The cheques are in the mail: Eucalyptus delivers the DPI moment Australian VC needed
Blackbird and Airtree are counting extraordinary returns from the $1.6 billion Hims & Hers deal — and the sector is watching closely as paper gains finally start converting to cash.
The dust is only just settling on Eucalyptus' $1.6 billion sale to Hims & Hers — but for its earliest VC backers, the returns are exactly the kind of signal the sector under pressure has been hungry for.
“The transaction will see more than 2x our entire 2018 fund returned over the coming years — a showcase of the fund-returning outcomes our core funds are built to deliver,” Blackbird partner Nick Crocker told Capital Brief.
Blackbird was Eucalyptus’ largest shareholder with more than 25% of the company.
Returns to VC have become an increasingly pressurised topic as a prolonged drought in exits and IPOs, sliding SaaS valuations amid AI disruption, and growing LP impatience for distributions have converged to squeeze the sector from multiple directions. So wins like Eucalyptus are important.
Blackbird first backed Eucalyptus at seed in 2019 with a $1.5 million investment at an $8 million pre-money valuation, going on to participate in every subsequent round.
"We invested in ... seven rounds over seven years — from our 2018 LP, 2020 Follow-on Fund, and 2022 Follow-on Fund, plus three managed co-investment vehicles,” Crocker said.
