Why are you investing in New Zealand?

We are deeply excited about New Zealand because it represents a unique opportunity for venture investors in the post-Covid world. Having successfully contained Covid, the country has built on its already strong entrepreneurial culture, gaining global attention from founders and investors alike. In a post-Covid world where remote work is the norm, the next set of unicorns will come from New Zealand.

Coupled with the “Brain Gain” of so many of the 1 million kiwis that are returning home from countries that have failed to contain Covid and programs like Edmund Hillary Fellowship, we have the makings of the next hub of innovation in New Zealand.

As veteran operators and venture investors, we love this unique backdrop and the growth potential for venture capital given attractive valuations.

New Zealand is the next destination of global venture capital and we are willing to bet on it!

Do you invest in any specific sectors?

We have invested in a whole range of sectors: Social, Consumer, B2B, Health, Deep Tech, e-Commerce, Fintech, and Clean Tech. Anything that founders can dream up, drive, and scale with their convictions is of interest to us. We do see global focus from day one As a desirable characteristic of venture scale startups from New Zealand.

At what stage do you invest?

NZVC is an early-stage venture firm and our sweet spot is pre-seed to Series A, which we also see as the biggest capital gap in New Zealand startup ecosystem. We invest in startups that are pre-revenue to those with as much as $1mm annual revenue.

Why should a founder take funding from you?

We are operators who understand the growing pains of operators.

With a team distributed across New Zealand and Silicon Valley, we are uniquely positioned to help with all aspects of company building:

• Marketing, branding and user acquisition support from veteran founders

• Accelerating product development and growth

• Fundraising coaching and support from top angels and VCs

• Board Governance and cap table hygiene from the start

• AI/ML Bootcamps and in-house dev support from former head of Google Brain solutions team

• China manufacturing support from vetted partners

• Tech talent sourcing from vetted companies in Eastern Europe

How much do you invest per company?

We write initial checks of $100-400k depending on the opportunity and our conviction. For the startups successfully scaling to raise Series A rounds, we provide follow-on investment in the $300-700k range. Having said that, no one size fits all and we evaluate each opportunity individually.

How do you make decisions?

We just consult our local wizard… Just kidding. Having evaluated tens of thousands of startups and invested in hundreds of them, we have watched some of the sure shot ideas fumble and outside chances become top performers. We approach our decision making with humility while trying to be rigorous in our approach. The two key components are the idea and the team, and given we cannot be domain experts on everything, we rely heavily on the founding team. We value resilience, resourcefulness, scrappiness, and the ability to make decisions under uncertainty. 

We look at ideas in the context of market opportunity. Why this and why now? Are you creating a new category or taking a slice of an expanding pie? It always helps if you have your eyes set on the globe and have thoughts on scaling beyond the borders.

Who are your limited partners/investors?

We pick our investors for their ability to add value to our portfolio of companies through mentoring and subsequent fund-raising. We love to work with those investors who are mission aligned with us in seeking the growth of the startup ecosystem in New Zealand. Several of our LP’s are veteran founders and investors from Silicon Valley and other hubs of innovation.

How do we pitch you?

Please send us an email at team@nzvc.co.nz with your pitch.