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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#04

22/2/2019


	22 February 2019 #04

Debra, not pictured above, is syndicating our FormusLabs deal with many to get the round closed. Absolutely, no sin in that, it's the right thing to do when funding startups. Total commitments stand at $835k, time to come off the fence if you're sitting on it. Ping Debra or by form.

Make no mistake, she doesn't just syndicate with anybody. She blankly refused the cheeky terms of one of the Callaghan Tech Incubators.

JOSH has served two years on the FKA board and has helped shape our group into what we are today. Quite separate from his board role, he has totally owned sponsorship relations from the inception of FKA in 2014. He can muster a gravitas for this that role belies his otherwise wildly humorous side. Josh is the very reason why we can run with our ZERO FEES policy!

Two things! (UNO) A super, super BIG THANK YOU to Josh for his contribution to date. He has made his mark and will now focus more on Ambit. Makes sense, Josh, but don't stop MCing our pitch nights!!! (DOS) Is there anyone out there to take that sponsorship crown off Josh??? As with everything, lean principles, taking small calculated steps. Ping Jai.

Jenn has been making her mark in the startup ecosystem over a number of years. She took her startup from Startup Weekend to Global Startup Battle in 2013 whilst responsible for growth programmes at ATEED, and more recently for Techweek. She has talked with Heath, Josh and Rudi about joining FKA and all feel there is a great fit.

Still, some of you may know things that could veto Jenn's joining. If so, please, raise your concerns in confidence with the FKA directors.

Showcasing the best and brightest female-led startups and if that is not enough there is drinks and canapes too. A 7-course pitch degustation followed by Q+A and networking. Don't miss out and register HERE.

All freshly prepared by master chef Simon Ansley and his top team from the NZTE kitchen. Some have missed this, but Richard Campbell whose catering we so loved at KPMG is now cooking up more startup dishes at the NZTE kitchen.

Nothing has surfaced on Steffen! So let's give him a big welcome to FKA to take our count of active FKAngels to 51. The above picture shows him at the Octoberfest in Munich doing what he loves, with the woman he loves. Watch the space, with her next move, Isabel might just make these two the first angelic couple in our ranks.

Hang on! There are the Youngs, Jackie and Greg, already.

Uli has brought you toothbrushes from a virtual store, virtual playgrounds and now he is focused on virtual gifting. Early days with this startup, not ready for FKA so he is doing a triple Ⓕ round. No hard sell but if you're interested then talk to him about connections and/or cash.

Uli.Wiehle@fka.nz 021 703 060

Rudi has hijacked another video, a good one, to promote #KIWIstartups and #FKAngels on LinkedIn.

Bigger than life Jordan Green is the leader of the Melbourne Angels and has shared his thinking on startup valuation and fundraising in this informative article. «One of the most common questions I get from founders is, “How much of my company should I give away?” and my automatic answer is “None!!”.»

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#03

15/2/2019


	15 February 2019 #03

We had some pitches but then the champions decided that they're not are quite ready. Fair enough, that means no February pitch night. Let's just do BYO drinks, normal time (18:30) but different place (Rudi's).

So far we have 24 votes from our 34 Voting Angels in. 23 say YES to FormusLabs which leaps the minimum hurdle of 18. This means FKAngels have voted on the DD Report and will invest $85k as a group which then clears the way for discretionary co-investment from individual angels. Debra and Ju will now go on to nut out the legals. Debra will manage the commitments.

MIG Angels sent one hell of a sharp knife in Joe Harper and are first on the list to syndicate with FKAngels. BTW MIG is also the first NZ angel group after FKA to not charge a commission to startups. As usual, we will share the full DD Report via our Co-investment Call to all investing readers.

David has self-selected his angelic moniker with his very personal endorsement of FormusLabs. «Like it – am something of an expert in knees and hips as all 4 have been “done” to some degree! (the bionic man). So – although it is no doubt speculative – I have a vested interest for this to work!»

Angel investors are not just about making spectacular returns, often they just want to see great stuff happen.

Steffen Schaefer now lives closer to Munich's Hofbrauhaus than most. He got a taste of FKA a few months before he left NZ. But that didn't stop him to work in with several DD Teams. He would like to formally join as a Flying Kiwi and has talked to Phil, Rudi and Uli. All feel there is a mutually good fit.

Okay, yet another German but seriously, if you know of any reasons why Steffen should not join now is the time to speak up. Please raise your concerns in confidence with our FKA Directors.

Hi Rudi, We would love to invite you and the FKA crew to our 6th birthday party on the 22nd of February Friday at our office. Please RSVP by 20 February to alyssa@kamiapp.com Best, Alliv ☞ details

After Kami's successful raise at the end of last year, this should be one party not to miss!

Ever wondered what the inner workings of the AANZ look like? The above shot was taken this week when Rudi attended two days of AANZ council meetings in Auckland. He was promptly given the hot potato of commissions. Thankfully, a potato that has cooled a little as increased syndication with funds and VCs has been highlighting the mismatch of charging practices. Funds and VCs charge fees to their investors and don't like subsidising angel groups that charge their fees to startups post-investment.

Rudi's announcement of his new role has generated a lively debate on LinkedIn that is for the most part supportive of AANZ's recommended policy shift. See for yourself and feel free to join the debate.

☞ Fee Freedom Fighter

If you want to see rapid AR/VR game development on the Magic Leap platform come and see the graduation projects of a one week course that is finishing today. Weta Workshop is working closely with Magic Leap which is valued at over US$4.5 billion. Mel from Geo AR Games says she is both drained and excited after this week. Today, 16:00 at The University of Auckland, pls register here.

One of John Houston's 100 angelic aphorisms.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#02

8/2/2019


	8 February 2019 #02

BoardPro is helping Kiwi company Boards go pro. Co-founders Brett and Kim are gaining traction and invite FKA portfolio companies to use BoardPro at a very special FKA rate. They also want to help FKAngels who work on other Boards.

☞ Just drop Brett an email at Brett@PoardProHub.com.

Garth is the fan among FKAngels with the wisest hair colour and he is using it at FileInvite and has introduced it to our FKA Board meetings.

Okay, we may sometimes talk a lot of sabrages or have wine related images but this is funny. «looking out for aspiring wine experts and wine lovers, we came across your page:www.fka.nz and it seems like you also cover wine-related topics. [...] if you're interested in collaborating with us and using our article on your site as an additional resource?»

Debra and team (Colin, Garth, James McGeorge [KPMG], Joe Harper [MIG], Owen Woodhouse [NZVIF], Todd Brackley, Pip Gilbert, Will Hewitt) have last night submitted their FormusLabs DD report to the investment vote of FKA's 34 Voting Angels. The team is very positive, more next week. ☞ See here the original pitch video.

Ralf and team (Alan, Steffen Schaefer, Steve C, and Steven M,) found much to like about Kademi but decided that the new business model needs more time to be proven and have stopped DD.

Uli and team (Allen Fan [Zino], Cornelius, Jesper, Molly [NZVIF], Steffen Schaefer, Victor Tsai [Zino]) had a good look at Geo AR Games. They could not verify the pipeline in China that would underpin the proposed business model. Geo AR Games has consequently recalibrated its China focus and DD was stopped.

A big thank you to all the above for getting stuck in with the DD work!

Ralf, a German was leading a colourful and geographically dispersed team: Pom Alan and Kiwi Stephen ex London, Kiwi Steve ex Auckland, German Steffen ex Munich.
Uli, yet another German was leading a team consisting of Chinese, German, Danish and Kiwi nationals from FKA ranks and our partners.
Steffen was common to both teams but is not the reason why both came to a halt.
Steffen is close on the heels of our multi-DD-doer Phil but should be ready to finally brave the Veto Gate into FKAngeldom.
Geo AR Team had an FKAngel in the founder team but that is no guarantee for a positive DD outcome.

We kicked off with ADI this week, on Monday in Wellington, on Tuesday in Whangarei and on Thursday in Auckland where we had a strong contingent of angelic mentors as the above picture attests.

Among other things, we had one startup in the Esports arena looking for advice on how to spend the remainder of their $900k ICO. Another one had an uncanny resemblance by name and looks to this internet troll of 2013.

Maybe ICOs and blockchain are a way to print money? See for yourselves and come along to the demo day of the Centrality Accelerator, Wed, 27 Feb, 17:30. Register via this FKA invite.

Preview the brief intros of the startups and be intrigued by the Japanese hit music video that is part of this playlist. Erick is a mentor and can tell you more about it.

Our sponsors can and will help us help Kiwi startups in many ways. For example, last week when Rudi was desperately looking for a venue for the AGM of Asleworx and Paul McPadden not only helped with a perfect room but also made time to welcome shareholders.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#04

22 February 2019 #04

Uli.Wiehle@fka.nz 021 703 060

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#03

15 February 2019 #03

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#02

8 February 2019 #02

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