New Zealand has a strong base of angel investors, with Tauranga's Enterprise Angels and Auckland's Ice Angels among those starting to explore possible synergies in getting promising businesses off the ground.
However, many startups face challenges in attracting follow-on funding because of the small number of venture capital funds in New Zealand, though one prominent angel investor says some companies have only themselves to blame because they fail to keep their original shareholders fully informed.
A delegation from Auckland's Ice Angels group attended the most recent Tauranga angel group pitch meeting and was enthused by the energy and the numbers in the room, said Ice Angels director of startups Ken Erskine.
"I think what we are seeing is a developing set of competencies around the country for angel investing," said Mr Erskine. "Some of those competencies are generic. And then you have expertise that is specific - for example we have observed great competencies in Tauranga in the agribusiness space, as well as in tactile physical sciences.
"We are acting more and more in terms of the syndication of opportunities with different investors. If people come to us that aren't specifically in our sweet spot, if we understand the competency and appetite elsewhere in the country, we can introduce those opportunities."