Icehouse Ventures has launched its second index-style fund, “IV100 II”, offering unprecedented access to 100 brave New Zealand startups.
With plans to raise $10m, IV100 II will invest into 100 startups over the next three to four years. The first $5m has already been raised (the fund was initially launched in September) and ten startups have already been backed including Organic Initiative, Remotely, Refund Club, and HeartLab.
IV100 II opens up access to a portfolio of companies across a wide variety of industries and stages of their capital raising journey, from pre-seed funding to Series B expansion capital.
The new fund follows the success of the first IV100 raised in 2017, which backed its 100th company, Revolution Fibres, in March this year. It specifically co-invests in well-funded startups backed by one of its other active funds such as Tuhua Ventures or the newly launched Level Two Ventures deep tech fund.
Unique insights on the backed startups are presented to the fund’s contributors via a new Icehouse Ventures Investor Portal. Launched in July, the portal offers a simple way for investors to observe, learn and compare the progress of more than 100 companies across a variety of founders, business models, industries, growth stages, and missions.
Investors can use these insights to pick and choose the individual startups they like the most, identify opportunities where they can help the startups grow faster, and then invest further in their subsequent rounds.
CEO Robbie Paul says the IV100 funds are new territory for New Zealand: “Our second IV100 fund is enabling a magnitude step-change in diversification at an investment quantum previously reserved for individual company investments. In many ways, it is democratising the ability for Kiwis to get exposure to venture investing, an asset class where they have traditionally been left out, priced out, and jargoned out."
“In an asset class defined by one-in-one-hundred outliers, missing one outlier can be the difference between success and failure. Local investors in 2008 did not know they would be defined by wireless power or accounting software.”
He says the type of diversification offered by IV100 has been historically limited to ETFs and other listed funds. Of the startups that are part of the IV100 funds, 23 are led by female founders, 22 were started by entrepreneurs who were under 30, 21 are deep tech companies, and 18 are ‘impact” ventures striving to create tangible positive environmental or societal outcomes.
IV100 taps into Icehouse Ventures’ unique deal flow as one of the most active investors in New Zealand. The group is on track to invest more than $30m into 75 companies in 2020.
The fund is currently open for investments from eligible investors and there is an Information Pack available to interested parties.
