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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#45

6/12/2019


	6 December 2019 #45

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#44

29/11/2019


	29 November 2019 #44

◆◆◆This issue posted from New Zealand soil again ◆◆◆

Following our November pitch night, here comes the pitch video from Koru Diagnostics. With a positive DD Vote, Joe will now assemble a DD Team. If you are interested, can help, please ping Joe.Harper@fka.nz.

Thank you, Joe. Thank you, MIG, for bringing your portfolio company to FKA for this round.

Here comes another pitch video from our November pitch night, this one is from Eight360. We will circulate the co-investment call when our champion Phil has assembled the full info pack which will include a light DD Report for this early-stage deal. Watch more wild action!

FKA is a labour of love and only possible with a division of labour amongst our Angels. The new fka.nz/roles page attempts to show who is taking care of what at the moment. GIF alert!

A big THANK YOU to all who have, are or will take on such roles from time to time to share the workload.

Champion Arron is compiling the info pack for an unusual Angel co-investment opportunity that is the Punch film project. Investor Rep and Moxion Chair Rudi will follow-up with more details on the Moxion Round.

With that, we had a very productive last pitch night in 2019. Thank you to everyone who has brought a deal to pitch night in 2019. There is a lot of upfront work involved and is just as much part of sharing the workload as are the above roles.

50 Angels Racing Jaguars! This means track racing the Jaguar i-Pace on Monday, 9 December. Put your name in the pot via the link above.

Note: You are herewith invited ❣️
No awkward Ellen DeGeneres/Dakota Johnson moments, please

Wayve is dedicated to accelerating autonomous mobility and has raised a US$20M Series A round. Co-founder Alex Kendall took his first entrepreneurial steps at Velocity.

This is why FKAngels help every year with judging and mentoring at the Velocity's $100k Challenge - a breeding ground for startup founders!

With all the excitement about the $300m Venture Captial Act, the increase of the annual SCIF budget from $8m to $12m has almost gone unnoticed. This is another bit of good news for Angel investors. Some industry insiders had expected a gradual withdrawal of crown support at the Angel stage with an increased focus on the VC stage.

Garth is our NZVIF Rep and makes sure that FKA and NZVIF will continue to work together closely on diligence to co-invest in great deals.

A bunch of the big wigs from the innovation ecosystem, including our Debra among others, caught up with Peter Bradd yesterday afternoon, watering by way of drinks thanks to NZTE's Simon Ansley. He kindly and efficiently summarised the takeaways from that session.

Having one voice for the NZ startup community to policymakers is key. This voice only needs to focus on 3-4 key high priority/mutually agreeable actions to lobby government, not try to get wide approval on too many issues (to hard considering the diverse interests at play). And this voice must include founders and/or ‘founder come funders’. The primary voices in NZ, AANZ and the emerging Startup Leadership Group, are both lacking in the latter and arguably may not be the best vehicle for this voice (just my opinion)…
Establishing communities, especially around key subsectors (e.g. fintech, creativetech, agritech, spacetech etc), is critical in fostering innovation and growth.
Involving corporates, not just superficially, is the next level.
The 100 (1, 9, 90) rule. It only takes one leader, nine key do’ers, and 90 supporters to influence and create change in any ecosystem! You just have to give it a crack.

A Dubai founder came up with this variant of the FKA logo and wants to see ADI.Clinic franchised in the UAE. Any takers?

Closer to home, in Nelson, Matthias Andermatt wants to run ADI for Nelson Angels from March 2020. That's GREAT!

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#43

22/11/2019


	22 November 2019 #43

Tuesday night was a great finale of the FKA Pitch Night series in 2019.

We had five great pitches, two are looking for FKA to lead the round and will go to the vote to confirm support for full DD. The three others will be circulated as a co-investment opportunity in due course.

Thank you, to our hosts at KPMG and everyone who came out to make this a great night.

A lead team of three with only one thing on their mind - hives. Hives that are full of bees. Hivemind.com gave a honey-sweet pitch on Tuesday. The DD Vote will get underway over the weekend.

In the meantime, watch the pitch!

The IMO governs how we invest at FKA and from time to time this document is updated to reflect our evolving best practice. Jai has been busy and inserted three appendices C-E on Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Policy and Confidentiality Policy.

Your feedback is very welcome! See the updated IMO ☞ here.

FKA is seed investing in cloud technology, UAE is cloud seeding with thunderous outcomes. Also, it is strange for an Aucklander to see people making a point of going for a walk in the rain.

Stephen Colbert promotes New Zealand and talks with Jacinda Ardern. Imagine Jaquie Brown interviewing Donald Trump!

See this funny interview ☞ here.

Don't take any chances to miss your chance to be part of 50 Angels Racing Jaguars! Monday, 9 December - match racing not bumper car racing!

Phil confirms $216,000 in total commitments for Spoke Phone proving that there is strong support from FKA for its portfolio companies and their follow-on rounds that fund ongoing growth.

The temporary FKA-Ampliphi offices in Dubai are on the 33rd floor and have a view from truly angelic heights, near the base of Burj Khalifa and above Dubai Mall, the world's biggest mall and locally the most popular place to meet.

An opportunity via NZTE to pick the brain of Peter Bradd over drinks on Thursday, 28 November, 16:30.

If you're interested ping Rudi.Bublitz@fka.nz

Peter's learnings from building a venture ecosystem in Australia are:
how to create a community | the importance of density and why we advocate for precincts | the importance of belonging and why fintech, healthtech, insurtech, spacetech/tech focus helps to create strong communities | leaders and feeders a concept from Brad Fields book Startup communities | the importance of angels and exits

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#42

15/11/2019


	15 November 2019 #42

Finally, here comes the video after 50 Angels Sailing. May it fuel massive FOMO for those who didn't attend. For those who did attend it will be a great reminder of how much fun we had.

Now, don't miss out on 50 Angels Racing Jaguars! Another match race in December, the last in the 50 Angels series for 2019.

Tuesday 19 November, 18:00 is our last Pitch Night in 2019. Hosted generously by KPMG, 18 Viaduct Harbour Ave, Wynyard Quarter, AKL.

Guests by invitation from our Angels or sponsors KPMG, LoJo and Potentia are always very welcome.

Terry is one of the founders who are pitching next Tuesday. He first came to ADI Wellington with Eight360 in April 2018. David Akers from Angel HQ, Ian and Phil have been working with him ever since.

Great to see Terry win the engineering award and progress to pitch.

Rhys is another founder who will pitch next Tuesday. Koru is already pre-loved by our friends at MIG Angels from an earlier round. Joe Harper the champion for Koru.

James at KPMG is working through the red tape so they can bring a real cow for a practical demo to the townie Angels in Auckland.

Brothers Berwyn and Bryan are passionate about bees and will present Hivemind. Garth is their champion.

Welby Ings is disobedient, a prof at AUT and has made films such as Boy, Munted and Sparrow. Now, Arron, also a disobedient thinker, wants to help him fund the next film project Punch. This will be a more unusual presentation next Tuesday.

FKA dig films and are fervent supporters of Moxion. CEO Hugh is in Hollywood and a big studio deal means they are looking for money to ready themselves for a significant uptick in business. COO Nigel will pitch. Rudi is the Investor Rep.

Just like every 007 mission is secret until it's done, so is this one. However, trust that Rudi and Hattaf will report back in December, in good time to help tame the jaguars.

Two of our Angels Tim and Josh have gone off to build Ambit, all about chatbots. They have a great office in the Auckland CBD and want to share some of it. ☞ more here.

Fun fact: This weekend one of our Angels will be participating in the Round North Head Classic swim, in the 'freedom class'. A Naked Angel!

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#41

8/11/2019


	8 November 2019 #41

We'll have to start half an hour earlier at 18:00 for our November pitch night because it looks like we'll have 6 pitches. Tim Warren will be the MC to make sure we stay on time. Thank you, Andy Harwood, Arron Patterson, Joe Harper, Ralf Wittgen, Rudi Bublitz and Phil Southward!

✐ Please pencil Tuesday 19 November, 18:00 for the last pitches in 2019.

NZ Entrepreneur Magazine reported already in July that Blackbird Ventures was sending two of their very best to NZ. Sam and Tip have since run their great Sunrise event that was well received by founders, investors and other ecosystem stakeholders.

The new Blackbird offices in New Zealand send a strong message to bootstrapping startup founders and Angels across the country. Needless to say that Blackbird will not be charging founders any fees. They will, of course, like any other VC charge investors.

Welcome, Sam and Tip! One diurnal bird, one nocturnal bird. Perfect!

Rob Vickery has virtually parachuted into NZ with Hillferance Ventures, aptly named after the parish in the Wellington district of the UK and a secret Harry Potter place - Vulture Claws or VC for short. Jai and Rudi attended the launch event on Guy Fawkes night.

Rudi says humorously "Rob preys with great success on minorities that most others ignore. His US portfolio is 50% coloured i.e. from migrants and has 30% female founders. But hear it from the horse's mouth."

Unwrapping the party favour late at night Rudi wondered if it was a beggar's cup to help with fundraising or simply a teacup.

Welcome, Rob & Co in Aotearoa, let's do some great stuff!

Simmonds Stewart has been sharing legal templates since forever. Now they are offering fixed fees for common startup services.

See for yourself here

See the highlights reel from the 2019 Angel Showcase, the biggest spectacle in the Angel calendar for kotahi mano tangata.

Support our Angel Jackie in her role as CEO of the ecentre and come along for drinks on Wednesday, 27 November, from 5:00pm at Freeman & Grey in Ponsonby. She is celebrating the end of the year and the wrap up of the 2019 Sprint Global founders' programme. RSVP

That was the Propaganda Jacket at the NZ Hi-Tech Awards Gala night 2019. Get in the spirit for 2020 and grab one of the last places for the launch events in Auckland and Wellington, 27 November and 3 December respectively. Register for AKL or WLG!

SOSV ranks among the top four global accelerators and VC funds by a number of metrics. Isabel, our Angel in Munich, has attended their Deep Tech Trends 2019 and is shareing this report.

PDF VIDEO

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#40

1/11/2019


	1 November 2019 #40

Our last pitch night in 2019 will be 19 November. It will be a busy night!

We're grateful to our sponsors KPMG for hosting all of the FKA Pitch Nights in 2019, except for two that were hosted by LoJo, and Potentia with NZTE. However, Halloween calls for a special thank-you to James McGeorge of KPMG who saves us every time the lights go off at 20:11.

18 YES-votes from 23 votes cast or 78% gives the green light for FreightHub to proceed to DD with Phil.Southward@fka.nz as the lead.

Here is the pitch video from Freighthub again. Ping Phil if you can help with DD! You can learn lots from him. He is a member of more Angel groups and has done more DD than most.

Let's welcome new Angel Glen.Harris@fka.nz to the FKA family. He sailed through the Veto Gate without hiccups. That makes at least two 'harmonious' Angels, David Flack is Chair of Harmoney and Glen made the Harmony Remote.

You know you've arrived in Hollywood when you make it into The Hollywood Reporter.

See this piece on Moxion - FKA's portfolio company №10.

You know FileInvite №14 has arrived for talks with Google Ventures when you receive this mugshot of IR Garth and CEO James from their recent MBIE/AANZ trip to Silicon Valley.

AirTree has just raised $275m for its 3rd Fund to continue backing game-changing Aussie and Kiwi founders for first rounds, multiple rounds! Follow this link for the full newsletter.

Note how they also back Canva whose CEO, Mel Perkins was a keynote speaker at BlackBird's Sunrise event last Friday. BlackBird led the $15M Series B round in 2016. Mel shares the embarrassing first pitch deck here.

Aussie funds syndicate, something some Kiwi funds have yet to learn.

Come along on Wednesday, 27 November, from 5:00pm at Freeman & Grey in Ponsonby, to celebrate the end of the year and wrap up the 2019 Sprint Global founders' programme.

RSVP to have a drink with Jackie & Co

Last Friday Blackbird Ventures called for their launch event Sunrise. It was an awesome and inspiring day for founders and investors alike. Anybody who attended would agree that Blackbird has arrived in the NZ VC market with a strong commitment to the local ecosystem.

WELCOME!

This month In Hamilton Soda Inc had its CO.STARTERS celebration night, see their newsletter. Julian is our Angel with two wings and he is also a member of two groups, EA and FKA. Until now Josh held the title of Chief Photobomber at FKA, however, he may have to concede this title to Julian.

Seriously though, Julian is a busy and much-appreciated mentor and also responsible for ADI Hamilton.

Sharon from Love My New Zealand has brought us 50 Angels Sailing - an awesome day on the water. Little surprise that she has now picked up a coveted award from LUXlife, the bimonthly luxury lifestyle magazine that offers a glimpse into the world of the glamorous.

Complacency is threatened by disruption - everywhere!
New Zealand is a nation of migrants and so is FKA a group made up of Angels that have flown in from around the globe. No surprise that not all of them comprehend rugby. The apt mock explanation from earlier this month is no longer entirely apt. As with startups, a fail provides great learning for the next win!

When the Chief Cat Herder advised FreightHub and Phil last night that they had reached enough support to go to DD he did so via the "YES - Borat" image and added, "Ever wondered what Phil could look like with curly hair, a moustache and sunnies?".

The prompt pictorial proof from Phil made it in good time for the copy deadline of today's issue. Of course, hairpieces will not be compulsory for anyone joining the FreighHub DD. Phil is way more professional than his hair colour of yesteryear might suggest.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#39

25/10/2019


	25 October 2019 #39

AmCham brings you a networking breakfast with NASA astronaut Anna Fisher. 7:15ᴀᴍ, 1st November, AUT, 55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland 1010 ◇ Conference Centre, Room WA224. BIO ◇ VIDEO ◇ REGISTER

Here now, as promised, is the pitch video from Freighthub coming at a lean 6:56 minutes. Voting to decide if FKA will proceed to DD is underway. Not enough votes have come in yet but there is strong support so far and Phil, who is the champion, will most likely have to spend well more than 6.56 minutes to lead DD.

Glen has talked with David F, Paul and Rudi. Everyone feels that he would fit in well and bring a lot of relevant experience. Despite the talks and having clocked up a few ADI.Clinics, Glen is still keen to get more involved.

So far so good, but as know, if you know of any skeletons in Glen's closet that might speak against his joining, then you should tell the FKA Board in confidence. ☞ REPORT A SKELETON HERE

BTW, he is a harmonious techie and would love to meet all FKA techies.

Fresh from the Red Skull Awards, the GM of LevelTwo and U35 founding member, Imche Fourie, is joining the FKA Board as a regular observer. This is one of the ways in which we're making sure that there is a healthy two-way flow of ideas, opinions and knowledge between FKA.nz and U35.nz!

She would also be a better spokesperson by far. TED Talk ◇ CI Talk

Will McKay and Brad Skelton with their Green Mussel Tech took first prize at the Velocity $100k Awards this week. Many other great finalists!

Among the judges and mentors Imche, Debra and Hengjie from Kami.

A 54h marathon for aspiring founders! It used to be 54h of gruelling yet rewarding mentoring. However, Pauli and the organisers for this event have come with a more mentor friendly model. Give only 4h and be in to support a great event that will build grass-root capacity over the 4th weekend in November. ☞ HELP HERE

Glen from KiwiNet will from time to time flick us his Pipeline Post which is full of interesting IP projects that could lead to the next StretchSense №01, Hot Lime Labs №13 or FormusLabs №15.

Wanna find out more? Glen@KiwiNet.org.nz is happy to connect you

Did you know that FKA's one and only Debra is now the Chair of the KiwiNet investment committee? Of course, she is also our investor rep and the Chair of FormusLabs. Her Twitter handle is @RugbyMother for more reasons than one!