From Raglan with love: Blake Richardson on investing in biodiversity, housing and disagreements
Punakaiki Fund board member Blake Richardson lives in Raglan with his young family, a clutch of chickens and fledgling, wind-battered native forest. On a sunny day we asked Blake to share his investment approach.
What are you finding interesting, right now?
I’m on the PFL board because I’m interested in early-stage Kiwi tech. I think PFL plays an important role in the tech scene and the tech sector plays important role in the economy. I’m interested in ventures where I can add value, which typically means getting in early.
Run Weirdly! Run! Weirdly experiences 2021 recruitment tailwind
In the third of our Founders’ Series, Vincent Heeringa spoke to Weirdly’s Keren Phillips about the wave of recruitment happening in 2021. It seems that lots of companies are hiring and they want Weirdly to do it. How nice!
So, Keren, how has your 2021 started?
It’s started strong! We’ve had a wave of RFP requests and expansion pitches off the back of some successful Covid-period pilots, as well as a couple of key hires coming onboard to lift our team’s overall productivity. We’ve released two big product features that will be invaluable to our customers and instrumental in winning new business – the ability to send and manage contracts and offer documents at scale is a key one here. We’ve also completed the first stage of a huge project to streamline our customer onboarding process, cutting the time it takes to bring on or expand new business significantly.
Melon Health wins early and often in 2021
Melon Health has booked three wins in 2021. And it’s only April. In the second of our Founders’ Series we chat to Siobhan Bulfin, CEO of Melon Health.
What’s happening for Melon this month, Siobhan?
Sale of Vend for US$350 Million
Today Lightspeed announced that it will acquire Vend for US$350 million ($485m in NZD at Friday’s exchange rate). The press release is below, and there is also a Lightspeed investor presentation.
The sale was covered by NZHerald (and here), Stuff and NBR. Following the announcement the price of the Lightspeed shares rose, which, if sustained, will add to the value of the transaction in dollar terms.
From Te Anau to the world: the Get Home Safe story
Chris Humphreys, director of LWCM, takes us on a journey from the deep south to the world and back with new investee Get Home Safe
Devoli shines in Contact Energy interim reporting
Contact Energy posted a wicked result for Punakaiki investee company Devoli in its interim result. At the end of January 2021, the energy retailer reported 40,000 broadband customers, up 90% over January 2020’s reported 21,000 customers. Most of the customers were added using Devoli’s virtual ISP system.
Devoli is one of PFL’s largest investments. It’s a provider of software and network services for internet service providers. Devoli won Contact Energy’s business in 2020, with new customers being provisioned by Devoli from mid-year, and the full handover of customers completing near the end of the calendar year.
Riding the optical wave: Quantifi Photonics’ big year ahead
In the first of an ongoing series we chat to our founders to hear what’s on their agenda for 2021 and what’s keeping them up at night. First up, visionary co-founder of Quantifi Photonics, Andy Stevens. Quantifi Photononics builds testing equipment for the optical communications sector – think data centres and fibre optic cables.
Investment trends in 2021: Power grabs and new ways to work
In the first of a new series we ask the team at LWCM for their analyses of the investment year ahead. Taking the microphone first is Nadine Hill, our investment manager. With a background in M&A and banking and a good time working with high-growth companies at NZTE, Nadine can see an opportunity at fifty paces. So what’s on her agenda in 2021?
Punakaiki makes two new investments
It’s a sunny start to the year in Aotearoa – and also here at Punakaiki Fund. We are very happy to announce that we used half of the proceeds of the December 2020 retail offer to make two investments, into Weirdly and Get Home Safe, each just before the Christmas break.
Get Home Safe
Get Home Safe is a new investment for Punakaiki Fund. The company helps ensure that lone workers are safe, by allowing those workers to check in and out when they are working remotely. It provides support to over 10,000 people across ~250 customers, mainly in New Zealand and increasingly in Australia, as well as in the USA and Canada. Their clients include local government entities, health and social care operators, security firms, utilities and much more.
Punakaiki Rocks! (or 140.9m reasons to invest in our offer)
Punakaiki does indeed rock. We could have chosen 140.9 million reasons why but that would be too easy. Instead we’ve chosen four. It helps focus the mind.
By the way, our 2020 Retail Offer closes Thursday 17 at precisely 11:59pm. That’s toady! Remember to read the PDS before making any investment decisions.
Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
Invest now: https://punakaikifund.co.nz/investnow
To help convince you to invest, here are 4 great reasons to join in the offer.
1. Invest directly into 14 great companies
Punakaiki Fund puts your capital directly into our 14 companies. And we stay with them. Our aim is to invest, hold and nurture these awesome companies and enjoy their success as they grow. Half of the funds raised in this round will be invested in the existing portfolio. The other half will be used to find new, high-growth companies.
2. The VC sector is undervalued
Unlike other asset classes, such as property and the sharemarket, the New Zealand venture capital market has not experienced rapid rises in valuations in recent years. However Australian VCs and a series of new funds are arriving, with some already actively investing, and obviously international VCs have noted the success of both Australian and New Zealand start-ups. Now’s a great time to invest in New Zealand tech.
3. Our companies are proving to be robust
Despite the turbulent year our 14 companies continued to grow their revenues and in some cases showed spectacular success. For example, Mobi2Go experienced huge growth due to the demand for home delivery of food during lockdown. The total revenue for our companies now exceeds $140m.
4. You get bragging rights (and the returns)
One of the great bits of feedback we get is that investors love being involved in the tech sector. People want to see IP invented here, staff employed here, taxes being paid and prospects for young talent. That said, we also deliver returns. Our investments have returned to Gross Internal Rate of Return of 23.4%, and overall a 94% increase in value to date. This is despite writing down and/or selling lower performing investments.
Remember: Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
Invest now: https://punakaikifund.co.nz/investnow