News

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2021#12

9/4/2021


	9 April 2021 #12

Phil is our champion for Eight360. They are coming up for air and to grab $500k in a convertible note round. We have their pitch video HERE but watch this review video first. There will be a Q&A session next Wednesday. Interested investors, please get in touch with Phil.Southward@fka.nz for more info.

A very fine example of the much-coveted circular economy ⟲

Josh about Josh, founders, angels and FKA. An NBR interview, video and transcript. Communication is key, angels can help with experience and connections when the going gets tough. Commission on founders creates a conflict-of-interest situation. Reprint.

This week's ADI brought an addition to the Cat Herder's box of tricks. A device that detects catfighting noises and breaks up the fight with an even bigger noise. Ping Rudi if you want to find out more.

NZTE is thrilled to invite you to the 2021 Female Founder showcase.
Generator, 12 Madden St, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland

Tue 13 April 16:00-20:00 ⮩ MORE

Talent goes from one startup to another and it's a win-win.

top10in.tech - always a great source of startup wisdom. 52 tips!

Curious advice... And why are we talking about profiles again? Because we think that this is essential for your startup. Sexy profiles attract sexy investors, don’t forget that ;- )

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2021#11

2/4/2021


	2 April 2021 #11

Five of our portfolio companies have qualified as finalists in this year's awards in different categories. Start-Up Company of the Year: FileInvite & Moxion 〇 Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution: Fuel50 〇 Most Innovative Hi-Tech Service: chnnl 〇 Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution: Formus Labs

AWESOME! James+Garth, Hugh+Rudi, Anne+Tim W, Liz+Cornelius, Ju+Debra.

Are you FOMO or YOLO. Got your TikTok game on? See what the kool kids are thinking of the future through the Velocity programme. Be an angel and volunteer! HERE

I am Campbell, Chief Bunny Herder and happy to have conversations on what this entails as I have previously participated

Bunnies can grow up to become unicorns, says the Chief Cat Herder. Kami is a perfect growth prospect coming from that stable. □

More FOMO! The MM is closing with bootstrapping master extraordinary Akhtaar, helped by Rudi. Last chance! Email The CCH.

Good news! Formus Hip in Commercial Use More HERE.

AANZ :: Professional Development :: How not to screw up the cap table!

14 April Online ✪ 15 April, Auckland ✪ Register HERE

Kami #02 lives in the cloud now. Chair Bob speaks from cloud 9. Hear it!

AANZ :: Professional Development :: Angel 102. Focused on what an angel investor needs to do to manage a portfolio of investments and new opportunities. Key tools and techniques to help with this.

23 April 2021, 11.30-13.30 ✪ Register HERE

In the New Normal, Bessemer explores cloud economy milestones, what's driving cloud valuations, and the frameworks to help founders accelerate go-to-market momentum. Read On!

AANZ Newsletter :: Suse is reminiscing, Fifteen years ago... Read On!

Who says that all the startup action is in Auckland? MOA and Orion have teamed up for an energetic accelerator. More HERE!

The Pöny Saga continues. After how not to pitch, comes how not to give investor feedback. Learn here.

Commentary on iFlytek from Matū Man 〇 Dil Khosa 〇 A founder...

Building business is hard. Guess what's even harder? Be forced to choose between giving up on one of your largest markets/customers and getting criticised by your employees and investors. It just doesn't make any sense.

Most Kiwi businesses are still following the John Key doctrine when it comes to dealing with China. i.e. "We are a small country so we can operate between super powers without upsetting either." It might be true back in 2008 but it's looking increasingly hard to navigate.

F***, we are entrepreneurs. Not bloody cold-war diplomats.

Bumble just had a great IPO. James Veitch shows how "The S*x Rob*t" can be debunked with the Turing Test that was invented in 1951 by Benedict Cumberbatch.

NZGCP ◆ A review into a Government-run venture capital fund has found bullying and perceptions of gender discrimination and "disrespectful and inappropriate workplace conduct. Controlled Release.

Perceptions would be very close to misconceptions?

Nothing new but shocking how Dellabarca paid himself and staff to buy their allegiance, and he gets away with it. A Ctr+Alt+Del with a new team.

The Investment News The Book

Is the book rated by Narrative Muse? Brough reckons it should be!

The NBR's 'Government venture outfit struggles to shed its past, keeps scoring own goals' trailed four days behind Investment News.

Another FKA Friday 11 December 2020 #44

11/12/2020


	11 December 2020 #44	768 ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs

Mohd Athkaar from Mindful Muslim brings our last pitch in 2020. Nawaz is the champion and has compiled the DD Canvas with help from Andy, Hattaf (now UAE) and Nirjhor (Bangladesh Angels). Rudi is joining the advisory board.

Here the pitch! If you want to know more email Nawaz.Ahmed@fka.nz.

A lovely sum up of 2020 from Brough the CEO of Narrative Muse #18. A nice gesture and a great idea for other founders. Watch the 5min video!

TransferCar + TransferVan = NexTransfer #11. Now Brian has licensed TransferVan to Toll Networks to focus on TransferCar. Hear it from him!

Lane from Chatterize #22 takes stock of 2020 and announces the new Speakia platform. More here.

Ju from Formus Labs #17 compares car parts to joint replacement parts Also, read about his ambitions for the next round - a big number.

More here.

A great little video that illustrates how difficult it is to work against the resistance to change. Do nothing is often the biggest competitor.

Another FKA Friday 4 December 2020 #43

4/12/2020


	4 December 2020 #43	768 ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs

Happy money is not just the prerogative of queens

In November and December, we have collected $952k, just under one million for five portfolio companies, two follow on rounds and three new.

Datagate #05 ○ Hot Lime Labs #13
Kwotimation #23 ○ Well Revolution #24 ○ Komodo #25

Andy, Hattaf, Nawaz and Rudi are still working on one pre-seed deal.

Normally at this time of year, we like to bring you reindeer related startups but Pöny was simply too good to pass up. See the full deck here!

Jason from Spoke #15 has circulated his quarterly investor update this week. Looking good! More enterprise contracts are generating more revenue than SMB.

Ping Phil.Southward@fka.nz if you didn't get your copy.

Brett Herkt has the hair colour and determination of a Viking. In 2014 he was targeting the top end of town when he pitched to FKA. He has pivoted to SMB since then, changed the branding, gained impressive traction, and he has won lots of fans among FKA investor reps. His current round is massively oversubscribed.

So no sweet-talking of a cat herder could get capacity when even a horned Sheppard who is an early investor may not get all he wants.

All the best to Brett, Kim and the rest of the BoardPro team!

David Smol has been appointed as the new chair of NZGCP. Let's hope that this is the beginning of the changes that the ecosystem has been crying out for. LinkedIn Post.

Greg Sitters sums it up well "There is considerable work to be done to rebuild confidence and integrity both internally and externally in the market thanks to the damage done by previous management and lack of integrity in the previous board in dealing with things."

Don’t be a first-mover, be the first one to get it right! Remember: be an early mover, but don’t be a first mover as the lack of competition most likely signifies a lack of genuine customer desire. Interesting little read!

Lachlan from Pacific Channel has stepped up to fulfil his charitable commitment. However, with three female artists, painting and wine, he is visibly outside of his comfort zone. Help him, help the Talalelei Life Future Fund. Ruth Malo from NZGCP is!

It was a great night last night!

Nate from Potentia takes away the 1st prize for the most creative registration for last night's Xmas dinner. He gave his title as Indie Angel.

We don't know what our Chief Event Officer Katheren has planned for the last week of January. She promises to bring the cheeky out in everyone. So, look out for more details on FKA HELLO 2021.

Katheren is FKA's CEO, Chief Event Officer, and Asthma' NZs Doco Diva aka CEO. Healthy Homes - a Kiwi Dream will screen on THREE, this Saturday at 16:00.

Another FKA Friday, 27 November 2020 #42

27/11/2020


	27 November 2020 #42	766 ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs

Rob Vickery will act as our Rangemaster and he will also provide the cabbage heads. Each of his 10 scouts will provide 10 heads garnished with a crazy shock of yellow floss.

We are still looking for a qualified astrologer to step forward and set the best date and place for the training

The team at HLL #13 has switched on the Xmas lights painting the greenhouse red and making Vlatko dye his beard white. The pilot trial with Gourmet Mokai is going full steam ahead. More...

Next Thursday, 3 December, 18:30 drinks □ 19:00 dinner □

Xmas dinner for FKA Angels and those who want to dine with angels

Le Vietnamese Kitchen, 107 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby

$55pp - register here

Last reminder about three early pre-seed deals that are closing today.

Komodo ○ Kwotimation ○ Well Revolution

FOMO? Ping Rudi

The investor report from Kami #02 is just out. The team have done exceptionally well under Covid, in fact, have been helped by Covid. Phenomenal growth! Now in 50 countries, helping schools on every continent.

If you didn't get your copy ping David.Russell@fka.nz

The Hollywood Professional Association has awarded Moxion the Engineering Excellence Award. The video explains what Moxion #10 is all about. Spot the founder Hugh in black tie □

Also, Garth has joined the Board of Moxion this month. He is a big fan of boardPro and will onboard his beloved toolset in yet another FKA portfolio company in 2021

Brett the founder of boardPro has a deal for FKA portfolio companies that want to lift their governance game.

Tim has been a regular mentor at ADI Wellington since forever and gets big ticks from Josh, Ian, Phil and Rudi. Before we open the haven's gate to angeldom the obligatory question. Does anyone know of any reason why Tim should not join our group? Please, tell the Board in confidence.

Christelle from Proxi prepared this interesting Kiwi SaaS infographic. "We had 47 respondents to the survey. During our Southern SaaS workshops, we asked the participants (close to 100) to score themselves on 3 of the questions and got the exact same results as in the survey."

Great guest speakers at this virtual event. Check the agenda!

Nick was our FKA apprentice in 2017/2018 and is now an analyst with Blackpeak Capital in Sydney. He has talked with Glen, Erick and Maheen. Unless anyone knows of skeletons in his closet he'd make a very fine angel. Tell the Board in confidence if there are any bodies buried

Debtor Daddy #08 has just come out with a new video and ebook to real in the punters. Check it out!

FKA and other Kiwi investors help clean up the mess in the UK that is fly-tipping. FKA's #6 portfolio company iDefigo.

Should FKA create an award? What would it stand for? Who would we give it to? How many? How often? More here...

Anther FKA Friday 20 November 2020#41

20/11/2020


	20 November 2020 #41	765 ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs

Not so much fighting the virus as helping Kiwi startups

Three great pitches, funeral streaming, hyper-graphical blogging and mindfulness for Muslims. After animated Q&A, all topped off with a Sabrage, thanks to Julian Lambert.

Peter pitched OneRoom. He wants to take this business from $250k MRR to the next level. Email Peter for more info, he is looking to restructure with smarts and money.

Andy has more on the other two pitches.

The shampoo selection meme that is circulating on the internet poses an interesting question of how male and female angels pick their deals. Smart angel groups leverage the wisdom of both genders for better outcomes!

Rudi and Hattaf visited the Sharjah Entrepreneurial Festival in UAE last year. This year you can join the virtual event for free, lots of top speakers from around the world. Sharjah has built a startup ecosystem in record time, money, of course, helps a lot. Grab your ticket here!

Angels are training for the moonshot, others are surfing on cloud 9. Pauli from GridAKL and James from KPMG are getting married this weekend.

Our best wishes for both weddings ?

This graph shows shipments of cameras over 40 years. Digital cameras multiplied the market by 5 in ten years. Then smartphones killed it in five years. Shift happens! Shit happens!

Angels love multiples, the bigger the better. Some interesting numbers!

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