Fundraising Fox

Darcy Naunton

Venture capital

Sydney · Pre-Seed–Series A · 32 people tracked

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Investment thesis

Black Nova is a founder-focused VC that backs brilliant founders solving acute problems in the B2B SaaS industry. It looks for teams with deep domain expertise and determined, ambitious founding members, investing from the pre-seed to Series A stage. The firm emphasizes a transparent, supportive, and trust-based approach to working with founders, moving quickly and being balanced in negotiating terms and cheque sizes. Its stated objective is to deliver strong returns while genuinely supporting the founders it partners with.

Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.

Stage
Pre-Seed–Series A
Check
$100K
HQ
Sydney, AU
Instruments
Equity
Tracked investments
7

Team · 32 people

from the firm's website
Darcy Naunton· General Partner
Matthew Browne· Managing Partner
Nick Tonkin· Partner
Joshua Farrugia· Principal, Head of Investment and Operations
Alex Lennon· Head of Talent
Chris Wanner· Operating Partner
Dan Ross· Operating Partner
Noga Edelstein· Operating Partner
Tim Baker· Financial Services Professional

What they invest in

from 4 of 7 portfolio companies

SaaS ×3AI & Machine Learning ×1Climate Tech ×1Digital Health ×1Enterprise Software ×1Fintech ×1Future of Work ×1Healthtech ×1

HQs:Australia×2

Investments · 7 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path
Blacknovablacknova.vc
Functionlyfunctionly.comin𝕏

Functionly provides a platform to visualize and manage organizational structures by unifying workforce data across systems.

Future of WorkHR TechSaaS

Co-investorsAfterWork VenturesBlack Nova VC

Kismetkismet.healthcare

Kismet is a platform that matches people using Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) with suitable service providers and offers tools for NDIS budgeting, financial management, and plan navigation.

Digital HealthHealthtechMarketplaces

Co-investorsCrane Venture PartnersFlying Fox VenturesAirTree VenturesProsus Ventures

Operataoperata.comin𝕏

Operata provides an observability platform that captures metrics, events, logs and traces across contact center tech stacks — including voice AI, CCaaS, CRM, networks, browsers, headsets and telephony — to monitor and troubleshoot live customer interactions.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Co-investorsBlack Nova VCFlying Fox VenturesTidal Ventures

Pathzeropathzero.comin𝕏

Pathzero offers a climate intelligence platform that helps financial institutions and companies manage carbon emissions data from ingestion to disclosure, including a private markets disclosure network connecting asset owners with fund managers.

Climate TechFintechSaaSSydney, AU

Carl Prins(Co-Founder & CEO)Charbel Ayoub(Co-Founder & CTO)Alex De Muelenaere(COO / CFO)

Co-investorsBlack Nova VC

Phantm
RightPaw

Co-investorsBlack Nova VC

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has Darcy Naunton made?
Darcy Naunton has 7 tracked investments.
What stage does Darcy Naunton invest at?
Darcy Naunton invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
What is Darcy Naunton's typical check size?
Darcy Naunton typically writes checks of $100K.
What sectors does Darcy Naunton focus on?
Darcy Naunton focuses on Enterprise Software, SaaS.
Where is Darcy Naunton located?
Darcy Naunton is headquartered in Sydney, AU.
Who does Darcy Naunton co-invest with?
Darcy Naunton most often shares deals with Black Nova VC, Flying Fox Ventures, AfterWork Ventures, among 5 tracked co-investors.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

Abundance mindset - Stuart Richardson & Darcy Naunton (Adventur.e Capital) | Startup Playbook Ep040

Rohit Bhargava · Darcy Naunton

The Best Advice I Ever Received... Darcy Naunton | YBF Ventures

YBF Ventures · Darcy Naunton

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