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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#21

3/7/2020


	3 July 2020 #21

Haha, when we reported last week that Kami, FKA's #02 portfolio company is hiring we understated their user numbers. 10M+ not nine!

Jonathan Curtis has been a regular at ADI.Clinic since forever. He loves his boats old, and his companies young! Both require a lot of money and patience. Doesn't seem smart but Jonathan has plenty of smarts.

He has talked with Andy, Glen and Rudi about angelic matters and all feel there is a good mutual fit. That is unless anyone knows reasons to put Jonathan on the plank rather than let him join FKA. Please raise any concerns in confidence with the FKA Board.

The Meg is now on Netflix. It was Moxion's first blockbuster gig four years ago that put FKA's #10 portfolio company on the international stage. Hugh and Co are passionate about making better films. Better workflows in feature film production make for better outcomes!

Not often that we find a song that fits with the signing of the investment docs for a new portfolio company (#22). Chatterize makes an exception!

"I dunno..." may or may not be appropriate chatter in the app?

FKA's #05 portfolio company, Datagate flattens the learning curve of the billing cycle of MSPs. A managed services provider is most often an IT services provider that manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to its clients or as the MSP (not the client) determines that services are needed. More on MSPs...

Over the last three decades, the FAMGA tech giants — Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple — have collectively made 770 acquisitions. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, some have continued to write checks, with Apple being the most active acquirer in 2020.

More on Tech Giants’ Billion-Dollar Acquisitions

Since 2015 Arlan's Backstage fund has raised US$10M+ and invested in 130+ startups led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio to launch four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. Register!

Another poster boy at KPMG this week, Ian Proudfoot reporting on the state of AgriTech. Millennials are interested in the NZ opportunities from plant-based protein. They prioritise recruiting, developing, and retaining talent – an emphasis shared by women in agribusiness.

They share an openness to gene technology, including gene editing with baby boomers, unlike the generation X that is sandwiched between both.

NBR article or get Ian's full report

The best Angels rise for sure but do we have early risers? For this HBR webinar on "How to Use Customer Data to Actually Help Customers" you don't need to pay a cent but you need to get your proverbial out of bed at 4ᴀᴍ in the morning. Register here!

New staff at NZGCP also includes a Marketing Manager who asked to correct last week's quoted wording of the AANZ press release regarding NZGCP. So here is the official NZGCP press release.

But then Rudi only added "or lead deals" from what he picked up in the "Welcome the Aspire crew" Zoom call last week. "It is not our immediate intention to lead but we have the authority."

Rudi asked for a copy of the MBIE mandate and we will advise if he needs a hearing aid or not as soon as we can cross-reference the mandate.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#20

26/6/2020


	26 June 2020 #20

In our strategy review, we decided to go earlier. Andy, Glen, Jai and Phil are doing exactly that and make Chatterize our #22 portfolio company.

Welcome Lane, Bel and Miles!

StretchSense Kami Aisleworx Fuel50 Datagate DebtorDaddy Techion iDefigo Uproar Moxion NexTransfer Wherewolf Hot Lime Labs FileInvite Spoke Phone Vesper Marine FormusLabs Narrative Muse Hivemind Chnnl Eight360

Kami is FKA's #02 portfolio company with over nine million users and hiring. Hengji, Jordan and Alliv have built a digital classroom platform that has become even more relevant with the Covid19 regime. Go, team!

David is our investor rep for Kami and now US-based.

AANZ announces changes at NZGCP.

Annual investment cap up from $12m to $20m,
Maximum investment per company up from $1.5m to $2.5m,
1:1 matching for government to private capital now up at 2:1,
Aspire forthwith free to co-lead or lead deals.

LOL! Christoph Janz brought you Five Ways to Build a $100M Business last week. This week he talks about raising in a pandemic in this video!

James is our new poster boy for ADI on the ADI.Clinic/KPMG landing page. He clocked up 33+ likes and numerous comments on LinkedIn with this fabulous picture. But will Alex beat him?

Philippe of TAO Performance drove down all the way from Pahia for his ADI session yesterday. He left satisfied with the advice and connections from 7 mentors in the room and a further 4 online. AWESOME!

KONEI is Aotearoa’s Marketplace for Aotearoa’s brands, it’s like an online Kmart BUT exclusively features and sells Aotearoa brands.

This LinkedIn post gives more on who is behind it.

Lawrence is crazy about kite surfing, not as crazy as Richard Bransonbut then others say nobody is crazier than Lawrence. He teamed up with Liquid Force. Great gear and more! Could be another 50 Angels event?

Hit him up for a deal or become a kiteboarding ambassador!

You can still register to watch! Real VCs giving real reactions in this live Zoom session - not made for television, not for entertainment!

No BS from Marvin Liao and the other investors on this panel. Remember Marvin's candid talk with Rudi last year?

The top earner in 2019 in Germany is not from SAP, Siemens, Deutsche Bank or Bayer. It is Oliver Steil [steil = steep] from Teamviewer, makers of remote desktop software and recently listed on the new SME exchange. His salary is €41.3m (NZ$75.3).

Read the full article in the language of economic power. Good to know that FKA has more German Angels than most.

NBR extract 2 June 2020. Lesson 3. Allocations in capital raisings are becoming more transparent. In sharemarkets, one of the most mysterious places is the broker’s ‘bookbuild’ room. This is the place where investment bankers, alongside the companies issuing the new shares, decide who gets what.

You might imagine that this is an orderly procedure, but the stakes can be very high and the feedback is that it is more like a scene of chaos where wild promises of lavish future commissions and clients’ loyalties swirl and pitch through the wee small hours. Investors will beg, plead, and demand, sometimes all three in one phone call, to be ‘looked after’ and receive a good allocation from the ‘bookbuild’ room.

Even after the fact, it can be very unclear what percentage allocation is a good or bad one. Now, however, the world appears to have changed. Stock exchanges are now demanding that allocations will, in the first instance, be determined by how many shares investors own of the company when the capital raising is announced. A pro-rata approach is transparent and sensible and how it should always have been, it is just not as interesting a process.

Note: For startups in New Zealand the pro-rata principle is generally standard for all follow-on rounds. It can make it hard to bring in new investors to widen the shareholder base but does reward the bravery of the earlier investors who were willing to shoulder much more of the early stage risk.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#19

19/6/2020


	19 June 2020 #19

Wednesday was our first post-Covid19 pitch night and dinner. 2 great pitches at KPMG and afterwards, 19 peeps feeding at Cassia.

Consensus was - let's do that again!

Pitch #1. Ben from StretchSense showed off his finger dexterity and the mocap glove that is proving a hit with film and game makers. Heath and Rudi will provide more info on this co-investment opportunity.

Pitch #2. Paul Adams from Everidge shared his insights on managing intangible assets which are highly relevant to startups and investors. Garth and Jai will follow up with Paul and his team to make sure that FKA doesn't miss a trick.

This here is Paul's deck but you best hear it from the horse's mouth to really bring the case studies to life!

Moxion has closed the round last week and then closed a deal with Sohonet this week. The team is on a 'camera' roll

70% of Dubai companies expect to go out of business within six months due to coronavirus pandemic, survey says. Don't think it's over yet!

Dubai, which has one of the most diversified and non-oil dependent economies in the Gulf, relies on sectors like hospitality, tourism, entertainment, logistics, property and retail. Read more! Hattaf in tears!

Greg Sitters and Debra are doing it again. A free virtual workshop for startup founders! Their Governance workshop is normally run for investors and aspiring directors but they have adapted it for founders to give them the tools they need to understand what boards do or rather should do.

Send your fav founders! Register here.

Yesterday at ADI Auckland we caught up with Tim who has teamed up with Adriano and the guys at Luk Tech who have been to ADI before. Interesting stuff! 50+ restaurants already, great discussion about business model and scaling.

ADI mentors have more fun! Be there for the next instalment.

City of Berlin to buy a stake in Covid-19 vaccine player CureVac! €300m investment round. Trump has appetite but Angela wont have it. Rudi's old SAP boss owns 80%. Read more!

Oh my! OIO Changes! All - not just over $100m - overseas investments that result in more than 25% overseas ownership of a Kiwi business must be notified to the Overseas Investment Office or if it increases an existing holding.

Transactions will be assessed to ensure they are in NZ’s best interest. These Covid19 induced measures will be reviewed every 90 days.

How the "Father of Venture Capital" returned >500x on $70k. Georges Doriot is widely considered as the first VC. In 1967 he backed Ken Olson and Digital Equipment Corporation. More here.

LOL! The Factory team helps you build a startup in 30 mins or less. We give startups 20 mins advice and the hard facts at ADI.Clinic.

An interesting look at how the build a $100M business.

Brief Article

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#18

12/6/2020


	12 June 2020 #18

Next Wednesday is our first pitch night since lockdown. Wednesday, not Tuesday, 18:00 start, not 18:30. But as usual at KPMG!

Ben from StretchSense pitching, Paul from EverEdge presenting, time permitting Brian from NexTransfer or Doug from Aisleworx updating.

Then at 20:00, we want to celebrate and let our hair down after lockdown. Private dining at Cassia for 20, $70 set menu. Register NOW!

Moxion has just taken (with immense gratitude) $1.4M from investors, $600k+ from FKA, to be ready for the Hollywood restart. Smart, perfect timing given today's latest news bulletin.

Lights, camera, infection! Hollywood unlocks - Film and TV studios in Los Angeles county will get the green light to start shooting again today. [...] Trickiest of all is the acting itself. How do you film a socially distanced love scene? ...

So, our own Nawaz is actually behind The Inquisitive VC. So cool! Not that long ago he was still an eager FKApprenctice. GO, Nawaz!

HSP - a new acronym in the Kiwi startup ecosystem. Rob Vickery's boy is still in nappies but Rob is already recruiting young Kiwis to scout deals for him. Essentially, he divvies up $1M to scouts to invest in startups they surface. Then they split the proceeds 50/50. Cool idea!

If you want to hear it from the Jason Statham voice without the look listen to NewstalkZB. Why not be a scout? Apply here!

Funny! In the world of psychology, HSP stands for quite the opposite of what VC stands for in the world of investing.

Fifteen years after Eric Baker was fired from StubHub, the ticketing giant he cofounded, he bought it back for $4 billion — weeks before coronavirus utterly wrecked the business. Revenge isn’t always sweet. Read it!

Jackie has felt more isolated during lockdown than many others. Her email Jackie.Young@fka.nz was misconfigured and she didn't get any mail.

Cheer her up and send her an email!

Kiwi farmers going online! 13-26 July 2020. FieldaysOnline.co.nz

Farmers also bring us ManureTech □

Christoph Janz, Point Nine Capital says, "Given that we have a global pandemic and are likely heading into the deepest recession since World War II, it’s obviously not a great time to fundraise. At the same time, tech companies are better off than any other industry, and, to answer the question posed in the headline, VCs are still investing!"

➤ The state of fundraising in the spring of 2020, in 12 simple charts.

➤ Fundraising During a Pandemic, in 1 simple video

Check out Equity on Netflix! A senior investment banker must fight for her survival when scandal swirls around her handling of a tech company's high-profile IPO. Three strong female leads! Watch the trailer.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#17

5/6/2020


	5 June 2020 #17

Aisleworx has weathered the Covid19 storm well, like supermarkets it suffered no significant loss in revenue. However, Doug the CEO says that the suspension of new cart installations has jinxed projected growth. But he is optimistic about the road ahead. The convertible note has raised US$500+ and without production costs retained earnings have built. From a new HQ in Dallas, he is ready to resume the roll-out of carts as US stores relax their Covid19 regime.

Silicon Valley Squares is Marvin Liao and other Valley VC bigwigs pitch coaching. Founders use it! Angels watch it!

Register to watch or pitch - Saturdays 10am

This foreign language comment against a great Mashable post on Eight360 raised some initial concerns. Thankfully it turned out to be totally harmless. Phew!

Exᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ VR Lɪᴋᴇ Yᴏᴜ Hᴀᴠᴇ Nᴇᴠᴇʀ Fᴇʟᴛ Bᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ. Great slogan but is it grammatically correct? Your German writer is a little unsure.

Napster founders had the right vision but timed it wrong. Mini-vid

We sent 87 emails to recent ADI attendees about the Startmate accelerator. It was much appreciated by founders gauging by the appreciative email responses. Dermot Butterfield of Wych.it even felt compelled to make a LinkedIn post.

Above the team from our partners Potentia. The team kept bubbling during the Covid19 bubble time with the help of bubbles. Julian is a regular at ADI.Clinic. Amazing what connections these recruiters have!

Rudi and Hattaf caught up with Tarek Salam in the UAE last year. This year sees the launch of the Sharjah Advanced Industry Accelerator. This could be a great opportunity for your startup (growth/scale-up)?

Check it out!

Interesting 2020 benchmarking report of startup ecosystems around the globe. Ralph Shale has stimulated some local debate on LinkedIn.

This report looks at 13 small advanced economies to illustrate the role played by exporting firms and the types of government policies that could help these firms improve their performance.

Michael Murphy, half Angel, half Callaghan Innovation has stimulated some discussion on Linkedin.

Gotta love Robett! He's done with half the year when others have barely started June. He did a pirate podcast with Campbell (arrives late), Rudi, Tim G & KPMG back in 2017.

From Robett's Ramble. □ Brad Olsen, economist □ Les Morgan, hotelier □ Peri Drysdale, founder □ Karna Luke, banker

"We only receive fees agreed to by clients, so they can be confident that we act only in their best interests."

"We do not manufacture investment products, our advisers are not incentivised to sell particular products or trade on clients' portfolios, which can create conflicts of interest."

Full article in the Herald or NBR (paywall).

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#16

29/5/2020


	29 May 2020 #16

Phil is bringing the Eight360 round to a close, Rudi - Moxion & Vesper, Cornelius - Chnnl. Oops, it's actually five, Debra is closing FormusLabs.

Garth has been checking off the incoming funds but nonetheless, Phil, Rudi, Cornelius and Debra will still be busy. Great results!

Greek methodology abounds! Ben from Phoenix company StretchSense suggested FKA look at Chiron. Ben has crossed path with Tim over the years and rates the company. Chiron are mostly in AUS but would love to bolster their Kiwi investor base. Interested? A champion? Ping Rudi!

AANZ training courses are clearly worth attending according to Martin's unsolicited glowing endorsement.

Be warned any innocent email to The CCH may be turned into fodder for the newsletter

Mike is half FKA Angel, half NZTE and brings this Investment Showcase to your attention. Via Zoom it will be like a live Netflix to curl up to on the sofa. MAI is the new Southland group that has picked an ambitious name.

Thu, 4 June, 16:00+ Register here!

Mai Tai must be the cocktail of choice for this new gaggle of Angels?

Pre-revenue Kiwi startups with empty pockets may still qualify for Covid19 wage subsidy. First cut-off date 9 June

Thanks, Laura Reitel for summarising the factshere

KiwiNet is all about helping to commercialise smart Kiwi IP and they are looking for Angels to help the smart founders. Check out Glen's list of what's in the pipeline. Talk to Glen or Debra to find out more or to help.

This Covid19 NBR article touches on NZ Growth Capital Partners.

Its Aspire Seed Capital Fund (formerly SCIF) has $12m a year to invest directly in startups and Dellabarca said it was doing all it could to support those in its portfolio.

However, Rudi has witnessed NZGCP not supporting a round that has $1.3M of support from all other shareholders including Angel groups, FKA, AIM, Angel HQ and EA. The company is not on life support but rather gearing up to take advantage of post-Covid19 opportunities - is in an industry that has received a $140m Government boost in the budget.

Since Hattaf and Rudi visited the UAE last year they are more plugged into the Mena ecosystem. Here a good book for anybody interested in leveraging the rich markets of the Middle East.

Go figure! These global family office investment summits will bring together family offices that control $4.5T (trillion!) of investments.

We had one investor from that region checking out Eight360.

FKA stands for far reach! Ka taea e te kāmera te rere?

Our reader James Wesley reckons this is an interesting but lengthy pandemic analysis from Goldman Sachs. Definitely worth a skim!

<<Previous

3 July 2020 #21

NBR article or get Ian's full report

26 June 2020 #20

19 June 2020 #19

Consensus was - let's do that again!

12 June 2020 #18

Cheer her up and send her an email!

5 June 2020 #17

Register to watch or pitch - Saturdays 10am

Full article in the Herald or NBR (paywall).

29 May 2020 #16

Thu, 4 June, 16:00+ Register here!

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