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Overview

Giants is Blackbird Ventures' flagship free mentoring program for early-stage founders across Australia and New Zealand. Since its launch in 2021, the program has conducted over 6,300 mentoring sessions with 420 mentors serving 1,871 founders, making it one of the largest early-stage founder support programs in the ANZ region.

Investment focus

Giants targets the earliest founder stage: aspiring founders and teams validating startup ideas before, or around, first institutional funding. The official page is sector-agnostic and cites examples from predictive world models, food waste, digital classrooms, and ecommerce.

Program details

Blackbird recommends booking at least one mentoring session each week. It recommends setting aside three hours weekly for program content and community, plus separate time to work on the startup idea. The number of mentoring bookings available depends on mentor availability.

Who it is for

Founders must be actively working on a startup idea (not agencies, services, charities, or lifestyle businesses), have at least one team member with connection to Australia or New Zealand, have worked on the idea for less than two years, and commit to attending in-person weekly events (or virtual for remote cohort).

Check your startup’s fit

Check your eligibility for Blackbird Giants Program

Admissions and application

Founders apply through the Blackbird Giants page for city-specific cohorts. LaunchVic listed an AMA info session on February 17 and a Giants C11 application deadline of March 8, tied to the current program cycle.

Benefits

The program is completely free with no equity requested from participants. Founders receive personalized 30-minute 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with experienced mentors, weekly in-person community events and networking, accountability frameworks to keep ideas on track, access to mentor directory featuring founders, operators, and ecosystem experts, and exposure to multiple mentoring perspectives from leading companies and investors.

Timeline

The program lasts for 8 weeks, with cohorts running quarterly in Sydney, Melbourne, and virtually for ANZ. In-person sessions meet weekly on Tuesdays from 5-8pm.

What came of it

Blackbird’s 2025 review reports that Giants involved 144 startups, 220 early-stage founders, 74 mentors, and 782 mentoring sessions that year. These are figures reported by the program operator.

How to go about it

  1. Read what it asks for

    Who can apply, how people get in and whether it is open right now.

  2. Have something to show

    Programs pick people whose work they can already point to. Put yours where it can be found.

  3. Apply the way the program asks

    The program has not published how to apply. Terms and dates change. Check the official page before you act.

What it pays

The program is free and explicitly designed for founders with ideas that may still lack a website, prototype, cofounding team, or settled direction.

Questions about this program

Who is eligible for Giants?

Applicants must be aspiring or early-stage founders actively working on a startup idea for less than two years. At least one founding-team member needs a connection to Australia or New Zealand. Agencies, service businesses, intrapreneurship projects, charities, social enterprises, and lifestyle businesses are excluded, and in-person event attendance is required.

What does Giants provide?

The program offers virtual one-to-one mentoring sessions advertised as 30 minutes each, live content, and a pre-recorded Knowledge Hub. Mentor options depend on whether a founder identifies as being at the Idea or Build stage, and booking limits vary with mentor availability.

Does Giants charge a fee or take equity?

Blackbird says Giants is free and does not ask for equity.

How much time does Blackbird recommend setting aside?

Blackbird recommends three hours per week for program content and community, plus additional time for startup work. It also recommends booking at least one mentoring session each week.

Are applications currently open?

The advertised Sydney and Melbourne 2026 cohort dates have passed, and the available Claims do not establish current application availability or a future cohort schedule.

About Blackbird

Blackbird

Venture Capital

Investing in ambitious founders and technology innovation.

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