Punakaiki Fund
Venture capitalAuckland · Seed–Growth · 9 people tracked
Find your way into Punakaiki Fund
867 people in our graph share verified history with the Punakaiki Fund team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Investment thesis
Punakaiki Fund is an evergreen, shareholder-owned venture capital investment company focused on funding under-capitalised high-growth technology companies in New Zealand and helping accelerate the transition to a value economy. Since its first investment in 2014 it has made over 120 investments across more than 30 companies. It operates a permanent-capital structure and is managed by 2040 Ventures Limited, with a sister fund (Climate VC Fund) focused on climate. Its aim is to help New Zealand technology companies grow into global leaders.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 9 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 30 of 36 portfolio companiesSaaS ×21Enterprise Software ×9AI & Machine Learning ×7Future of Work ×6Cloud Computing ×4EdTech ×4Cybersecurity ×3Hardware ×3
HQs:New Zealand×13United States×4Australia×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 14 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×112 founders×14+ founders×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 11 founders with career history
Auckland Bioengineering Institute ×2
Investments · 36 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2025 · 22022 · 22021 · 22018 · 17 dated
Teradyne provides automated test equipment and robotics solutions for manufacturers to ensure product quality and accelerate time-to-market.
Advanced ManufacturingHardwareRoboticsSemiconductors
Alex d'ArbeloffNick DeWolf
Core Schedule develops staff scheduling software for healthcare organisations, helping teams manage complex rosters and reduce administrative workload.
Future of WorkHealthtechHR TechSaaSWellington, NZ
Dr Stephen C. Pool(CEO and Founder)inCade Murphy(CTO)in
Projectworks provides project management and financial visibility software designed for professional services firms to maximize billable time and improve project margins.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaS
Doug Taylor(Co-founder)inJulian ClarkeinMatt Hayter(Company President)in
Co-investorsBridgewest VenturesTen Coves Capital
Projectworks provides software for managing time tracking, project management, resource allocation, and invoicing for professional services firms.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaS
Doug Taylor(Co-founder)inMatt Hayter(Company President & CPO)in
Co-investorsBridgewest VenturesTen Coves Capital
A provider of smart lock hardware and enterprise cloud software that enables organizations to control physical access via smartphones and track lock usage in real-time.
Enterprise SoftwareHardwareIoT
Autodesk is a publicly traded developer of design, engineering, and entertainment software, best known for AutoCAD.
San Rafael, US
Andrew Anagnost(Executive Officer, Director)inRichard Scott Herren(Executive Officer)Steven M. Blum(Executive Officer)Pascal W. Di Fronzo(Executive Officer)Carmel Galvin(Executive Officer)
BoardBetsy Rafael(Director)
Co-investorsAccess Venture PartnersAutodesk FoundationBaseline VenturesBuilding VenturesDesignXHomebrew+9 more
CONQA provides digital quality assurance and checklist management software to reduce administrative burdens for construction teams.
Construction TechPropTechSaaS
Peter Simons(Founder)in
Qustodio (which merged with Family Zone) provides parental control and digital wellbeing apps that let parents filter content, set screen-time limits, monitor activity, track location, and view calls and messages across their children's devices.
ConsumerCybersecurityWellness & Fitness
Formus Labs develops software and tools for orthopedic surgery and musculoskeletal care, serving surgeons and clinical practitioners.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesAuckland, NZ
Ju Zhang(Founder, Chief Executive Officer)inProf Thor Besier(Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer)A/Prof Justin Fernandez(Co-founder, Science Advisor)Antonije Velevski(Co-founder, former senior software engineer)in
Co-investorsNuance CapitalGD1Icehouse VenturesPacific Channel
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)inThor Besier(Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer)inAntonije Velevski(Co-founder, former senior software engineer)inJustin Fernandez(Co-founder, Science Advisor)inSarah Wixon(Head of Finance)inMarco Schneider(Head of Product and Research)in
Co-investorsCure Kids VenturesGD1Nuance CapitalNZ Growth Capital PartnersPacific Channel
GetHomeSafe provides a safety monitoring platform for lone workers in remote locations, equipped with satellite connectivity, panic alerts, check-in features, and man-down detection.
Enterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkIoTSaaS
Boyd Peacock(Founder)in
HungryHungry provides ordering and digital payment technology for hospitality businesses such as restaurants, cafes, and hotels, covering dine-in, takeaway, delivery, and room service.
FintechFoodTechMarketing TechSaaS
Co-investorsPartners for GrowthPartners for Growth (PFG)
EverCommerce provides integrated SaaS solutions for service-based small and medium businesses, including business management, payment acceptance, and customer engagement software.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSDenver, US
Eric Remer(Founder / CEO / Chairman of the Board of Directors)inMatt Feierstein(President, EverCommerce & CEO, EverPro)in
Co-investorsJobsOhio VenturesKensington Capital Partners LimitedMantella Venture PartnersSilver Lake Partners
Linewize provides digital safety and wellbeing solutions for schools, including classroom management, web filtering, monitoring tools, and educational resources designed to prevent harm and support student online safety.
CybersecurityEdTechMental HealthSaaSSan Diego, US
Tim Levy(Managing Director)Crispin SwanBen TriggerPaul Robinson
MOBI provides online ordering technology for restaurants and hospitality businesses, including branded websites and apps, self-service kiosks, loyalty programs, delivery integration, and over 120 platform integrations.
AI & Machine LearningFoodTechRetail TechSaaS
Co-investorsBregal Sagemount
Moxion offers a cloud platform for film and video production that lets crews share camera footage and metadata ("instant dailies") with their teams within seconds of recording.
Cloud ComputingMedia & EntertainmentSaaS
Co-investorsAlt VenturesNZ Growth Capital PartnersEclipseEnergy Impact PartnersMarubeni Ventures Inc.Rocketship.vc+1 more
NZ Tech Podcast is a New Zealand technology news podcast featuring interviews, reviews, and opinions on topics such as AI, cybersecurity, and startups.
Media & Entertainment
Paul Spain(Host)in
Co-investorsNZVC
Quantifi Photonics develops test and measurement instruments for photonics applications, including coherent optical communication solutions, sampling oscilloscopes, laser sources, optical switches, spectrum analyzers, and related components for high-volume manufacturing and R&D laboratories.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Co-investorsNuance CapitalNZ Growth Capital PartnersPacific ChannelIntel Capital
RedSeed provides eLearning courses and coaching tools focused on retail sales skills, leadership, emotional intelligence, and workplace well-being.
EdTechHR TechSaaSChristchurch, NZ
Anya Anderson(CEO and co-founder)in
Vend, now part of Lightspeed and marketed as Lightspeed Retail (X-Series), is a cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management platform for retailers to manage inventory, sales, customers, payments, and reporting across in-store and online channels.
E-commerceRetail TechSaaS
Co-investorsFolklore VenturesMovacPoint NineQualgroSquare Peg CapitalBlue Heron Capital+2 more
Whip Around provides compliance and operational management software for freight companies, initially developed to reduce paper-based processes in the New Zealand logistics industry.
Logistics & Supply ChainMobility & TransportationSaaS
Co-investorsAccel-KKRAmplo VenturesAmplo
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Hectre Group LimitedOmnyQubedocsTimely
Exits · 5
2 IPOs · 3 acquisitions · showing 1Teradyne IncNASDAQ: TER
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Teradyne Inc · ad-hoc-news.de · Sep 10, 2026
Raygun · theguardian.com · Sep 1, 2026
Autodesk · investing.com · Aug 28, 2026
Projectworks · cfotech.co.nz · Aug 26, 2026
Projectworks · cfotech.co.nz · Aug 26, 2026
Quantifi Photonics · lightwaveonline.com · Aug 24, 2026
Vend · finsmes.com · Aug 17, 2026
Redseed · techcrunch.com · Jul 22, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Punakaiki Fund made?
- Punakaiki Fund has 36 tracked investments, 5 of which have exited, including 2 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Punakaiki Fund invest at?
- Punakaiki Fund invests at the Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth stages.
- What is Punakaiki Fund's typical check size?
- Punakaiki Fund typically writes checks of $1M.
- What sectors does Punakaiki Fund focus on?
- Punakaiki Fund focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Data & Infrastructure, Deep Tech, EdTech, Enterprise Software, Retail Tech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Punakaiki Fund located?
- Punakaiki Fund is headquartered in Auckland, NZ.
- Does Punakaiki Fund lead rounds?
- Yes, Punakaiki Fund leads investment rounds.
- Who does Punakaiki Fund co-invest with?
- Punakaiki Fund most often shares deals with NZ Growth Capital Partners, Nuance Capital, Pacific Channel, among 35 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the team
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