Supercharge your startup idea with expert mentoring
Book 30-minute 1-1 mentoring sessions with Blackbird portfolio founders and operators, investment team members and ecosystem experts.
Two 60-minute interactive content sessions a week covering topics like building your MVP, customer interviews, Go-To-Market, pricing and pitching.
We believe real life connection lays the foundation for long-term relationships. Connect with our Giants community at exclusive in-person events and Sunrise Festival.
Check out these blog posts and stand on the shoulders of Giants alumni and mentors.
Learn How Giants Alumni, Unsloth, went from just an idea in XXX to joining YC and raising $XX in just XX years.
Launched our first mentoring cohort, connecting aspiring leaders with experienced mentors.
Expanded our program to include workshops and networking events for mentees.
Celebrated our first graduation ceremony, honoring the achievements of our mentees.
Introduced new initiatives to enhance mentorship experiences and community engagement.
Looking forward to expanding our reach and impact in the coming year.
Giants is a community of people wanting to test their startup idea through access to Blackbird’s mentor network. We’ve helped thousands of founders realise their boldest ambition and take a giant leapon their big idea.
We’ve seen everything from predictive world models to food waste to digital classrooms to ecommerce and more! In our last cohort, 52.9% of startups had at least one female co-founder.
We have had 380 brilliant mentors share their expertise through 30 minute 1-1 mentoring sessions.
Giants is a great way to build relationships with the Blackbird investments team and nurture your ambition. Over a dozen Giants alumni have also raised funding from other sources.
You’re never too early. We’re looking for Wild Hearts, right at the beginning.
We encourage everyone to apply for Giants*. This is a great way to lay the foundations for your early stage startup with mentoring from our Blackbird portfolio and operators in our highly curated network.
*See eligibility criteria below.
Forge is invite-only and reserved for the top 1% of Giants alumni. Founders are placed in a tight-knit group of ambitious peers with access to exclusive events and tactical support from the Blackbird investment team throughout the year.
We run Giants runs twice a year, with eight week cohorts. We designed the program to be self-serve and tailored by you. Book mentoring sessions to receive personalised advice and join our live content sessions based on the stage of your startup. Plus, once you’re in the community, you have lifetime access to our Knowledge Hub of pre-recorded resources.
Program cost: Free
Time commitment: 5 - 10 hours per week
Key dates and deadlines:
Applications open: 3rd Feb 2025
Info session: 12th Feb 2025
Applications close: 2nd March 2025
Application outcomes: 17th March 2025
Program start date: 24th March 2025
Program end date: 23rd May 2025
Giants is specifically for aspiring, early-stage founders. All you need are the beginnings of an idea that you’re hoping to explore and validate.
You must be actively working on a startup idea. We love working with startups across all industries.
At least one person in the founding team has a connection with Australia and New Zealand. Either based here or from Australia and New Zealand and living remotely. Note: All session times are in ANZ timezone.
You have been working on the startup idea for less than two years.
All members of the founding team are over 18 years old.
The startup idea and founders are not part of an intrapreneurship product. For university teams who are commercialising research, please see our Foundry program.
If your startup idea is an agency, services business, charity, social enterprise or lifestyle business, you are not eligible for Giants.
We are committed to building a diverse ecosystem. Women, non-binary founders and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples are encouraged to apply.
We recommend dedicating 3 hours each week to engage with the Giants content and community. You should allow additional time to work on your startup idea.
The very beginning of a startup is a magical time. It’s a time of possibilities, discovery and learning. But it can also be lonely, daunting and confusing - especially for first-time founders.
There are many brilliant programs in our startup ecosystem that help founders grow and scale, but very few opportunities for founders at the ideation stage; who haven’t built a team or crystallised their product vision.
Giants exists to support ambitious people with an idea forge new pathways into the ecosystem. Our hope is that Giants will help more founders in Australia and New Zealand turn their ideas into reality, whilst enabling leaders and existing founders be a part of that journey in a simple, meaningful way.
No. Giants is free and we don’t ask for equity.
We recommend dedicating 3 hours each week to engage with the Giants content and community. You should allow additional time to work on your startup idea.
We recommend booking at least one mentoring session a week. Beyond that, we adjust the upper limit based on mentor availabilities which change each cohort.
Idea: You've got a rough idea and want to understand how to validate it. Your next steps are customer interviews and building your MVP.
Build: You’ve got an idea and are building your MVP or product. Your next steps are GTM, pricing and fundraising.
All Giants founders will get access to the same live content material, pre-recorded Knowledge Hub and in-person events. However, identifying as a Build or Idea stage founder will impact the mentors you are able to book mentoring sessions with.
Our mentor pool is dynamic and carefully curated based on industry, experience, and founder needs for any given cohort. We prioritise individuals with a demonstrated passion for building the ANZ startup ecosystem, lived founder or operator experience, and who reflect Blackbird philosophy and values.
If you are interested in giving back to the community, please fill out this EOI form: Become a Giants Mentor
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