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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#11

24/4/2020


	24 April 2020 #11

Various rounds are still open. Hivemind and Chnnl co-investment calls have gone out this week. Vesper and FormusLabs about to close.

At the moment Angels rather support existing portfolio companies than new ideas. That makes it tough for founders who are looking for their first seed round, tough but not impossible as Hivemind and Chnnl show.

You can be forgiven for mistaken Whanganui for Whangarei. But make no mistake, Flying Kiwi Angels are no lockdown loonies! Both Lawrence and Martin, our Angels guarding the Far North have swapped kid gloves for rubber gloves to keep Whangarei safe.

Disrespect for Dr Rudi's beer! Straight after Chnnl DD Andy has channelled all his energy into setting up a mailorder business for the oenophile. Strange thing to do under COVID-19, strange thing to do for a teetotaller but so is Andy, a Flying Kiwi Angel, flying against all odds.

Andy is no scrounger and cuts his margin to give all readers a rocking 10% discount until 12 May, just use FKArocks at the checkout! His wife Lizzie produced this COVID-19 track which is why there will be a little delay with the TWL jingle.

□□□ TheWineList.co.nz

This press release about new staff hires was fronted by the NZGCP Chair in a Smile Offensive this Wednesday, only to be followed by a somewhat disturbing news article about staff issues the following day.

But success lies beyond the stereotypes that are often formed without reference to hard data. Do you want hard facts? Then read this!

Garth says, till 30 June 2020 there are free services for eligible businesses under the Management Capability Development Voucher Fund. Financial savvy for startups? Check if this is something for you!

The Economist reports. In New York internet usage in Manhattan’s commercial core is down by around 30%. Conversely, usage in parts of gentrifying Greenpoint and Long Island City is up by over 60%. London displays a similar pattern, with steep drops in the city centre offset by heavier use in peripheral areas.

The Economist reports on COVID-19 impacts. Surprisingly, traffic to gambling and pornography sites is flat. Visits to business and learning sites have risen the most, followed by games, e-commerce and streaming. The only category that has seen a decline is one incompatible with social distancing: online dating.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#10

17/4/2020


	17 April 2020 #10

COVID times are busy times. Angels are called to help startups!
See here what's new this week.

Hivemind, positive investment vote, co-investment call going out.

Chnnl, investment vote underway, co-investment call going out.

FormusLabs, extra commitments, slackers chased for funds.

Moxion, round extended due to COVID-19, took extra commitments.

Kara, modified terms, co-investment call will be recirculated.

Vesper Marine, rights issue extended to FKA Nominees investors.

We had four founders at ADI Auckland this week.
Including companies skybase.aero and gigexchange.com

Ambit AI, FKA Angel and CEO Tim@ambit-ai.com can provide more details for current round, several FKA Angels invested in earlier rounds.

New app connects doctors and patients across 'bubbles'

Angels can meet startups anywhere! Not two months ago, Rudi caught up with Frayne Cooke from Well Revolution. And boom, their product is ready just in time for COVID-19.

Hands-On Flying Kiwi David

"G.E.M = Get Ecommerce Movement = help Kiwi SME’s achieve rapid digital transformation = starting with an initial batch of 500 free eCommerce sites."

David's LinkedIn post & Zeald’s major pivot

Jenny is a different kind of Angel. She is asking "What Next?", asking for help from Flying Kiwi Angels to put together this book with personal stories about facing adverse events in business. Nice one, Jenny!

Free access for a month to the awesome Udacity learning platform. Lots of Angel relevant course from great brains in the field. C'mon do your Angel MBA in super-fast time during lockdown!

Corona kills people and so does unhealthy fast food. Now COVID-19 tips Burger King into receivership. What is the balance of evil?

Strong IP is good for startups and investors!

Bilaminar Membrane - A smart bilaminar membrane for guided bone regeneration as a next-generation barrier membrane device. Funding to Date: Up to $40K
Self-fixing sling - Self-fixing minimally invasive non-mesh sling for stress urinary incontinence. Funding to Date: Up to $40K
Space Commercialisation with High Temperature Superconductors - Applications of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology for satellites and space shuttles. Funding to Date: Up to $40K

Angels don't always speak with an angelic tongue. Helping one of our portfolio companies to cut to the chase with an email, this was the appreciative response "Rudi is our secret Panzerkampfwagen that ve roll into battle ven zey least expect it…"

Chris, Martin, Ralf M, Ralf W, Steffen and Uli too have retained their German candour. Isabel her Spanish spunk!

Interesting, not what you expect! Watch the video or read about it.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#09

10/4/2020


	10 April 2020 #09

Alternative cover image. Happy Easter Everyone

We have a positive recommendation from the DD team! A great team effort, in super quick time, just in time for Easter under the co-leadership of Caroline Quay from Cure Kids Ventures and Andy from FKA.

Before we will circulate this co-investment opportunity you might like to refresh your memory of what Dr Elisabeth Berryman is setting out to do.

Pitch Video or Seven Sharp TV 31 March 2020

Garth and team have also completed the positive DD Report for Hivemind. "Honey, honey for Easter!" We will circulate this co-investment opportunity but see the pitch video first.

FormusLabs joined the FKA portfolio in February 2019. Going strong, not just chipping away at it, they have just closed a $500k convertible note round. Existing shareholders have chipped in and given up preemptive rights to bring in a well-connected US lead investor.

The FKA portfolio is pretty healthy given the COVID-19 Startup-Killer-Threat. With chnnl & Formus it has even some real health focus.

For a sense of how COVID-19 is affecting the world’s tech “unicorns” consider two of them. Lime, valued at $2.4bn, has halted its services in Europe and America. DoorDash, a $13bn food-delivery company, has suddenly found itself useful to a self-isolating society as a whole, not just couch potatoes; deliveries have surged. Read on!

Tim from Ambit is ambitious! Of course, he is a Flying Kiwi but also a chatbot boffin. He says "Building a chatbot with New Zealand's Nigel Latta was awesome but building a chatbot with international superstar Lady Gaga has taken our ambitions at Ambit to another level!"

WeWork's rapid fall from grace might drag down Meetup too. Hence Meetup is splitting again from WeWork. Read more.

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, a passionate supporter of WeWork, now predicts that 15 of the companies in its $100 billion Vision Fund will go bankrupt. Read more.

Women behave no differently from men at work yet they get different results. This is an interesting study involving 'comms sensors'. Read it!

This 'Peace on Earth' message reached Kiwi Angel groups just before Easter. Whilst Angels love confident founders this is something else.

Read it to believe it!

RudisBeer.co.nz was the most clicked-through link by far in last week's edition. We hope everyone has now stocked up with beer, chocolate and whatever else for this Easter Weekend. ENJOY!

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#08

3/4/2020


	3 April 2020 #08

Eric Idle singing... hear it again here!

There has been a lot of doom and gloom recently but there is also light in the tunnel. The flashlight is on James Sampson and the team at FileInvite - they have been nominated as finalists in the Hi-Tech Start-Up Company of the Year category for the NZ Hi-Tech Awards.

FileInvite is following in the footsteps of other companies in FKA's portfolio such as StretchSense, Kami and Moxion. Awesome, James & Garth!

Make no mistake, even high flying Angels are not safe from the virus. Thankfully, the individual has made a full recovery and there has been no exposure to fellow Angels. Such cases, close to home, make the lockdown regime so much more pertinent. STAY SAFE!

Kami provides a paperless, digital classroom and has demand for its product skyrocket. Another example in the #makeFKAproud series. This recent clip has propelled Kami exec Chair Bob Drummond to Kiwi TV fame. Go, Kami! Go, Bob!

In the meantime, Garth is compiling a runway matrix of FKA's portfolio companies with the help of investor reps. COVID-19 brings good and bad across the portfolio. Also, Chnnl DD has picked up pace as the current environment is driving demand. Andy is leading this.

Several Angels and founders attended the Corum webinar two weeks ago. Some great insights, worth checking this one out - 10 April!

Who gagged Suse? Chintaka or Phil, who has the biggest smile? Can Richard actually smile? Find out more about how the NZ ecosystem is teaming up to help its startups.

The year was 1979, the song was My Sharona by The Knack. Chris Mann has recorded this topical cover for everyone that loves 70ies music.

Rob already in jandals! British-born and soon to be New Zealand-based venture capitalist Rob Vickery has gone ahead with setting up a new venture capital fund in this county despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vickery, who was a co-founder of Los Angeles-based Stage Venture Partners, has had the first close of what he hopes will be a $35m-$40m venture capital fund, after securing two anchor limited partners in the US. He won’t reveal who they are publicly but one is an experienced Silicon Valley tech investor. Hear or read the full NBR interview!

Peter Wren-Hilton shines a bright light on Kiwi AgriTech. ‍

We always say niche is good! So why not have a niche startup challenge? Check out the details of this PG Challenge!

Mr Son may extricate [Softbank] from a deal it struck to hand $3bn to WeWork’s early shareholders including Adam Neumann, its founder. [...] WeWork shareholders who could lose out call this “completely unethical”.

More at The Economist Espresso

"The psychology of venture capital doesn’t work the way most people think. That’s because it is an industry based on failure: most startups — the vast majority — fail. That means most VC investment decisions are wrong." Best read the article!

OMG! We had so many enquiries where to source Rudi's Lager. Rudi can make truck deliveries if you order via RudisBeer.co.nz or consume it straight on-premise at Dr Rudi's when the lockdown lifts.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#11

24 April 2020 #11