Startup Media

Scannable closes $2m seed round despite market conditions

Partly has become New Zealand's fastest growing start up by raising 36 million dollars after uncovering a particularly painful problem in the auto industry: buying parts.

Tend takes 50pc stake in primary care provider Better Health which will cover 14 medical centres in Christchurch, North Canterbury and the lower South Island reaching more than 90,000 patients.

With the use of AI technology, now users can reuse personalized recipes and content.

Hillfarrance backs up Floating Rock Studios to secure 1 million dollars seed funding to the firm’s ability to scale up and work on its roster of upcoming projects.

Halter high-tech collars allows farmers to create virtual fences, remotely move mobs with GPS-collars to new grazing breaks or the milk shed and view their location.

Vxt created a communication platform for professionals who need assistance in automating admin tasks associated with high volume phone calls.

Wellington is considered as a place off opportunity that have led little moments in ordinary places to some pretty extraordinary success stories.

While making dinner plans, Sonya and Ben thought about what they could do with the $50 they'd save if they stayed at home.

Sharesies was the number one platform of choice (53%) among those who trade shares.

Aeroe has patented their Spider Rear Rack system and has won the recent Design and Innovation Awards in Germany for 2022. This rack looks to be a simple and secure way to attach and carry your bag or tent on your bike.

The passion of Carepatron to assist solo practitioners and small health teams have aided them to raise 1.6 million in pre-seed funding which was led by Blackbird.

Lendmark Financial Services has selected the AskNicely Frontline Success Platform to empower its workers to deliver exceptional customer experience.

Halter is expanding to the south due to the interest shown by Southern Dairy Farmers

AskNicely CX expert delivers a personalized analysis to service business leaders

Upstock raises $5 million and claims they can help the government to bust the supermarket duopoly

MenuAid has received a $1M investment from Sprout, New Zealand’s specialist AgriTech and FoodTech seed-stage investor.

AskNicely steps on the accelerator with Sales & Marketing investments after $32M Series B round

The residential property maintenance platform, Tapi has become successful in raising 3.5 million dollars in a pre-Series A seed round from investors.

First AML is now in the United Kingdom, with 25 employees in their Shoreditch office

Tony says his almost 7 years at Amazon meant he was well-placed to buy into Partly’s proposition: the opportunity to create a parts buying experience to disrupt an overlooked sector.

LawVu boosts its Series A raise to $37m, expands business with social media giant

Leaft Foods, a plant-based protein maker out of New Zealand, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures,

Blackbird Ventures which is also known as Unicorn Factory has detailed their plan to raise one billion dollars.

Partly has hired kiwi Tony Austin (Former Amazon Executive) as the Chief Strategy Officer.

Partly was recently announced as a finalist for Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution. Congratulations to them.

A big congratulations to Onwardly for their Best Startup award at the #iSANZ2021

A software startup cashing in on the logic that a booming New Zealand sector with a critical labour shortage needs to help the workers it has be as productive as possible.

Aeroe,​ produces a bike rack designed for cyclists going on multi-day rides. The system locks on to any bike and can hold up to 16kg of camping gear.

Fast-growing Wellington software firm Hnry, which provides an app to help the self-employed manage their accounts, has secured a $16 million investment and is planning to take on 40 more staff.

Today's a big day for AskNicely as we announce a fresh new round of funding (a $32m Series B to be exact) and launch of the Frontline Success Platform. It's certainly big news for our business but bigger still for our clients and the millions of frontline workers they employ because this signals a fundamental change that’s happening to the way we lead businesses.

A remote island nation in the middle of the South Pacific, New Zealand is experiencing the stirrings of a burgeoning startup scene. The country has historically been capital-starved, but recent investments from the government and foreign investors have significantly increased access to early-stage venture capital funding. Now, certain industries are emerging as potential areas where New Zealand can win in the tech space.

Jasper, the tech-led commercial real estate fund manager, has grown it's assets under management (AUM) to $320m, adding more than $300m in the last 12 months.

In the face of all the challenges of 2021, Upstock helped many thousands of wholesale buyers and suppliers across New Zealand, along with customers in the US and AU, to streamline and grow their businesses.

It’s the health tech provider’s first acquisitions since raising $15m in early 2021. Auckland-based digital-first healthcare provider Tend Health has bought two GP practices following a $15 million capital raise at the start of the year. Article by Andrew Bevin, originally published on National Business Review, 13/12/21

Summary of Juno KiwiSaver: JUNO KiwiSaver offers three KiwiSaver funds, with the aim of making market-beating returns while making it simple for contributors to understand where their money is invested and how their retirement is being funded. Most KiwiSaver schemes have two fees - an annual fee, and a management fee. JUNO KiwiSaver instead, and rather helpfully, has ONE fee and it's in dollar terms, not as a percentage of your fund balance. This means you'll pay a fixed amount per month depending on your balance. There are no performance fees, despite the funds being actively managed. Many KiwiSaver fund managers take a bite of any market-beating returns - JUNO KiwiSaver does not. The funds launched in August 2018; the JUNO Growth has reported leading results and was ranked #1 for its Growth fund per this Stuff.co.nz article. Switching between any JUNO KiwiSaver fund is free. There are no joining fees or exit fees if you take your money to another fund.

Real-time capability and capacity software startup Runn.io has raised a US$1.41mil Seed round. Investors include Venture Capital firm GD1 as well as Wavemaker, NZGCP, K1W1, and Marlborough Angels. Through clever integration of 'the employee voice' - including features that ensure employees are doing work that's most meaningful to them - Runn.io believes its solution will help modern organizations thrive within a post-Covid world of work.

SmartPayroll is now back in the business world as Smartly with many new services and features.

As New Zealand continues to battle Covid-19, many of its small businesses have been forced to close their doors and others are in need of additional financial support to ensure they can survive the months ahead. To give small businesses a lifeline, two Kiwi businesses have created a partnership to provide them with crucial financial and accounting support so that they can not only survive, but thrive as we start to reopen.

A high-tech system that can control your farm from your phone? Holy cow! New Zealand agtech startup Halter is bringing farming into the future with GPS-enabled solar-powered collars for dairy cows that connect to a smartphone app.

CHICAGO, Nov. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FingerprintJS, the open-source browser fingerprinting service with the most accurate identification rate on the web, raised $32 million in Series B funding led by Craft Ventures with participation from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Uncorrelated Ventures.

First AML raises $30 million in funding amid global compliance concerns

The round into Partly values the business at NZ$46 million. It was led by existing investor Blackbird Ventures, with Beck, also an existing backer, joined by Dylan Field, co-founder & CEO of design platform Figma; Akshay Kothari, co-founder & COO of Notion; Connor Theilmann, VP business operations at Service Titan, as well as I2BF and K5 Ventures in the US.

Even in our technology-dependent world, pen and paper are still a common sight out in the field of orchards and vineyards across New Zealand and the world. That’s because there has never been a tool which had quite ironed out all the challenges faced and unique requirements of the industry – until now. Erin Harrison explains.

The now trans-Tasman direct-to-consumer investment platform Sharesies has embarked on another capital-raising round that values the four-year old company at over $400 million.

After winning a competitive pitch for the account, BMF has created a brand platform that celebrates investment as a long game. Because dreams are grown, step-by-step. No quick wins, no shortcuts.

In 2020 many of you gave your time to participate in researching and co-designing a digital psychotherapy workspace. The team have been testing the software with a group of NZ healthcare practitioners (including psychotherapists) for the last 12 months and are now releasing it. It brings together all of your client notes, scheduling, billing, and online payments in one secure platform.

Tauranga-based legal software company LawVu has completed a successful Series A raise of $17 million led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners.

Anne Timpany, who achieved global recognition for her UK-based business has joined the board of fast-growing job management software company Tradify.

Sir John Kirwan's workplace mental wellbeing platform has attracted investment from ACC and KiwiSaver provider Pathfinder. Kirwan and tech entrepreneur Adam Clark set up Mentemia in 2019 to help employers embed a wellbeing-first culture across their organisation and it's already used by major corporates including Fletcher Building, Chorus and Kiwibank among their client base.

A year ago, Wellington tech company Mobi2Go had 30 employees, with just two in its Toronto office. Twelve months on its staff numbers 100 and its Canadian contingent has grown ten-fold. And founder and chief executive Tarik Mallett is expecting that number to double again in the next year as his company looks for new opportunities in Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Dunedin-based Timely, which has developed booking software used by spas and beauty salons in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, is being bought by US company EverCommerce. Timely co-founder and chief executive Ryan Baker said the two companies shared common values and vision.

Starshipit and Australia Post have previously worked together to deliver integration for eParcel contract and StarTrack shipping services.

Aaron Ward on returning to NZ to connect with his Ngati Maru roots, reimagining his company's software, and drawing inspiration from Pushpay's founders.

A start-up is trying to push down the cost of cybersecurity and make a business for itself by encouraging other small businesses to take control of their own systems.

FingerprintJS.com helps empowers developers to solve and prevent online fraud, spam, and account takeovers with their highly accurate browser fingerprinting as a service technology framework. It solution works in all browsers, including mobile and embedded in apps. It identifies visitors, performs instantaneous history checks, detects incognito mode reliably and do much more.

The company has included an additional 11 angel investors including Rocket Lab Founder Peter Beck and ex-head of eBay Motors UK , Tony Austin. $1.2 million USD Pre-Seed capital has been raised in one of Christchurch's largest seed rounds.

The best performers were Milford in the conservative sector, Aon Russell Lifepoints Moderate, CareSaver in the balanced group, JUNO KiwiSaver for growth funds, and SuperLife High Growth in the aggressive niche.

Digital-first healthcare provider Tend this morning announced it has successfully raised $15M through a closed capital funding round, providing funding to drive growth and further transform New Zealand’s primary healthcare system.

Double Yolk sees recruiting software developers from overseas as an opportunity to explore.

Today, one of New Zealand's leading retail SaaS (Software as a Service) companies, Marsello, announced that it received a new investment from Trestle Partners ("Trestle"), a New York-based private investment firm with significant expertise partnering with SaaS and eCommerce companies.

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has awarded a Privacy Trust Mark to First AML’s customer due diligence platform. It is the second anti-money laundering compliance company to be awarded the Mark after Trust Integrity Compliance (TICC) received one for its customer due diligence online forms and AML portal in June last year.

Chicago-based serial entrepreneur Dan Pinto has raised new cash and launched a new company looking to commercialize a years-old open-source project that purports to solve one of the web’s hardest problems — fraud prevention.

Anti-money laundering tech startup First AML has raised NZ$8 million in a Series A funding round led by US-based Bedrock Capital, with support from Pushpay founder Chris Heaslip and Icehouse Ventures.

Upstock, an online ordering app for hospitality businesses, has raised $3.5 million in its first capital raise as it expands across New Zealand.

Launching into the UK eCommerce market, Starshipit now offers integrations with seven leading European courier companies.

Two Kiwi software companies are combining “the best of both worlds” to offer more businesses the opportunity to develop faster via data-driven marketing campaigns. Marsello, a Wellington-based retail software company with 5000 customers in more than 100 countries, has acquired fellow tech start-up Goody and merged their staff and customers together.

With a growing number of North American training providers using Arlo to power their businesses it made perfect sense for us to open an office in Canada, enabling us to provide a better service for those clients.

Wellington-based online payroll company FlexiTime has had a huge risk pay off, with their innovative, recently-developed payroll system, PayHero, proving compliant with tricky Holidays Act legislation, amid recent announcements of errors in other larger providers’ systems.

We’re over the moon to announce that we’re a finalist in the Wellington Gold Awards! A finalist in the Cyber Gold category alongside four other top-notch technology creators in the Wellington region. The Wellington Gold Awards recognize and celebrate business excellence in the wider Wellington region.

New Zealand employment solutions provider FlexiTime has reported a 7.7 percent rise in the average earnings of employees paid weekly, after the country moved to COVID-19 alert level 3. The increase comes after a total 22.8 percent decrease in average weekly earnings since before the move to alert level 4.

Mobi2Go has seen a 300 percent increase in sign-ups since the Covid-19 outbreak.

An app developed by All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan is among three mental health tools receiving Government funding to enable everyday Kiwis to get through the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The power couple are the founders and former CEOs of meal-kit delivery company My Food Bag, which disrupted the traditional food supermarket duopoly in New Zealand. Cecilia was also the supreme winner at the 2017 Women of Influence awards.

We’re excited to announce our new partnership with invoice financing service FundTap. FundTap turns outstanding invoices into immediate cash so businesses can grow stress-free without being restricted by a shortage of cash.*

Double Yolk founder, Jack Coleman shared his knowledge on leading a startup towards the path of success.

Owners and brothers Mike and Paddy Maguire are hugely motivated to deliver their new products to riders around the world as it was their Dad, Pat Maguire’s, final invention before he passed away from cancer in August 2019.

Award-winning New Zealand application monitoring company, Raygun, has taken to the US, collaborating with tech giants to encourage businesses to rethink their online experiences, saying it’s critical for business growth. With eCommerce sales expected to top $3.4 billion in 2019 and 2 billion online shoppers by 2020, monitoring user experience is essential says the co-founder and CEO of Raygun, John-Daniel Trask, who this week launched a series of tech panels in the US.

Over the last few months, we have been working closely with ASB Bank to provide Kiwi landlords with an efficient management solution for their rental properties.

Proptech startup Jasper has raised $2.3 million in a funding round led by pan-European investment and asset management firm M7 Real Estate, as Jasper gets set to open customer access to commercial property investment.

$20m taken off the big banks, more to come – JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme’s first year.

It’s been an exciting past year for the team with a few key highlights springing to mind. Deploying Halter technology on our pilot farm and getting it operational was certainly a highlight, along with working through production in Shenzhen and the countless insightful conversations we’ve had with NZ farmers over the last year or so. Our biggest highlight to date however would have to be growing the Halter team to sit at now 38 talented people and seeing everyone work together so incredibly.

Wellington-based Mobi2Go, which specialises in online ordering solutions for the hospitality sector, has raised $5 million from a funding round led by New Zealand technology venture capital specialist, Movac.

They've come a long way since their days as two men in a Ponsonby garden shed, just four years ago. Auckland-founded startup AskNicely has raised US$10 million ($15m) in its first major funding raising.

Two Kiwi utilities experts are predicting the death of landline phones by 2040. Michael Speight and Denis Tyurkov, the founders of utilities comparison websites Glimp.co.nz and CompareBear.co.nz say at the current rate of decline, providers will stop offering landline plans by 2040.

Software company Raygun is going to spend $15m over the next two years expanding its Wellington operation, co-founder John-Daniel Trask says. A lot of the funds will go to hiring an additional 70 staff.

I am very pleased to announce that Tabatha Coffey is joining us in this role on our board of directors. Tabatha will be known to many of you as a renowned stylist, television personality, author and business expert. With her signature tough love approach, Tabatha has worked with hundreds of business owners to coach them towards success. Much more than a hair industry expert, Tabatha has expertise across a range of industries and this is a great match for our Timely customers.

A low-cost KiwiSaver scheme with a simple Netflix-style subscription fee has launched. The Juno KiwiSaver scheme is the brainchild of Mike Taylor, from Takapuna-based Pie Funds, which has over $800 million of funds under management, and his wife Jacqueline, publisher of the Juno investment magazine.

t's time to force price transparency on car and house insurers that we forced on power providers, young technology entrepreneur Michael Speight says. Back in 2010, the electricity retailers were forced to provide their prices to any person upon request by the Electricity Industry Participation Code.

New online investment platform, Sharesies has had $1million dollars invested through the platform after just 8 weeks. And this isn’t just from wealthy individuals, it’s mostly from 3,500 people putting in small amounts on a regular basis. Sharesies has a minimum buy-in of $5 and encourages people to invest amounts they can afford.

We’re about to embark on raising Sharesies seed round of capital. Seed capital will enable Sharesies to launch our product, build even faster momentum and ultimately enable more people to have access to investing- starting with New Zealanders.

What does it take to start a successful web-based comparative site? Denis Tyurkov and Michael Speight may well have mastered the art with Glimp.

New Zealand website glimp.co.nz is expanding its service to ensure more of us are getting the best deal for our broadband and power needs. The utilities-comparison site launched in January with its broadband plan analysis and, following big demand, will launch power plan comparisons on Tuesday 3rd of August at midday.

Appointment scheduling software company Timely takes out the ninth annual Microsoft NZ ‘Rising Star’, Partner of the Year Award amidst stiff competition from finalists AcrePC, Inde and SecureCom at a black tie event held last night in Auckland.

The owners of a Wellington software development business are setting up in the United States, but have vowed to remain headquartered in the capital. In February year Raygun set up a subsidiary company in the US. Co- founder and chief executive John-Daniel Trask will move to the Seattle in March, where he plans to recruit managers to run the software bug-fixing business.

FlexiTime has been recognised as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the Asia Pacific region.

We're super excited to announce that Xero - our biggest integration partner - recently bestowed the MinuteDock team with their ‘API Developer of the Year’ award!