About
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.
Contact· self-published, not guessed
Invests in
SaaS
Experience
- Global From Day One (GD1)Co-Managing Partnercurrent2021 — presentAuckland, New Zealand
- Global From Day One (GD1)Senior Investment Manager2017 — 2021Auckland, New Zealand
- RunnDirector Board of Directorscurrent2022 — present
- SimfuniBoard Observercurrent2023 — presentAuckland, New Zealand
- BuddyBoard Observercurrent2023 — present
- FlowinglyBoard Chaircurrent2022 — present
- VXTBoard Observercurrent2023 — present
- Static TechnologiesBoard Observercurrent2026 — presentNew Zealand
- CFA Society New ZealandEvents Development Group Membercurrent2020 — presentNew Zealand
- Self EmployedAngel investorcurrent2012 — presentUK and New Zealand
- OrbicaBoard Observer2023 — 2024
- StretchSenseDirector2021 — 2022Auckland, New Zealand
- StretchSenseChair2019 — 2021Auckland, New Zealand
- Kelson FunScreenFounder2015 — 2017Auckland, New Zealand
- TescoFund Manager - Private Equity / Venture Capital2008 — 2015London, United Kingdom
- GLG PartnersHedge Fund - Equity Analyst2004 — 2007London, England, United Kingdom
- Wealthcare GroupIFA2001 — 2004Auckland, New Zealand
Skills & more
Business Planning8Business Strategy7Private Equity14Hedge Funds13Equities11Asset Management7Investments5Venture Capital4Alternative Investments6Financial Analysis1Financial Modeling2Portfolio Management1
+3 more
Corporate FinanceStrategyManagementLanguages English
From John's professional profile.
Deals · 9
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Led
Runn.io
Per the firm's website.
Colleagues at GD1
Aaron Small
Investment Principal at GD1
Catherine Young
Operations Manager at GD1
Doug Bohaboy
Go-To-Market Principal at GD1
Jonathan Tan
Senior Investment Analyst at GD1
Nawaz Ahmed
General Partner - Crypto at GD1
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Raj Kumar
Portfolio & Investment Manager (Funds, India) at Yunus Social Business Colombia
Tracy Han
Operations Coordinator at GD1
Vignesh Kumar
Co-Managing Partner at GD1
Frequently asked questions
- Who is John Kells?
- 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.
- Where does John Kells work?
- John Kells is Co-Managing Partner, GD1 Fund 3 at GD1.
- What does John Kells invest in?
- John Kells invests in SaaS.
- What companies has John Kells invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Auror, Buddy, Flowingly, Formus Labs, NextWork, Orbica, Runn.io, Simfuni, Vessev, VXT.
- Where did John Kells go to school?
- John Kells studied at CFA Institute.
- Does John Kells lead rounds?
- Yes — John Kells has led 10 tracked investments.
