🇦🇺 Eucalyptus effect
The Eucalyptus sale is the biggest Australian startup exit in years. It’s also proof that the local ecosystem can build globally competitive companies, back them properly and actually get paid.
Everything’s coming up Eucalyptus. If you’re outside the startup ecosystem looking in, you’d be forgiven for wondering why a single acquisition is commanding this much airtime. Trade sales happen every day, after all. But this one is different.
This is what venture capital is supposed to do: back people who build things, and make sure the people who believed in them get paid.
Several hundred employees are about to share more than $300 million. Blackbird is set to return more than 2x its entire 2018 fund from a single bet, and the Australian startup ecosystem — which has spent the better part of three years in a collective crouch — finally has its moment.
None of it happened because of Eucalyptus’ house-of-brands play or because of its clever demographic segmentation. Not even because of the original Pilot pitch.
