It followed a $6 million round led by AirTree Ventures in 2015, when 75 per cent of DesignCrowd’s business was coming from outside Australia. Melbourne’s Starfish Ventures anchored earlier rounds of about $3 million each, The Australian Financial Review has previously reported.
It is similar to ASX-listed Freelancer.com, albeit with a focus on graphic design jobs. A DIY design software tool that sits on its BrandCrowd website has been a significant growth driver for the business since 2019, and has been sold as software as a service subscription (SaaS) product.
In a prior interview, when asked about category-killer Canva, Lynch said there were plenty of different opportunities and segments within the online design market for more than one company to thrive.
DesignCrowd is preparing to head to the dealmaking circuit at a time when overseas investors, ranging from Swiss PE giant EQT Partners to Americans Accel-KKR and Thoma Bravo, have been hunting for promising technology names on Australian shores.
As revealed by this column, Sydney VC firm Potentia Capital made a 6.5-times return at caravan booking software business Newbook in a sale to EQT – in another RBC deal. Similarly, John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital had Greenhill find a US buyer for its Perth-based workforce management software business INX Software.