Rick Baker is the Managing Director of Blackbird Ventures. Prior to Blackbird, Rick was responsible for MLC’s venture capital portfolio with investments and commitments of over half a billion dollars. At MLC, Rick built a portfolio of venture fund investments alongside a group of the most successful venture capital funds in Silicon Valley and globally. 

Rick has also invested directly into tech companies, both from Australia and the US. Prior to MLC, Rick co-founded two successful software companies. The first, IDC Global, is a leading provider of software for the real estate industry. The second, Right Party Connect, produces notification systems for financial institutions. Right Party Connect was sold to UK-based company Adeptra in 2007 and is now Adeptra Australia. Rick is a passionate supporter of Australian technology companies. 

He is on the board of Canva, Safety Culture, Gilmour Space & Movus.. Rick was awarded a cooperative scholarship to study commerce at the University of New South Wales, graduating with merit. He then went on to study law at Sydney University, graduating with honours.