NZVIF provides Deal Information for SCIF Partners

Date added: Wednesday, 23 December 2009 16:18

The NZVIF website contains current SCIF Deal Information Overview and copies of the main industry standard documentation used for SCIF seed and early stage investments.

There are some important basic government mandates and investment parameters that the Seed Fund operates within and so it is important that Partners bringing potential deals to SCIF are aware of and fully understand those. In addition, the Summary Guide is regularly updated to reflect Fund practices and lessons learned.

NZVIF aim to ensure that all of the documents contained on the site are current and kept completely up to date. As such, SCIF Partners should ensure that they review and download relevant documentation directly from the NZVIF website on a deal by deal basis.

You can take a quick visual overview of the stages and processes involved with the main SCIF deal types and have a look at the Deal Flow Diagrams that have been created .

There is more information from the NZVIF website here

Capital markets report a step in right direction

Date added: Wednesday, 16 December 2009 12:05

The Angel Association New Zealand is welcoming recommendations from the Capital Market Development Taskforce which aim at reducing the compliance burden for fund managers raising small funds.
Colin McKinnon, Executive Director of AANZ, says the report contains a number of recommendations which are a step in the right direction, and is urging the government to implement them.
Read the executive summary here
Read the full report here

NZVIF records first surplus and record investment year

Date added: Monday, 14 December 2009 13:58

The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund has recorded its first annual surplus amid its busiest investment year.

In its 2009 annual report, NZVIF posted a net surplus of $3 million and completed 50 investment transactions totalling $18.7 million- a record level despite the demanding investment environment. Over $80m of private capital was raised alongside this.

NZVIF chief executive Franceska Banga said the better than expected result - it had forecast a deficit of $3.4 million - was due to a combination of investment realisations and improvements in the holding value of investments.

"It is still early days for our venture capital funds and the development of the industry, but the year saw encouraging progress. We have equity interests in 81 New Zealand companies in sectors such as ICT, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, life sciences, and telecommunications. Across NZVIF's portfolio, there is good revenue growth and, consequently, the combined value of those companies is rising.

"The business environment is, however, tough and venture capital market faces major challenges - particularly when it comes to raising new funds. Individual investors are waiting out the recession and are reluctant to commit money to new ventures before seeing a return on existing investments. Meanwhile, institutional investors remain on the sidelines.

"It has been pleasing to observe the seed investment sector's continuing growth. Across the total sector, angel investors invested a record $30 million into young New Zealand companies over the first six months of 2009, taking the amount invested over the past three-and-a-half years to over $100 million."

Wellington online publishing start-up Bookhabit snapped up by Silicon Valley's Smashwords

Date added: Monday, 14 December 2009 13:54

Wellington online publishing start-up Bookhabit has been snapped up by Silicon Valley's Smashwords for an undisclosed sum.

Wellington web development firm and angel investor Webfund has a 25 per cent stake in Bookhabit.

Bookhabit launched in early 2008, allowing independent authors to publish their work online for free and readers to sample first chapters before deciding whether to buy.

Smashwords' bid came at the right time for the firm, which was looking to offer ebooks in different formats and set up strategic partnerships with retailers.

Read DomPost article