FKA 😇 Advice, Connections and Funding for NZ Startups

Another FKA Friday ● 26 May 2023#16

26/5/2023


	26 May 2023 #16		818

Sadly women are underrepresented among angels.

On the bright side, Electrify Aotearoa will see a powerful group of female entrepreneurs come together to ensure Kiwi startups fly.

And we do love flying

Here comes Alister's pitch for Agricademy from our May pitch night. Bring a bit of patience for it to load. Also, see Alister on Country Calendar.

Press coverage for Kayasand our 2nd green investment after Hot Lime Labs. See the LinkedIn post and the full article HERE.

Three startups from the FKA stable are participating in the Electrify Accelerator, DEMO day 22 June in Christchurch. Hazel, Vince, and OneReg (now under female leadership). See more.

This is why it was a good idea to dispatch PowerON to Germany. Here they are at all about automation, a regional tradeshow next door to the Mercedes-Benz factory.

We know the Economist is good for thought experiments based on economic principles. So read on about "What would humans do in a world of super-AI?"

A job seeker on LinkedIn has reached thousands of people with his drowning analogy. Sadly many startups are also navigating difficult seas!

Rudi is a Flying Kiwi Angel with no day job besides FKA. That is unless his tailoring takes off after completing his first commission. □

Of course, his first choice for a male model would be fellow Flying Kiwi Angel David as featured in last week's issue.

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 19 May 2023#15

19/5/2023


	19 May 2023 #15		818

Sadly women are underrepresented among angels.

Also, this tongue-in-cheek Better Bond video had little impact.

Phil Southward, Debra Hall, Ian White, Katheren Leitner and Stephen Smith have teamed up to have a close look at Vince and complete the DD Report. The original pitch was in March and the team is now giving a positive recommendation. Not so much soft tech but delicious food.

Stephen is a Flying Kiwi with a day job at Teneo in the UAE. The team helped ADNOC with the biggest IPO--$2.3b is big even for the Middle East. Read MORE.

Who wouldn't want to draw a line from Vince to ADNOC?

Matty delivered a compelling pitch for Hectre's $5m round on Tuesday. The company has support from several angel groups, in particular from our friend in Marlborough AIM. This is a co-investment opportunity. A brief summary.

David is a Flying Kiwi with a day job like few others. A poster boy, he is still modelling from time to time, like the above MitoQ campaign. Jess Yip is a big fan.?

Debra is our investor rep for Formus and has a term sheet from GD1/Nuance for this round to strengthen the firepower for the US entry—now that they have achieved FDA approval!?‍⚕️

An interesting webinar on a very important top in startup-world comes next Wednesday. It is hosted by Orchestra. More HERE!

A great reminder from the young Steve Jobs that quality is in the product and services, not the marketing. Hear him!

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 12 May 2023#14

12/5/2023


	12 May 2023 #14		818

Sadly women are underrepresented among angels.

Sadly, this tongue-in-cheek video of 2015 had little impact.

Next Tuesday is the date of our May Pitch Night. 16 May, 18:30 at KPMG, 18 Viaduct Harbout Ave, AKL.

Heath is bringing back Hectre. The team has made sterling progress since June 2019 when we doubted their readiness to take on the US market.

Ian is bringing Ecadame. Proving that the Flying Kiwis on the South Island are alive and well. Punching well above their weight ?

See you there!

Must read perspective on AI and Large Language Models. It will bring cost savings and threaten many jobs. But OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and other tech giants may not be able to monopolise the tech. Read here!

Then READ about Google's AI chatbot and staff layoffs

Katheren is a Flying Kiwi with a day job. She is the CEO of Asthma NZ and she is on a mission. MORE.

Maybe we're not as good as we think we are.Read here!

Here is something to do this afternoon. 5 pm, AKL. Register!

AANZ & EHF are organising a US trip for a delegation of Kiwi companies to meet with investors and ecosystem participants. This will be in September and at the moment Bridget is looking for expressions of interest. Garth is coordinating at our end. More HERE.

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 5 May 2023#13

5/5/2023


	5 May 2023 #13		818

A complex world out there! Angel investing is no child's play!

We're good with business leveraging AI but not for our kids at school? Interesting discussion on LinkedIn.

There are 20 startups powered by women in this 2023 cohort of the Electrify Accelerator in Christchurch. 22 June is Demo Day. Get your ticket!

Early tech in this KiwiNet Pipeline Post. Always worth a look! That's exactly where Hot Lime Labs #13 originated.

Great news just in from FileInvite #14. James and his team have just surpassed $4M ARR. Garth is our investor and keeps track of the zeros.

Josh is a Flying Kiwi on the lookout for the next day job—or calling. On being a monk and rally driving... More HERE.

Formus #17 brings smart software to the operating theatre to make the surgeon's job easier. Ju and his team have just cleared the FDA hurdle and can now start selling in the US.

Garth, Ewart, Andy, Rudi, Greg, Sean, David, Jeff, and Tony—9 angels were in attendance yesterday to help founders, 7 in person, and 2 by video call. 1 of the 5 discussions was about Indian flour □‍

PowerON #35 has just closed a cooperation deal to make cobots safer.

What is a cobot? More here.

MILKRUN has closed its doors. Great takeoff velocity in Sydney and Melbourne but ultimately not winning the scale-profitability race. Read the founder's summary.

Last-mile delivery propositions in NZ need to be considered very carefully!

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 28 April 2023#12

28/4/2023


	28 April 2023 #12		842

Our next pitch night will be in May, and we have already invited two startups. However, the night will be hosted by KPMG under more clement conditions than in Oulu, Finland. Check this out! ‍

We caught up with one of the judges in the startup category after the final judging yesterday. There was a very robust discussion following the interviews with the finalists, Astute Access, CarbonCrop, Formus Labs, Tracksuit, and ZeroJet.

All judges are sworn to secrecy and the category winners will only be announced at the Gala Dinner on 23 June in Christchurch. Get your ticket HERE.

Yes, Formus Labs is one of the FKA portfolio companies. Ju and his team have just got FDA 510(k) Clearance - a major milestone that opens sales in the US!

"I’ve never taken a step back and graded my predictions, but now that enough time has passed, I thought it might be fun to do just that. So this week’s post is pretty simple: I’ll grade five predictions I made in 2020 and see what we can learn from them." Interesting self-analysis of a tech writer. HERE.

“I always saw Michael Gambon wearing madly psychedelic socks, and I always thought that it is one of the few areas where men can really express colour and have a bit of a dandyish quality to their outfit.” – Daniel Radcliffe □‍♂️

Some might disagree and see other sartorial opportunities for men to express themselves. But FileInvite is going mad about sock merch. COOL!

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 21 April 2023#11

21/4/2023


	21 April 2023 #11		821

Yes, about lipstick on pigs, building an actual unicorn, and the shift from growth to profitability. Read this insightful blog!

Standing out from the crowd with your pitch deck when investors see hundreds of decks every year makes a lot of sense. However, check out this interesting response to a LinkedIn post. It advocates for angel syndicates.

Andy is looking after FKA's deal flow and this guide should help him regain his sanity and interest others.

1) Conduct detailed market analysis, 2) Identify macro trends, 3) Research exit activity, 4) Compare companies, and 5) Discover and track emerging spaces.

Founders and investors alike always like to get a handle on the valuation of SasS businesses. The SaaS Capital Index is a multi-tab spreadsheet that has a lot of interesting data to play with. You can register for a monthly update HERE.

However, nobody knows if 7x is now a stable point of reference or if this factor will reduce further. Only time will tell.

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

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Another FKA Friday ● 26 May 2023#16

Another FKA Friday ● 19 May 2023#15

Another FKA Friday ● 12 May 2023#14

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Another FKA Friday ● 5 May 2023#13

Another FKA Friday ● 28 April 2023#12

Another FKA Friday ● 21 April 2023#11

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