Companies
Fund 1
2014 vintage. 7 companies.
agritech
Mastaplex
Mastitis is a big problem for dairy farmers. With over 270 million dairy cows in the world, the disease costs $1.7b each year in the U.S. alone. Traditionally, farmers diagnose mastitis by looking for udder inflammation or milk clotting. Mastatest is a safe cloud-based diagnostic test that gives farmers detailed results within 24 hours and help them to determine which antibiotics, if any, are required.
https://www.mastaplex.comInvestment Lead: Carl Jones
engineering
SoundSwitch
Acquired
SoundSwitch automatically creates dynamic music-synchronised lightshows so DJs can create an immersive experience and amplify their performance. Onesixone Limited, the founding company of Soundswitch, was acquired in 2018 by American-based Denon DJ, a leading manufacturer of premium DJ products.
https://www.soundswitch.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
sustainability
Avertana
Avertana’s technology uses chemistry, process design and advanced materials to refine industrial waste streams into valuable mineral and chemical products, including paint, paper, fertilisers andbuilding materials. Originally established by Lanzatech, their circular economy technology helps companies and industries to build sustainable, resilient supply chains and reduce their environmental footprint at far less cost.
http://www.avertana.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
engineering
Nyriad
Nyriad has developed a new generation of compression technologies designed for modern big-data needs and intelligent software solutions for storage, performance and processing requirements. Founded by Alex St. John, co-creator of the Microsoft DirectX media platform for Windows, and Matthew Simmonds, an NZ-based serial entrepreneur and inventor of technologies in audio, electronics, digital cinema, digital signal processing, geothermal and nuclear energy, medicine and optics.
http://www.nyriad.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
sustainability
Mint
Mint Innovation is the first company in the world to use natural biomass and smart chemistry to extract green metals from waste on a commercial scale. Their recyclable, low-cost process uses a broad spectrum of biosorbents to recover selected precious metals and remediate metal-contaminated streams at the same time, producing lower carbon emissions and encouraging an ethical circular supply chain.
https://www.mint.bio/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
Fund 2
2017 vintage. 9 companies.
engineering
Foundry Lab
Foundry Lab combines the ease of 3D printing with the density of metal casting, enabling manufacturers to go from design to manufacture in a single day. Manufacturers benefit from on-demand production quality metal prototypes at a fraction of the cost, time and environmental impact of a traditional foundry.
https://www.foundry-lab.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
engineering
TDRI
TDRi develops mobile sensing devices designed to detect sub-surface moisture for the road construction and maintenance sectors. Originally developed at Lincoln Agritech, TDRI’s sensors use unique time domain reflectometry technology that is continuous and non-invasive.
https://www.tdrisolutions.com/Investment Lead: Niamh Given
engineering
Marama Labs
Marama Labs developed CloudSpec, a unique instrument that allows customers to identify and measure characteristics of turbid (cloudy) samples by using the spectral properties of light. The technology removes the requirement for several pre-testing processing and filtering steps, with initial applications in the wine industry. The unique ultra-violet and visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy technology was developed at Victoria University of Wellington’s Raman Spectroscopy Lab.
Investment Lead: MJ Alvarez
AI
Insite AI
Exited
Insite AI has developed an artificial intelligence platform for buying and planning in the retail space. The technology makes intelligent merchandising recommendations for large retailers ahead of time, providing them with better quality, and more profitable, decisions.
https://insite.ai/engineering
Opum Technology
Discontinued
Opum developed the Digital Knee™, a digital orthopaedic brace designed to improve ACL injuries by collecting sensor data by monitoring the joint and using an AI-driven platform to optimise the rehabilitation program. OPUM’s vision is to revolutionise the orthopaedic rehabilitation industry through intelligent automation.
https://opumtechnologies.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
AI
Arcanum
Arcanum deploys artificial intelligence and machine learning technology with simplicity and scale using existing applications and a low-code platform for custom AI and ML solutions, enabling businesses to benefit from the power of machine learning without investing in a team of data scientists and software engineers.
https://www.arcanum.ai/engineering
PIP
PIP has developed ultra-rugged sensor devices that provide businesses with real-time information about the location and operating status of distributed assets. Pip IoT is a spin out of high-tech engineering firm InFact.
https://www.pipiot.com/aerospace
Argo Navis Aerospace
Discontinued
Argo Navis Aerospace is a commercial supplier of upper-stage rocket engines. Their propulsion system is designed to overcome schedule challenges as well as overcome cost, performance, and reliability issues currently experienced by launch providers. Co-founders Dr Malcolm Snowdon and Dr Avinash Rao have a combined two decades of aerospace industry experience.
https://www.argonavis.aero/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
machine learning
Sortify.tm
Acquired
Sortify.tm developed a platform to identify the similarity and relatedness between goods and services in a trademark context, making trademark filing cheaper, simpler and faster. QANTM IP acquired the company in September 2021.
https://www.sortify.tm/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
Fund 3
2021 vintage. 11 companies and counting.
sustainability
CarbonCrop
Carbon Crop utilises remote sensing and AI to map, monitor and measure forest carbon sinks for regenerative native forests, making it easier for landowners to apply for carbon credits under the ETS scheme.
https://www.carboncrop.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
engineering
Hairspace
Hairspace enables users to recreate their hairstyle in just a few minutes by automating the haircutting process using AI ‘hair-pixel’ cutting technology. Hairspace sees a day when every household has one of their devices, just like toothbrushes and shavers.
https://www.hairspace.me/Investment Lead: Niamh Given
engineering
Periomedic
The Periomedic ultrasonic device uses ultrasound and elastography to recognise the presence of gum disease in teeth and dental implants, delivering greater accuracy, speed and patient comfort.
https://www.periomedic.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
Food Technology
EatKinda
Led by science and the Kinda team's passion for making great-tasting kai, they've developed a plant-based ice cream that tastes like the real deal. Their first product is ice cream made from cosmetically imperfect cauliflower which would otherwise go to waste.
https://www.eatkinda.com/Investment Lead: MJ Alvarez
MedTech
Iaso Automated Medical Systems
IASO is an AI company. They have designed a software as a medical device (SaMD) product to improve patient, staff and resource management in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), particularly on patients that might enter acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
https://www.iasoams.com/Investment Lead: MJ Alvarez
Advanced Materials
PhaseFoam
The company is developing a heat-absorbing material that can be applied in cold chain and construction,
reducing the energy needed to maintain stable temperatures. The technology itself is a patented novel
approach to the process of spraying or injecting polyurethane and phase-change materials (PCMs)
https://www.phasefoam.com/Investment Lead: MJ Alvarez
Advanced materials
Bspkl
The company's innovative manufacturing system is capable of producing Catalyst Coated membrane (CCM) at volume, with no risk of delamination or cracking of the catalyst layer, while using 25 times less
catalyst metal
https://www.bspkl.co/Investment Lead: MJ Alvarez
Medical Device
Apercure
Apercure Surgical is a medical device start-up from the University of Auckland developing FDA Class 1 percutaneous drain
and catheter retention devices. The most progressed of these is a drain retention device (DRD) used in vivo by
interventional radiologists and surgeons.
Investment Lead: Carl Jones
Consumer Medical
Goodair Nosebuds
Goodair Nosebuds’ (GANB) is a patented mechanical breathing technology developed by
Professor David White within the BioDesign Lab at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Designed to train, reinstate and augment natural nasal function, the nose buds apply frequencies and airflow control to individual sides of the nose to correctly sense airflow and deliver breathing neurotherapies
https://www.goodairnosebuds.com/Investment Lead: Carl Jones
Animal Pharmaceutical
Hale Animal Health
Hale Animal Health Limited (HAHL) is developing an animal pharmaceutical drug, with a unique formulation containing THC and CBD, that will be used to treat pain in dogs suffering
from Osteoarthritis. The HAHL formulation will be able to treat pain in companion animals as effectively as,
or more than, standard alternative drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs but without any nasty side-effects.
https://haleanimal.co.nz/Investment Lead: Niamh Given
Food Technology
Opo Bio
Opo Bio is creating innovative cell line platforms for cultivated meat companies to enhance scalability. The company does this through faster cell proliferation and higher viability without requiring hyper-specialized equipment or genetic engineering.
https://www.opobio.com/
