15 Kiwi Startups

To Watch In 2015.

As a New Zealand entrepreneur living in NYC, I get asked a lot about the NZ startup world. For a relatively small country, NZ has often punched far above it’s weight, and I am excited to say that we’re starting to see this trend extend to startups. I tried to pick a mixture of success, industry, stage and general interest. There’s another 15+ that are equally as worthy that I may list in a future post. Love to hear any Kiwi startups you think are missing.

1. Xero: Despite a turbulent ride on the NZX, Xero still has a market cap over $2 billion which makes it the juggernaut of the New Zealand startup scene. They have been described as the “Apple of accounting.” With new payroll functionality being rolled out and a large treasure chest, Rod Drury’s vision of conquering the US market continues to march forward. (Carnival Scorecard: they poached 1 of our team in 2013 ☺)
2. Vend: POS software for retailers. Think of them as a more in-depth version of Square. They’ve raised around $37 million of funding and are one of the heavy hitters in the NZ tech scene. Led by the charismatic Vaughan Rowsell, who has arguably the best moustache in New Zealand business. (Carnival Scorecard: they poached 1 of our team in 2015 ☺)
3. PikPok: The leading video game company in New Zealand, PikPok (formerly Sidhe), is a rockstar in the mobile gaming/publishing scene with well North of 100 million downloads and >75 FTEs. PikPok have helped launch many chart-topping titles for partners such as Adult Swim, DreamWorks Animation and Fox. Along with a staple of own-IP, sports themed #1's: Flick Kick, Slam Dunk King, Into the Dead(Zombie killing’s a sport?) etc. Mario Wynands, Stuart Middleton & Tyrone McAuley lead the company and surely this is a big exit in the making? Game list here.
4. PowerbyProxi: Helping pioneer wireless charging & wireless power solutions. Their clients include Boeing, Nintendo, John Deere among others. Investors include Samsung & Movac, and they are currently looking to raise another $30 million to grow their current team of 70. Led by Fady Mishriki, co-founder & Chief Tesla Officer (epic title!) and seasoned CEO Gregg Cross. Definitely one to watch.
5. Carnival Mobile: Mobile marketing automation for apps (video of what that means here). Big disclaimer, I am the CEO and co-founded the company with our CTO Cody Bunea. With investors such as: Google Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Bowery Capital, Gary V, Mike Lazerow, Dave Tisch, Flybridge & Jos White… and clients such as: OREO, AB InBev etc. I feel we are a solid entry. 2015 is our sophomore year, having launched our engagement engine in January 2014 and we’re hustling for big things! Latest TechCrunch writeup here.
6. Mindscape: Mindscape continues to grow their Raygun product to tens of thousands of software developers globally. Raygun is a SaaS product that helps teams identify software bugs & crashes in real time and provides enough context to dramatically reduce the effort required to fix those issues. Co-founded by former NZ Hi-Tech Awards ‘Young Achiever of the Year’ John-Daniel Trask (JD for short), Mindscape raised a $1.4 million venture round last year. The business has just opened offices in the United States this month.
7. Martin Jetpack: The sheer audacity and “cool” factor of starting a jetpack company, lands Martin Jetpack on this list. With over $50 million of new investment to be put into the company over the next 30 months, these guys aren’t messing around. Glenn Martin is definitely an inspiration to young Kiwis… helping them dream a little bigger.
8. Rocket Lab: In this ‘SpaceX obsessed’ tech age, no list would be complete without a space startup. Low-cost and high-frequency commercial rocket launches. Wow! Rocket Lab has a wee way to go before CEO, Peter Beck, can have a solid claim to be the ‘Elon Musk’ of New Zealand. However, he’s looking to add an impressive 35 jobs this year and recently stated they are hoping to launch their first rocket end of 2015. Exciting stuff!
9. TradeGecko: Inventory management software for merchants. This company is actually headquartered in Singapore, with an office in San Francisco, but started and run by Kiwis including CEO Cameron Priest. They continue to grow and show customer value in what is a very interesting and valuable vertical.
10. Posse: Posse is a discovery app to curate and find the best local businesses around you, think of it as if Yelp had a child with a Wes Anderson illustrator… Confused? You should try it, it’s pretty cool. Is one of two companies on this list with a female founder, Rebekah Campbell. Take into account several successful Kiwi female entrepreneurs have recently exited their companies such as: Victoria Ransom selling Wildfire to Google, Claudia Batten selling Massive to Microsoft and more recently Victors & Spoils etc.
11. Voyager Internet: 2014's #1 company on the Deloitte Fast50, Voyager, a New Zealand ISP is a definite inclusion. Run by Seeby Woodhouse, famous for his previous $24 million exit for his first ISP, Orcon, while in his twenties. Voyager is likely destined for more great things in 2015!
12. Wynyard Group: A market leader in advanced crime fighting software used by investigations & intelligence operations in government agencies and financial institutions… That’s a mouthful, but does sound a little like Batman. Wynyard is another listed company on the NZX, originally split out of NZ enterprise software veteran, Jade Software. Basically they are in the “big data” “connecting the dots” “Palantir” space.
13. Booktrack: “Soundtracks for books.” Booktrack & their CEO Paul Cameron, continue to develop this completely new market with some great milestones along the way. Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures is an investor, as is Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital (the NZ company that wins all the Oscars for CGI with Avatar, LOTR, Marvel etc.), with more famous Peters surely lining up to back this unique startup.
14. Putti: An app-building platform that provides SMBs with the ability to have a powerful mobile app with custom looking design and all the key features. Putti recently received investment from New Zealand’s largest telco, Spark (previously Telecom). Led by ex-Spark Digital Ventures, Aaron McDonald, Putti has the potential to be a big mover in 2015.
15. Kura Nutrition: CEO Bridget Coates (formerly Liddell) is no stranger to the New Zealand startup scene, nor to success. Bridget was a partner at Farenheit 212, 212 Equity, has her own female focused investment fund and was recently awarded the NZ Order of Merit. Her latest startup, Kura, is focused on organic, GMO-free, New Zealand protein smoothie powder. With an experienced team, growing market, and leveraging New Zealand’s large & successful dairy sector, this is one to keep an eye on.
16. BONUS STARTUP: Garage Project: A creative craft brewery, recently labeled by Vice Magazine as “The Willy Wonka of Beer.” Pete Gillespie, Jos Ruffell & Ian Gillespie are the co-founders. Garage Project won a medal at the world brewing awards and was recently voted best brewery in New Zealand. Some of the creativity must lie in Jos & Ian’s unique background, having previously been a part of gaming powerhouse PikPok (#3 above), while master brewer Pete, surely has the best beard in New Zealand business!

Way too many startups to list, which was not the case back in 2007, when I co-founded my last company from my friend’s garage, Polar Bear Farm. Can’t wait for more Kiwi success in 2015!

I host the monthly “Flat White Meetup” for Kiwi Entrepreneurs in New York. If you are in the city, please reach out and come along.