Icehouse Ventures is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-based

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

firm. The firm is headquartered in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and mainly focuses on the technology industry and has backed 200 companies. The firm also operates a variety of

angel groups An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownersh ...

networks such as Ice Angels and Arc Angels. Icehouse Ventures was formally founded in 2019 as a separate company but had operated as part of the

Icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...

group since 2001. In 2019, the founding CEO of the Icehouse stepped down as CEO and joined the board of directors of Icehouse Ventures. Icehouse Ventures receives funding from government agency

Callaghan Innovation Callaghan Innovation, a Crown entity of New Zealand, has the task of making New Zealand business more innovative. It was established in February 2013 and Industrial Research Limited, a Crown Research Institute, was merged into it. The institute t ...

to provide a founder incubator service to the founders of new startup businesses in New Zealand.

History

The

was founded in 2001 with a mandate to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in New Zealand. The organisation was a joint venture between Auckland University and private sector partners. To also support innovation and entrepreneurship by connecting existing

SME SME may refer to: Economics * Small and medium-sized enterprises * Socialist market economy, an economic system of China Organizations Music * SME Limited, UK audio turntable manufacturer * Sony Music Entertainment, US * Spontaneous Music Ensembl ...

businesses with new startups the group also added a

coworking Coworking is an arrangement in which workers for different companies share an office space. It allows cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities and receptionist and custodial services, a ...

space,

business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture ca ...

, and

angel network Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

. The group hosted and operated the first Lightning Lab cohorts in Auckland in 2015 and 2016. The organisation has managed and operated the Ice Angels angel network since 2001. In 2015, the organisation added an internship programme for young students interested in angel investing and venture capital. In 2016, the student programme was expanded into a student-led venture capital fund called Firstcut Ventures, that is managed by Icehouse Ventures in partnership with a group of university students. The fund invests in founders under 30. Icehouse Ventures was spun out of the Icehouse in 2019 and received external investment into the operating company from 44 investors including

KiwiSaver The KiwiSaver scheme, a New Zealand savings scheme, came into operation from Monday, 2 July 2007. Participants can normally access their KiwiSaver funds only after the age of 65, but can withdraw them in certain limited circumstances, for exampl ...

operator Simplicity.

Venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

funds were also added such as the Tuhua Fund and Eden Fund. In April 2020,

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

published an article critical of support that the Eden Fund investor network (operated by Icehouse Ventures) had provided to communities in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

impacted by COVID-19. The article was found by the Media Council to be inaccurate and unfair. In September 2020, Icehouse Ventures acquired a stake in the research and development incubator Level Two which works with deep-tech and

Clean technology Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cle ...

companies. Icehouse Ventures operates the Level Two fund and provides nominee, investment operations and

funds management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...

to Level Two. In 2022, Icehouse Ventures created a special fund to invest in female-founded and led ventures.

Investments

Icehouse Ventures invests in early-stage private companies. It specialises in incubation, seed stage,

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies. The firm also operates funds that invest in later stage companies by using the pro rata rights gained during earlier investments.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.icehouseventures.co.nz Venture capital firms Companies based in Auckland New Zealand companies established in 2019 Software companies of New Zealand