Allens has advised leading Australian venture capital firm Airtree Ventures on its equity investment in workplace technology company SafetyCulture.
Led by Airtree and joined by existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Morpheus Partners, the $165 million funding round, which values SafetyCulture at $2.5 billion, will provide growth capital for SafetyCulture. The investment also provides existing shareholders with the ability to liquidate some of their holdings via a secondary sale component.
The investment is an exciting milestone for Airtree and represents its largest ever entry investment.
'We are delighted to have again supported Allens Accelerate client Airtree Ventures on this significant investment, and in its broader mission of supporting Australian and New Zealand technology startups,' said Managing Associate, Madeleine Hunt.
'As the M&A and IPO markets remain volatile, we're seeing an increasing number of later-stage startups using secondary sales to provide liquidity to early investors. We expect secondary sales will continue to feature heavily for later-stage startups for the foreseeable future,' said Partner and Co-Head of Allens Accelerate, Dom Anderson.
Allens Accelerate is a legal practice dedicated to supporting the Australian startup community and providing expert legal advice to startups, investors, and corporates. The Allens Accelerate team works with leading Australian startups at all stages of their journey and in some of the most significant transactions in market, such as Canva's recent acquisition of generative AI company, Leonardo AI.
For more information about new trends in secondary sales in the Australian startup market, watch our recent Allens Accelerate webinar.
Allens legal team
Dominic Anderson (Partner), Madeleine Hunt (Managing Associate), Vishaya Pracy (Lawyer), Luke Livis (Lawyer)