Australia and NZ's 10 Most Active VCs, and Which One Is Yours

Multiples has ranked the most active VC firms in Oceania by disclosed deals from 2016 to 2026 (data as of 5 Oct 2026). It covers VC and growth firms, not accelerators, angels or government-run funds. It's a handy list. And I know what plenty of founders will do with it: start at number one and email their way down.

Please don't. A deal count tells you who writes cheques. It doesn't tell you who writes them for a company like yours.

The top 10

Here's the list, linked to each firm's own site:

1. Blackbird Ventures, 258 deals
2. Artesian VC, 229 deals
3. Icehouse Ventures, 217 deals
4. Airtree Ventures, 177 deals
5. Investible, 142 deals
6. Square Peg Capital, 139 deals
7. Main Sequence Ventures, 123 deals
8. OIF Ventures, 94 deals
9. Carthona Capital, 75 deals
10. Skip Capital, 75 deals

Deal count isn't fit

Spend a bit of time on their websites and it stops looking like one list.

Blackbird's core fund backs the very first rounds, before revenue and product. Main Sequence is deep tech, seed to Series B. Icehouse backs Kiwi founders. Carthona calls itself highly thematic, and means it.

Same list, very different doors.

So before you send anything, do three quick checks. Do they invest at your stage? Do they back your sector? And have they already backed someone you compete with?

That last one gets missed. If a competitor's in their portfolio, they're probably not your fund.

You'll likely end up with two or three names, not ten. Good. That's a shortlist you can actually work, and every email on it can be written for that one firm.

Then remember they'll look you up before they reply. Your website, your LinkedIn, your last bit of press. If that tells a different story to your deck, you've lost them before the first meeting.

You already know your story. It's in your systems, your files and your head. We put it together before you hit send.

That's what Ethiks360 does. We read what's public about you, you confirm it, and we tell you what you need next before who to pitch.

Machines can sort the list. That's the boring 82%. Working out who fits, and whether you're ready, is the 18%.

Do the homework. Then have a crack at the ones that fit.

82/18: machines did the boring bit. The thinking's mine.