New fundOct 8, 2026, 02:29 UTC

Square Peg raises $696M for two new funds

What's the deal? Australian venture firm Square Peg Capital has raised US$647.1M (roughly $696 million) across two new funds — Fund 6 and Opportunities Fund 3. It is the firm's largest raise yet, topping the $860 million it secured in 2022.

The breakdown: Around 40% of the capital goes to Fund 6, Square Peg's early-stage vehicle, while roughly 60% is earmarked for Opportunities Fund 3, which backs bigger companies inside and outside its existing portfolio.

Why now? Australia's venture scene is rebounding after a post-pandemic slump, with activity returning to 2022 levels. A total of $1.7 billion was invested in the second quarter of 2026, a 60% year-on-year increase.

The raise makes Square Peg the second Australian firm to close a 10-figure fund this year. Blackbird announced a record $1.05 billion for its sixth fund in August, backed by investors including Morgan Stanley, Schroders, and Adams Street Partners.

The track record: Square Peg says it has returned over $1.4 billion via exits in 19 companies since 2012, a gross internal rate of return of 41%. Recent wins include selling its Bugcrowd stake and trimming holdings in Canva and Rokt, plus windfalls from Nvidia's acquisition of Deci.ai and EQT's purchase of PropertyGuru.

What's the endgame? Rather than chasing Australian founders in the US like Blackbird and Airtree, Square Peg is doubling down on Israel and Southeast Asia. It has invested in Israel since inception, opened a Tel Aviv office in 2014, and set up in Singapore in 2020.

Its portfolio includes Canva, $11 billion fintech Airwallex, Zeller, Neara, and Deputy. The firm also holds stakes in Stripe and AI lab Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati.

The signal: Back-to-back billion-dollar raises suggest Australian venture capital is regaining confidence, with firms betting that AI momentum and a recovering market will fuel the next wave of startups.