runway” and didn’t really want ongoing VC funding.
“We’re not depending on outdoors funding to be able to proceed to construct the enterprise and develop,” he mentioned.
If true, the present spherical would seem like designed to bump up the worth of SafetyCulture inventory by round 25% forward of shareholders searching for patrons on the secondary market.
SafetyCulture has been contacted for remark.