An Australia-based personal identity startup, Blinq, has raised AU$38.4 million (US$25 million) in a series A funding round.

This marks the largest series A for an Australian company in 2025, valuing the startup at AU$200 million (US$132 million).

The funding was led by US-based Touring Capital, with additional participation from HubSpot Ventures, Blackbird, and Square Peg Capital.

Both Blackbird and Square Peg previously supported Blinq during its AU$5 million (US$3.3 million) seed round in 2022.

Founded by former Uber Eats engineer Jarrod Webb, Blinq allows users to share customizable digital business cards through QR codes, NFC taps, or email signatures.

🔗 Source: SmartCompany

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Digital business cards have a long history of failed attempts before finding product-market fit

Blinq’s success comes after numerous earlier digital business card solutions struggled to gain traction since the early 2000s, including the Palmpilot’s beaming feature that was an early attempt at digital contact sharing 1.

Even companies like CardMunch, founded by Dr. Manu Kumar (who later started HiHello in 2018), ultimately sold to LinkedIn in 2011 without achieving widespread adoption for digital card exchange 2.

The industry has seen consistent resistance to going fully digital, as shown in a 2011 article that noted the challenges of replacing physical cards due to their embedded cultural significance 1.

What has changed is the widespread adoption of smartphones with QR capabilities, NFC technology, and integration with CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce, solving practical problems beyond just contact exchange.

Blinq’s 2.5 million users across 189 countries demonstrate a digital tipping point that previous attempts couldn’t reach, showing how timing and technology convergence matter as much as the concept itself.

2️⃣ Successful digital networking solutions respect cultural exchange rituals

Blinq’s growth reflects an understanding that business cards are more than just contact information—they’re part of social rituals with specific cultural significance that varies globally.

In Asia, business card exchanges are ceremonial acts involving both hands and careful handling, while European exchanges are more formal than American ones, especially in tech circles 3.