Partnership to pool $8m for start-ups

Franceska Banga. Photo / APN

The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund is teaming up with Angel HQ to invest up to $8 million in start-up companies.

Wellington-based angel investment group Angel HQ has about 30 investors who invested in a range of start-up companies, mainly in the Wellington region.

New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF), which administers venture capital and seed co-investment programmes for the government, will invest up to $4 million matching investments made by Angel HQ.

NZVIF chief executive Franceska Banga said Angel HQ was the second angel group the fund had partnered with in Wellington in the last year.

"These partnerships are giving a boost to the amount of ready capital able to be deployed into investing into young businesses," Banga said.

Angel investing was growing strongly and since NZVIF began collecting data in 2006 angel investors had invested more than $200 million in young technology companies, she said.

"This is swelling the pipeline of young technology companies who need new sources of investment capital as they develop," Banga said.

"This is a good problem to have. But it reinforces the need to establish new venture capital funds to complement and build on the investments being made by angel investors."