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Herbert Smith Freehills’ private equity and venture capital team has advised Instant on its AUD$2.2 million pre-seed capital raise. It has been reported as the largest pre-seed raise in Australian history.

The round was led by Blackbird Ventures with participation from Larry Diamond, TEN13, Reinventure, Tinder founder Justin Mateen, Accel Ventures scout fund and others.

Instant is an Australian tech start-up that is seeking to build the world’s simplest online checkout experience. Instant's vision is to become the core checkout for all customers so that when they check out or complete a transaction online, the platform will automatically recognise them across its network and allow for a 1-tap checkout experience every time. In addition, Instant will offer a marketplace of commercial products for merchants including in respect of ecosystem fraud detection and operational automation.

This new capital will be employed to fund the growth and expansion of the company.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Co-Head of Venture Capital (Australia) Peter Dunne and solicitor Katherine Duong, supported by Co-Head of Venture Capital (Australia) Elizabeth Henderson.

Katherine Duong said, “We had a lot of fun working with the Instant team on their pre-seed raise. Instant has attracted plenty of investor interest so far and having worked with the team, including the incredible founders Liam Millward and William Gao, it’s not hard to see why so many investors are interested in backing them. We are honoured that Instant has chosen to partner with us early on in their growth, and look forward to another exciting year ahead with them.”

Co-Founder and CEO of Instant, Liam Millward, said, “Our experience working alongside and with HSF has been nothing but amazing. The communication is always seamless, and the speed at which they operate is next level. We’re excited to continue working with Peter, Katherine and Elizabeth moving forward as we take on bringing a frictionless and easy payment experience to every transaction globally.” 

This deal is another example of Herbert Smith Freehills’ market-leading work in Australian venture capital raisings. Other recent examples include:

  • Who Gives a Crap on its A$41.5 million Series A capital raise
  • SafetyCulture on its A$90 million Series C2 capital raise
  • Deputy Group on its A$111 million Series B capital raise
  • Culture Amp on its A$120 million Series E capital raise and A$135 million Series F capital raise and secondary sale
  • Linktree on its US$10.7 million Series A and US$45 million Series B capital raises

Key contacts

Peter Dunne photo

Peter Dunne

Co-Head of Venture Capital, Sydney

Peter Dunne
Elizabeth Henderson photo

Elizabeth Henderson

Partner, Co-Head of Venture Capital (Australia), Sydney

Elizabeth Henderson

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Emily Coultas

External Communications Manager

Melbourne