Kiki Club raised A$9.5 million in a seed round led by Blackbird to rebuild the short-term rental startup

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Blackbird Ventures led the round with $4.5 million, making it the second biggest seed check the VC firm has written. The startup closed a $230,000 (NZD) seed round in 2022 and launched in Syndey, Australia, to users in Bondi Beach. Recently, the company has decided to sunset the app in New Zealand and Australia and focus its efforts on its NYC launch. The company saw the most demand from Aussies, particularly those who moved to NYC and want to save on rent when they visit family abroad. With investors already lined up for a future Series A funding round, the startup also ambitiously plans to grow its team to 100 employees and launch in 20 cities in Europe by 2024. (Instagram is also where renter and lister communicate since Kiki doesn’t have a direct-messaging feature).“[Kiki Kiki also has a management feature where users can keep track of on-time payments, secure deposit holdings and e-sign sublet agreements.