Icehouse Ventures back brave kiwi founders with unique insights who are building global companies. We're looking for people who are inspired by helping these ambitious entrepreneurs achieve big things.
We are NZ's most active venture capital firm, with over $140m funds under management, and a portfolio of 240+ of the countries most exciting early-stage businesses (like Sharesies, Ethique, Mint Innovation, Halter, Narrative, Dawn Aerospace, Tradify and FirstAML).
If you have a superpower and a passion for startups, we'd love for you to join us.
Open Roles
Note - roles are based in Auckland
We are actively looking for epic people to join our talented team. Below are the roles currently open at IV + instructions on how to apply:
VC Analyst
About the Role
We’re hiring a talented, operationally minded person to join our team at Icehouse Ventures.
Our VC Analyst role is a rare opportunity to join one of NZ's leading early-stage investment firms. You’ll materially contribute to Icehouse Ventures achieving its objectives through activities like:
- Owning critical day-to-day workflows relating to investor operations, ensuring an excellent investor experience and IV’s regulatory compliance
- Enriching and/or refactoring our existing datasets, such that we can radically improve both our scalability and impact to both founders and investors
- Discovering and analysing prospective startup opportunities, finding exceptional Kiwi founders for IV to back
Some of your specific responsibilities will include:
- Performing ongoing customer due diligence (CDD) on all IV investor entities, ensuring IV’s compliance with relevant AML/CFT regulations
- Analysing and prepare pre-existing CDD data for upload into an improved data management system
- Managing the formal process of gaining and recording certain investment commitments into both companies and/or funds
- Reconciling bank deposits from investors with respective commitments, and sending receipts
- Accurately naming and filing key business documents such as shareholder updates, legal documents and fund reports
- Contributing to preparing bi-monthly fund reports
- Assisting in sourcing and analysing new prospective investment deals
- Analysing company data to help drive iterative change across both our investment and capital raising processes
- Reviewing certain legal documents
- Enriching our existing large datasets with key insights, such that we can make better decisions as well as share valuable information back with our community
- Working alongside the rest of the team to deliver world-class events like our Annual Showcase and Demo Days
We’re looking for someone who:
- Is excited about helping epic Kiwi entrepreneurs succeed on a global stage
- Understands data and the importance of data hygiene - you are probably an excel whizz
Is a compelling, thoughtful communicator
Marketing Manager
About the Role
We’re hiring a talented, experienced marketer to join our team at Icehouse Ventures.
As the the first dedicated marketing hire at IV, the Marketing Manager will need a generalist skillset. You will be instrumental in developing a platform from which we will scale our world-class brand and growth engine. While you’ll have a passion for diverse activities, you’ll be clear on what our marketing priorities should be and communicate these effectively internally. You’ll materially contribute to Icehouse Ventures achieving its objectives by:
- Collaborating with the wider team to effectively articulate Icehouse Ventures’ mission to the early-stage venture ecosystem
- Reaching epic Kiwi entrepreneurs, and the aligned investors who want to back them, and bringing them into our network
- Building out systems and processes which allow us to measure our effectiveness, and scale our marketing function
Some of your specific responsibilities will include:
- Bringing a clear marketing voice in our GTM planning sessions
- Expanding our use of existing systems (notably Hubspot) and where appropriate implement new systems, to create an integrated growth marketing platform
- Tooling our operations to track key marketing metrics, and use these to drive optimal business outcomes
- Developing, delivering and optimising effective digital campaigns which drive short-term leadgen of both aspiring entrepreneurs, and prospective startup investors
- Building a framework for content marketing, and driving the importance of content production/communication as a longer-form leadgen strategy across the business
- Contributing to the ongoing development of our brand story
- Managing our proactive PR activities
- Using initiative to uncover creative / ad-hoc marketing opportunities which will produce outsize returns
We’re looking for someone who:
- Has worked in an early-stage business before, and understands the generalist hustle of a smaller team out to change the world
- Has either led or been closely involved in building a full marketing stack / growth system for a company (you definitely have a growth mindset)
- Is up to date with the latest trends and best practices in online marketing and analytics, and fluent with these operationally
- Is a compelling, thoughtful communicator
- Is detail oriented, and extremely good at getting things done
- Has an open, inclusive and inquiring mind
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FAQs on Working at IV
- How do I get in touch about the roles above?
- At the bottom of each role description, you'll see details for applying for that particular role.
- Who else works at Icehouse Ventures?
- Where is IV located?
- We work on Level 4 of The Textile Centre in Parnell, Auckland
- How does IV approach flexible / remote working?
- We typically work Mon/Tues from home and the balance from our office, and this is also flexible depending on each team-members circumstances & what's going to allow us to do our best work.
- Are you open to bringing on interns?
- We definitely are, and want to make sure those experiences are as valuable/fulfilling as possible. Because of that, we only recruit internships periodically and will list them here when we do.
- How does Icehouse Ventures approach diversity?
- Venture Capital is one of the least diverse professional environments, both in terms of investors as well as the recipients of capital (i.e. 3% of all US venture capital in 2019 was raised by female teams. We combine strong intention with actions and frameworks to ensure all recruitment and investment processes are fair, free from bias, and geared to correct the systemic lack of diversity we see across the ecosystem.
- How do I get in touch about the roles above?
Don't see something that's a fit for you right now? Join our talent network where both us and our portfolio companies discover their next star team members.
Hear from some of our team:
Barnaby Marshall (Partner)
What's your background?
I joined Icehouse Ventures as an investment partner in 2017. Previously to that I was a co-founder of an NZ fashion business, I Love Ugly. As the founder of a company that grew an international footprint of retail stores and online distribution, I tackled many of the traditional start up / scale up challenges. I made my first angel investment in 2016 and had been intrigued by venture capital for a number of years before that.
What did you enjoy most about working at Icehouse Ventures?
There are two things I love the most about my role. First is the team that I work with everyday. We have a group of highly ambitious and intelligent young people who are all energized by backing NZ's most ambitious early stage entrepreneurs. Second is the entrepreneurs we back. They are fearless, knowledgeable, creative and curious. It’s a lot of fun to be around a diverse group of entrepreneurs with a range of backgrounds, motivations, experiences and working in a range of industries. What ties them all together is having some audacious mission they are pursuing to change the world in some way, that’s what gets me out of bed.
What are your ambitions for the future of Icehouse Ventures?
Our intention is to build a multi-billion $ funds management business that supports Kiwi entrepreneurs to create world-changing businesses. We are enabling investors to gain access to early-stage venture capital, and be a part of things that could define the future of NZ's economy. We are building a team of highly ambitious, talented people that are aligned to create value for founders and investors. It's an exciting stage of growth for the Icehouse Ventures business.
**Steph Benseman** (Principal)
What's your background? I became a partner in First Cut Ventures, our young founders fund while studying at Victoria University and running my own startup. During this time I was based in Wellington and my career was focused around supporting young aspiring entrepreneurs discover and validate their ventures and helping early-stage companies raise funding. I knew how awesome the Icehouse Ventures team were and was excited to join them full-time earlier this year.
What do you enjoy most about working at Icehouse Ventures? I genuinely can't believe my day-to-day job involves meeting with New Zealand's most inspiring founders and coming up with creative and helpful initiatives to support them in their ambitious journeys. What makes it even better is I get to work alongside and learn from the Icehouse Ventures team, our community of investors and network of supporters to contribute to our mission of backing brave.
I love that Icehouse Ventures have aspirational goals as an organisation and even as a new employee I've been given the freedom and support to contribute in a meaningful way to both existing and new projects.
What are your ambitions for the future of Icehouse Ventures? I'm onboard with the teams ambitions to become a multi-billion dollar fund that backs New Zealand's most iconic founders, as scale brings the ability to make impactful change. It's well known that the VC sector internationally and here in NZ lacks diversity and for many inclusivity. I know our team recognises this and are addressing the issues as we accelerate our growth. My ambitions for the future of Icehouse Ventures is that we're at the centre of increasing representation of minorities and gender-diversity within the NZ investment environment.
Jack McQuire (Partner)
What's your background?
I joined Icehouse Ventures as an intern at the end of 2013. I was in my first year of university (studying a, in hindsight largely irrelevant, BCom) and expected to spend three months here over summer. Seven years later (and counting) I'm still here!
What do you enjoy most about working at Icehouse Ventures?
Icehouse Ventures exists to back brave kiwi founders shaping the world we live in. It’s hard not to love working surrounded by incredible people pursuing big visions.
It’s also been really rewarding to be part of our own growth story. When I joined, Robbie had just raised our first fund of $500k and it was a team of two. We’re now 13 people, we’ve invested over $160m in more than 230 startups (incl. over $35m in 2020 alone), and have been privileged to work with a few emerging kiwi startup icons like PowerbyProxi, Sharesies, Crimson Education, Halter, Mint, Ethique and so many others.
I’ve also got to observe boards, learning from founders like Aaron & John at Ask Nicely, Emily at Pyper Vision, Shaun at Genoapay, and Mike & Phillip at Joyous. I’ve learned more from these experiences than anything else I’ve done at Icehouse Ventures and am incredibly grateful for that, particularly to Aaron who was the first to say yes!
What are your ambitions for the future of Icehouse Ventures?
I hope that in 2040 we reflect that we backed every one of the largest, most successful, and most impactful kiwi startup founded in 2020 - 2035. Those ventures have vastly improved the lives of every person in NZ, and their technology and products may impact much of the world. When asked, the founders say unreservedly that Icehouse Ventures were the most supportive, impactful and aligned partner from the beginning of their journey. One way this is reflected is by us being the second largest shareholder, after the founders, at IPO.
Lauren Fong (Associate)
What's your background?
I was born and raised in Auckland, lived in Wellington for 4 years, completing a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing & Management. After solo backpacking abroad for one year and then starting my own e-commerce business in the USA, I've now found myself working in a role that aligns with my passion of helping female leaders in NZ.
Alongside working in VC, I'm a music producer and DJ, making electronic music and performing at some of NZ's major festivals, under the name 'Lauren Gin'. I've been DJing for the last 5 years and started releasing original music recently.
What do you enjoy most about working at Icehouse Ventures?
I love being able to meet exceptional founders that introduce new ideas that I never thought could be possible. More specifically, my role has become my passion project - helping female leaders in NZ with the funding they need, given the poor representation they have in the startup industry. We are closely aligned with the mentality of 'founder first' so backing the bravest founders is very rewarding.
What are your ambitions for the future of Icehouse Ventures?
Icehouse Ventures becomes the leading supporter of backing every single most successful kiwi business. We want to grow to be a multi-billion dollar funds management firm that can support the growth of the most ambitious entrepreneurs in the country. We want to be along the exciting journey and see one of our portfolio companies take themselves to IPO. We hope every startup we back has positively impacted the world through their unique solutions and technology. Lastly, I see the future of the team growing into a large diverse group, delivering special skills and amazing value to the startup ecosystem.
