Council Members
Andrew Hamilton - Vice Chairman
Andrew Hamilton was the founding CEO of The ICEHOUSE in 2001.
The ICEHOUSE is a business growth centre that creates learning environments for entrepreneurial firms to enable them to significantly grow their companies. It is a charitable trust founded in New Zealand by the University of Auckland Business School and some well known New Zealand and International Companies – Bank of New Zealand, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst Young, HP, Microsoft, Minter Ellison & Telecom. Since 2001, we have worked with 65 start-ups and just under 2,000 entrepreneurial firms. We have raised $35m for these start-ups and our owner managers are growing their EBIT on average 31% per annum.
Colin McKinnon
Colin currently holds the position of Executive Director of the New Zealand Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (NZVCA) and Executive Director of Angel Association New Zealand (AANZ). Colin has been in the NZVCA role since May 2008. In these roles Colin is responsible for driving the strategy for development of the New Zealand private capital industry, communications with members, sponsors and industry participants, coordinating an active government lobbying programme and advising and supporting the respective association Chairman and Council.
Previously Colin was Chief Advisor in the Ministry of Economic Development from March 2003 where his role involved the policy development of programmes including the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund Limited $40 million Seed Co-investment Fund programme and the $160 million Venture Investment Fund programme that aimed to catalyse the development of early stage equity markets in New Zealand. Earlier roles in banking and government included investment and corporate banking, economic policy, relation marketing and business development.
Dean Tilyard - Treasurer
Dean Tilyard is Chief Executive Officer of The Bio Commerce Centre in Palmerston North. Dean works primarily in investment for early-stage technology businesses and commercialisation from science institutions. He led the successful formation of angel investment group MIG (Manawatu Investment Group), whose 30 members are active in early-stage investing. In the past two years, Dean has raised $10m+ for technology companies.
Greg Sitters
Mark Houghton-Brown
Mark is best known as a pioneering organic farmer from Wiltshire who moved to Nelson with his young family just over two years ago after a successful exit from his vertically integrated health foods businesses. He has an Honours Degree in Economics Accounting & Finance from Oxford Brookes and was responsible for placing his own FMCG product lines in all the major UK multiple retailers.
Mark Stuart
Mark Stuart is Chief Executive Officer at Waikatolink Limited and gained his MBA at the University of Otago. He has started and subsequently sold several technology driven businesses. As well as CEO of WaikatoLink Mark is also a Director of ZyGEM Corporation Limited, Graftoss Limited, Novatein Limited, Obodies Limited, Nouvoa Limited, Solenza Limited, RuralLink and Chairperson of Khipu Systems limited. He is also a Council member on the New Zealand Angel Association and a member of the NZBio Advisory Council.
Miles Hockley
Miles is Senior Partner at Powerhouse Ventures Ltd in Christchurch. Powerhouse is an early-stage investment house that focuses on commercialising intellectual property generated in Canterbury's Universities and Crown Research Institutes as well as making investments in more mature, technology-driven businesses. Miles oversees the co-investment deals made by Powerhouse and works with investee companies during their growth phase. He also assists Powerhouse's venture teams in their engagements with the universities, companies and research institutes and is involved in fund-raising for Powerhouse's Annual Limited Partnerships.
Norman Evans
Dr Norman Evans is a serial entrepreneur who has built a number of companies.
Dr Evans has run three business incubators in New Zealand and Australia. Two of his incubated companies were 2nd and 3rd in the Deloitte Fast 50 measure of high-growth companies in 2004 (and 1st and 16th in 2003).
Apart from building several companies of his own, Dr Evans has 17 years corporate experience, including restructuring work in Telecom and Telstra.
Phil McCaw - Chairman
Roger Branch
B. Sc (Physics) American University, Washington, DC
Roger is associate director of Kinross Partners, an executive search firm focused on building boards and management teams for growth businesses. Clients are typically VC/PE funded expansion phase companies in NZ, and their US operations. Prior to moving to NZ from the US, Roger held senior positions with Unisys, Pratt & Whitney, Pepsico, and Booz-Allen & Hamilton.
Suse Reynolds
Suse is Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Investment at Grow Wellington. Prior to beginning work in economic development two years ago, she was Executive Director for the business lobby group, The Trade Liberalisation Network. This followed a ten year career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which included three years in the Foreign Minister's office and a posting to London as New Zealand's trade and economic representative. Suse gets a huge buzz working with business people and looking for ways to take their enterprise to the world. One of the initiatives she is most proud of is the establishment of an angel investment network, Angel HQ, in Wellington.
