Today, business growth hub and startup incubator, The Icehouse, announced a scaling of its support for Kiwi startups that are looking to take their business to the world stage. The changes include the establishment of an Investment Committee, an International Advisory Board and The Icehouse Seed Fund.
Andrew Hamilton, CEO of The Icehouse, says, “Since The Icehouse began in 2001, we are proud of the difference we have been making to Kiwi startups and the wider ecosystem in New Zealand – our impact statistics include 880 jobs created; $425m of revenue, 70% of which is export related; and $170m of investment capital including $50m being invested by our partner angel investing organisation ICE Angels.
While these stats are great, we should never rest on our laurels and so our Board, Management and wider stakeholders, including ICE Angels, were challenged to explore what more could be done as part of our strategy to 2020. As a group we have set a clear aspiration to enable 25,000 new jobs in New Zealand by 2020, many of which are going to come from innovative Kiwi startups taking their technology and IP to the world.
In looking at the DNA of the successful startups that have come out of The Icehouse and ICE Angels ecosystem, three elements repeatedly were involved: having a great founder and team; being able to bring smart investment to help accelerate the startup; and the ability to leverage networks to scale and speed their penetration into global markets.”
With these insights in mind, The Icehouse is enhancing its offering for startups and has made some talent additions to its team.
These changes will see The Icehouse startup programme focus on and work with up to twenty five selected startups a year. Approval by the Startup Investment Committee grants entry into The Icehouse Incubation Programme and the opportunity for funding to enable the team to rapidly validate its offering and prove its business model. Each approved startup will, in addition to receiving funding of up to $250,000, be teamed with a dedicated startup venture manager from The Icehouse to work in and on the business to support the startup founders. Additional hands on resources will also be made available to each startup to broaden the team and accelerate it into the market.
Once accepted into the programme The Icehouse team will work with the founders of each startup to validate and develop the business, connecting it to global markets via the new International Advisory Board. The programme has been developed to leverage the track record of The Icehouse & ICE Angels, enabling more Kiwi entrepreneurs to maximise their talents and take their startup businesses onto the world stage - funded by smart and engaged investors and leveraging our international networks to accelerate success.
The new Icehouse Startup Investment Committee will be chaired by expat Kiwi, Tim Williams, who returned to New Zealand after 17 years in Japan. It also includes: Claudia Batten, expat Kiwi based in Boulder, Colorado; Peter Beck, the founder of Rocket Lab; Adam Clark, the founder of M-Com; Debra Hall and Ray Thomson, ICE Angels members; Fady Mishriki, the co-founder of Powerbyproxi; Steve Saunders, the founder of the Plus Group; Sean Simpson, the co-founder of Lanzatech; and Sally Synnott, the founder of Pumpkin Patch.
Tim Williams says, “I am delighted to be Chairing The Icehouse Startup Investment Committee. Since returning to New Zealand in 2012, I have been really encouraged by the creativity that exists in NZ. I, however, have also found that the challenges of entering international markets, establishing networks and raising funds is massive so we are looking to really focus our energies into a small number of Kiwi startups that we will invest in, support and accelerate and I am delighted with the talent that we have joining me on the Investment Committee.
We see a massive opportunity to leverage their talent and investment capability to help some great Kiwi startups be even greater. We will be raising an Icehouse Seed Fund to provide discovery and seed investments while we build even closer relationships to groups like the Global from Day One Seed Fund and ICE Angels who have a proven track record and investment appetite for making angel investments. We see the opportunity to get the leverage effect by focusing on a smaller number of high quality startups, and then utilising the new Icehouse International Advisory Board’s connections to speed up internationalisation.”
The International Advisory Board will be chaired by expat Claudia Batten who is a resident of Boulder, Colorado. The members of the advisory board include experienced business persons from the US, Japan, Singapore, China and India and these people are: Mr Ramanan - CMC India; Sacha Mirchandani, Founder, Kae Capital & Mumbai Angels; Mr Wang - TUS-Park, Beijing; Hugh Mason - JFDI, Singapore; Jayesh Parekh – Jungle Ventures, Singapore; Hideaki Fukutake – eFu Investments, Japan & Auckland; Ian Sobieski – Band of Angels, San Francisco; Rob Adams – Austin Technology Ventures, Texas; Bill Payne – Vegas Valley Angels, Las Vegas; Jim Connor – Sand Hill Angels; Jonty Kelt – Chilli Digital Ventures, New York; Dan Rosen – Alliance of Angels, Seattle; David Rose – New York Angels, New York; Linda Jenkinson – Les Concierges, San Francisco; Phil Veal – Chair of Kea, New York; and Victoria Ransom – Google, San Francisco.
Claudia Batten says, “The most powerful forces for a startup is a great network, whether for funding, advice or just the occasional ‘you can do it’ when things get tough. The flight of the Kiwi, or ‘brain-drain’, has been seen as a negative for too long. The reality is that offshore Kiwis have immense power to help New Zealand Inc and we want to harness this. We are so excited by the people joining with The Icehouse to help Kiwi startups claim their place on the world stage. Many of the people on this advisory board are long-time supporters of The Icehouse and New Zealand, and they saw this as a natural way to make a difference. So let’s do this!”
The Icehouse are planning to start accepting entries into the new startup programme in September 2014.
About The Icehouse startup investment committee
Tim Williams - a pioneer of internet marketing, Tim recently returned to New Zealand from Japan. He has had an incredible career already; taking two companies public in Japan, and selling a major stake of Value Commerce to Yahoo! Japan in 2006.
Adam Clark - Adam was the co-founder of M-Com, an Icehouse alumni that became the leading mobile banking software platform in the world, and was subsequently acquired by the largest banking technology provider in the world, FiServ. Adam is an active angel investor, member of ICE Angels and the Global from Day One Investment Committee.
Claudia Batten - An avid technology entrepreneur based in Boulder Colorado, Claudia Batten was part of the founding team of technology venture Massive Inc. which sold to Microsoft in 2006. Having carved out a successful career in the US, Claudia then co-founded advertising agency Victors & Spoils – the world’s first agency built on crowdsourcing. V&S was acquired by French holding company Havas in April 2012.
Debra Hall - Debra is an entrepreneur with over 25 years experience studying consumer and business decision-making. Debra is an ICE Angel and also a Council Member of the Angel Association of New Zealand.
Fady Mishriki - Fady is the co-founder & Executive Vice President of PowerbyProxi an Icehouse alumni that has investment and industry partners including Movac, Evander Management, Samsung Ventures & TE Conductivity.
Peter Beck - Peter is founded Rocket Lab Ltd in 2006 and most recently closed a series A round from Khosla Ventures to commercialise space.
Ray Thomson - Ray is currently Chairman and founding shareholder of Manuka Health, and a director and shareholder of Supreme Biotechnologies and Rush Digital Interactive. He is the past Chair of the NZ Angel Association and was the inaugural William Payne active ICE Angel in 2010.
Steven Saunders is the owner and founder of the Plus Group of companies, specialising in horticulture management consultancy, global pollen production, robotics development, international joint ventures, applied technology, research and development, innovation and science. He is an active angel investor and member of Enterprise Angels.
Sean Simpson is chief scientific officer and co-founder of LanzaTech. Lanzatech is an investee of K1W1, Khosla Ventures, Mitsui Group and a number of other global corporations.
Sally Synnott founded Pumpkin Patch in 1990 and is still a non-executive member of the board.
About The Icehouse international advisory board
India
Mr Ramanan, Managing Director of CMC - a subsidiary of Tata Group
Sasha Mirchandani, Founder, Kae Capital & Mumbai Angels
China
Mr Wang, President & CEO, TUS-Park - a global technology and science park group with headquarters in Beijing
Singapore
Hugh Mason, Partner, JFDi - a leading accelerator in Asia
Jayesh Parekh, Partner, Jungle Ventures and co-founder of Sony TV India and prolific angel investor and philanthropist
USA
Ian Sobieski - Band of Angels, San Francisco
Dr Rob Adams – Austin Technology Ventures, Austin
Jonty Kelt - Chilli Digital Ventures, New York
Bill Payne - Vegas Valley Angels, Las Vegas
Jim Connor – Sand Hill Angels, San Francisco
Dan Rosen – Alliance of Angels, Seattle
Victoria Ransom – Google, San Francisco
Linda Jenkinson – Les Concierges, San Francisco
Phil Veal – Kea, New York
David Rose – Gust & New York Angels, New York
Japan
Hideaki Fukutake, efu Investments, Tokyo & Auckland