What stage does GD1 invest at?

GD1 invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B stages.

What is GD1's typical check size?

GD1 typically writes checks of $150K – $900K.

Where is GD1 located?

GD1 is headquartered in Auckland, NZ.

GD1

Venture capital

Auckland · Pre-Seed–Series B · 9 people tracked

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Investment thesis

GD1 backs founders and teams pursuing the world's biggest markets, with a focus on helping New Zealand companies scale globally. It emphasizes that the vast majority of its portfolio companies generate revenue outside Australia and New Zealand. The firm offers operating experience gained across global markets, VC-backed companies, leading funds, and big tech, and pairs face-to-face support in New Zealand with reliable in-market connections, advisory, and expertise to help startups launch and expand internationally.

Invests inConsumer Crypto & Web3 Data & Infrastructure Enterprise Software Fintech Hardware Media & Entertainment SaaSAsia-PacificAucklandGlobalNew ZealandUnited States

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Pre-Seed–Series B

Check

$150K – $900K

Auckland, NZ

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2012

AUM

$84M

Tracked investments

Team · 9 people

from the firm's website & public directories

John Kells· Co-Managing Partner, GD1 Fund 3

John Kells has more than 20 years of investment experience, including 14 years in the UK where he worked as an equity analyst at hedge fund GLG Partners and spent 8 years as Head of Alternatives at Tesco Pension Investment, managing £1.5B in alternative investments. After returning to New Zealand in 2015 he co-founded an e-commerce startup and joined GD1 in 2017, where he is now Co-Managing Partner for GD1 Fund 3. He holds a BSc in Mathematics, diplomas in Finance, Financial Planning and Statistics, and is a CFA Charterholder.

j•••@gd1.vcreveal

Nawaz Ahmed· General Partner - Crypto

Nawaz Ahmed focuses on the crypto and web3 space, and has been an angel investor since 2019 with investments in more than 15 early-stage crypto companies, including US-based ones. He has founded and sold a company, gaining experience across ideation, product development, execution, and sales. At GD1 he works on raising and investing for the firm's Web3 Fund, meeting founders building businesses with crypto/web3 technology.

n•••@gd1.vcreveal

Vignesh Kumar· Co-Managing Partner

Vignesh Kumar is a Co-Managing Partner at GD1, a generalist venture capital firm based in New Zealand. He previously co-founded Journey Health, a digital health oncology platform, and before that led engineering execution at Apple across the US and Asia and worked as a design engineer at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare developing neonatal resuscitation technologies. He is a Kauffman Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, and holds an MBA from the Wharton School and engineering degrees from The University of Auckland.

v•••@gd1.vcreveal

Gary Wong· CFO and Operating Partner

g•••@gd1.vcreveal

Doug Bohaboy· Go-To-Market Principal

Aaron Small· Investment Principal

Aaron Small is an Investment Principal at GD1, where he leads the investment team, and has more than a decade of venture capital experience in New Zealand and the UK. He previously worked as an Investment Manager at NZTE, ran Spark NZ's corporate venture capital program, and held investing roles at Aspinall Capital and the cleantech fund WHEB Partners in the UK. He holds a PhD in Chemistry and a first-class BSc Hons from Victoria University of Wellington and the MacDiarmid Institute of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

a•••@gd1.vcreveal

Catherine Young· Operations Manager

Tracy Han· Operations Coordinator

Jonathan Tan· Senior Investment Analyst

Jonathan Tan is a Senior Investment Analyst on the Investment Team at GD1, supporting the co-managing partners and investment principal. His background includes corporate finance and business advisory work covering business valuations, financial model reviews, and transaction advisory services, along with ERP implementation experience at Westpac New Zealand. He works with founders to help scale their startups internationally.

j•••@gd1.vcreveal

What they invest in

from 14 of 38 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×6SaaS ×5Fintech ×4Crypto & Web3 ×3HR Tech ×3Future of Work ×2Healthtech ×2Medical Devices ×2

HQs:New Zealand×3United States×2

Investments · 38 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

Alimetryalimetry.comin 𝕏

Alimetry develops the Gastric Alimetry system, a non-invasive body surface gastric mapping device that provides objective diagnostics for patients with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms.

AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesAuckland, NZ

Greg O'Grady(Co-founder)Armen Gharibans(Co-founder)Karen O'Regan(CBO)Craig Shannon(CTO)Christie Dunwoodie(CFO)Christopher Andrews(CMO)

App.Layer3layer3.xyz𝕏

Aurorauror.coin 𝕏

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Basis

Buddytradebuddy.io

TradeBuddy is a technology platform for the scrap metal trading and recycling industry, serving metal processors, traders, and exporters.

B2B MarketplacesCircular EconomyLogistics & Supply ChainNew Zealand, NZ

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Caruso

Dawn Aerospace

EarnOSearnos.io

Easy Cryptoeasycrypto.com

New Zealand's largest crypto exchange offering secure digital asset trading and services for global crypto markets

Flowinglyflowingly.ioin

Flowingly is a process management platform that captures workflows via an AI SOP recorder, maps processes visually, and automates forms, approvals, and handoffs through drag-and-drop tools.

AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkSaaS

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Flywheel

Formus Labsformuslabs.comin

Formus Labs develops software for orthopaedic surgery, applying AI and algorithmic modeling to support surgical planning for hip and knee procedures.

AI & Machine LearningHealthtechMedical DevicesAuckland, NZ

Ju Zhang(Founder & CEO)Thor Besier(Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer)Antonije Velevski(Co-founder, former senior software engineer)Justin Fernandez(Co-founder, Science Advisor)Sarah Wixon(Head of Finance)Marco Schneider(Head of Product and Research)

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Foundry Labfoundry-lab.comin 𝕏

Advanced ManufacturingPetone, Wellington

David Moodie(Executive Officer, Director)Peter Beck(Director)Mike Collett(Director)

BoardVignesh Kumar(Director)Samantha Wong(Director)

Getcarusogetcaruso.comin 𝕏

Caruso provides fund administration and registry services for private markets fund managers and syndicates, combining AI-native software with human specialists to handle fund accounting, capital calls, distributions, investor onboarding, and compliance.

AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS

Immersveimmersve.comin 𝕏

InshAllahinshallah.network

Ivo

Ivo Aiivo.aiin 𝕏

Ivo provides contract review, redlining, and analysis powered by AI, enabling legal teams to review agreements, compare deals, and extract business insights directly within Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareLegalTech

JunoFem

Layer3

NextWorknextwork.org

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Opacityopacity.networkin 𝕏Mar 2024

Opacity provides infrastructure for issuing compliant financial products with global distribution and liquidity through decentralized finance integration, targeting capital markets participants.

Crypto & Web3FintechNew York, US

Andrew Bledsoe(Executive Officer)

BoardAaron Marz(Director)Hersh Patel(Director)

Orbicaorbica.com

PartnerJohn Kells· led

PhaseOne Ventures

Polymathpolymath.how

Ribbonribbon.aiin 𝕏

Ribbon offers an AI recruiter that automates top-of-funnel hiring, including candidate outreach, scheduling, and voice-based structured screening interviews scored against custom rubrics.

AI & Machine LearningHR TechSaaS

Rillarilla.networkin 𝕏

Rollfirollfi.xyzin 𝕏

Rollfi provides an embedded payroll and benefits platform, offering an API and banking/treasury infrastructure that lets businesses add payroll and benefits capabilities to their own products.

FintechHR TechSaaS

Runnrunn.ioin

Runn provides capacity planning and resource forecasting software that helps teams visualize workforce availability, project demand, and workload distribution in real-time.

Future of WorkHR TechSaaS

Sabliersablier.com𝕏

Sablier is a blockchain protocol for streaming token distributions, enabling vesting, airdrops, payroll, and grants by distributing assets continuously over time rather than in lump sums.

Crypto & Web3Fintech

Simfunisimfuni.com

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Syndicatesyndicate.io𝕏

Syndicate provides infrastructure to scale the Ethereum blockchain, supporting staking and development operations on the network.

Crypto & Web3Mountain View, US

William Raphael Papper(Executive Officer, Director)Ian John Lee(Executive Officer, Director)

Type One Energytypeoneenergy.comin

Type One Energy develops stellarator fusion technology for grid-scale power generation.

Climate TechDeep TechEnergy

Unofficialunofficial.run

Vessevvessev.comin

PartnerJohn Kells· led

VXT

PartnerJohn Kells· led

Zenno

Zenno Astronauticszenno.space

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Cue Raises $5 Million to Expand AI Customer Service Platform Across Multiple Channels - Tekedia

Syndicate · tekedia.com · Jul 18, 2026

Strategic Analysis of VitalHub’s Acquisition of Buddy Healthcare: Restructuring Patient Flow and Clinical Pathway Automation across Europe

Buddy · healthcare.digital · Jul 13, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What stage does GD1 invest at?: GD1 invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B stages.
What is GD1's typical check size?: GD1 typically writes checks of $150K – $900K.
What sectors does GD1 focus on?: GD1 focuses on Consumer, Crypto & Web3, Data & Infrastructure, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Hardware, Media & Entertainment, SaaS.
Where is GD1 located?: GD1 is headquartered in Auckland, NZ.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

Vignesh Kumar from GD1 - one of New Zealand’s most active early-stage tech investors

nzherald.co.nz · Vignesh Kumar

Images

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