Movac venture capital fund raises $185m as golden visa investors, NZ Super Fund and Ngāi Tahu chip in

Movac general partner Mark Vivian says golden visa holders have pumped $80m into his Wellington-based firm's new growth fund, plus a secondary fund.

Listen to this article — Movac venture capital fund raises $185m as golden visa investors, NZ Super Fund and Ngāi Tahu chip in

New Zealand’s venture capital revival continues with Movac reporting it has hauled in $185 million after six months for its new Growth Fund 7 – twice its first-close target.

Partner Mark Vivian says another $15m is nearly signed off from a major New Zealand institutional investor, which will take the total to $200m, meaning the first close is essentially also the final close.

Vivian said the new Active Investor Plus (AIP) category had been a major driver, with golden visa holders pumping in $80m between $67m for Growth Fund 7 and $13m for Movac’s separate Growth Opportunity Fund 1 (a $50m secondary fund set up to buy out early investors and founders)

The $185m first close also includes:

Vivian would not give any stats on previous returns, but said all of the above were repeat investors over multiple funds.

“For the past 10 years, Movac’s growth funds have given us a way to support local companies when they need that support the most, to contribute to New Zealand’s burgeoning tech sector, and to generate positive returns,” NZ Super Fund private equity director Sian Orr said.

There were limits to NZ Super Fund’s enthusiasm, however. It contributed $70m to Movac’s Growth Fund 6 and $70m to Growth Fund 5.

Movac’s greatest hits include its early backing of Trade Me, before it was sold to Fairfax for $720m, Vend (sold for $455m), Timely ($135m), PowerbyProxi ($100m-plus) and Tradify ($100m-plus).

Retail crime reporting platform Auror has been expanding its US, UK and other offshore business after being promoted by the UK Government and key backing from taser maker Axon Enterprise. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Recent fast-growing investments have included Auror, LawVu, Crimson Education, Dawn Aerospace and Re-Leased.

The new fund will cut cheques between $5m and $30m.

Vivian said the flat performance of local tech firms on the stock exchange had also helped draw funds.

Of the golden visa money for Growth Fund 7 and Opportunities Fund 1, 62% was from US investor-immigrants, Vivian said.

Hong Kong (10%), German (9%) and Singaporean (8%) golden visa holders also figured.

Movac investment Dawn Aerospace is developing a system for refuelling satellites in orbit, which will double their lifespan or allow them to orbit much lower for faster internet and better photos.

The average AIP investor contribution to Growth Fund 7 was $908,000.

Last month, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford updated that since the AIP scheme was introduced in April last year:

In the AIP Growth category, money has been committed to:

“I think the weight of AIP funds going into private credit has taken everyone by surprise,” Vivian said.

“Some of our growth companies are using private credit as a non-dilutive source of capital.”

Anecdotally, it could be reaching the point where the number of opportunities for private credit investment outstripped supply, Vivian said.

The AIP scheme had delivered more than just a fresh source of capital for VC funds and others. The golden visa holders were also acting as mentors, and giving local start-ups access to their global networks, Vivian said.

Venture capital boomed during the pandemic as interest rates bottomed out, but the industry then suffered a hangover in NZ and around the world as rates were hiked.

READ MORE

The recent comeback boom has also seen Icehouse Ventures report an ahead-of-target $150m first close for its Growth Fund III and Bridgewest Ventures a $55m first close for its first VC fund, which has a $100m target. Both funds said the AIP was a factor.

Icehouse also cited growing support from KiwiSaver funds, which have traditionally been wary of venture capital.

There was also a modest boost from Budget 2026, with the Government allocating $10m to Crown-owned NZ Growth Capital Partners for a new “fund of funds” that will invest in “selected emerging and first-time fund managers who invest in start-up companies”.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.