 |
|
 |
Home |
 |
 |
 |
Entrepreneurs |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Investors |
|
|
 |
Blog |
|
|
 |
Testimonials |
|
|
 |
In The Press |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
What our members have to say...
"I would like to let you know that without your website I never would have had this opportunity, Dreams in America are not real, your company is making Dreams come alive. Thanks again.
"
|
|
Carl Renner - U.S. Humanitarian/Global Scientist |
|
|
|
|
Investment poised to double in venture capital company
|
|
Powerhouse Ventures - an angel investment group which backs Canterbury start-up companies - is hoping to double its investments in the coming year to a dozen or so.
Powerhouse invests in potentially high growth businesses on behalf of investors.
Yesterday it named two new start-ups it was in the process of signing to its investment portfolio - software-based Barrington Arch and Invert Robotics.
Chief executive Stephen Hampson says Powerhouse has been investing for about two years, having built up a base of around 20 angel investors in five investments.
The investments include computer animator Thinking Cactus and Indigo Systems, which builds irrigation and frost monitoring systems used in vineyards.
Indigo "have got very close to vineyards and we've done a lot of trials with different vineyards to make sure they're getting the right product", Hampson said.
The other companies are Lasadex, which has developed equipment and protocols for extracting DNA from large quantities of soil; Crop Logic, which makes software for precision agriculture helping growers predict the yield, for example, from potato plants; and Hydroworks, which manufactures turbines for power generation.
Powerhouse typically has up to $2 million to invest a year, and also relies on other investors. The company is "specifically designed to lead the investment as opposed to do the whole investment on its own," Hampson said.
"So we would have other venture capital firms or other individuals invest alongside."
Hampson said he expected Powerhouse to invest in six companies in the high-growth technology sector in the coming year.
The private sector provided about half the start-up companies Powerhouse chose to invest in, with the rest coming from universities and Crown Research Institutes.
The sector was healthy "partly because of the role of the universities of Canterbury and Lincoln play. We've got a lot of smart graduates coming through."
With the Government's NZ Venture Investment Fund seed co-investment fund as a co-investor, it can typically put in anywhere between $50,000 and $1m on an equity basis. Powerhouse runs the joint programme through the Powerhouse fund.
The Canterbury Economic Development Fund (part of the Canterbury Development Corporation) was a cornerstone investor in the fund, providing about $300,000 a year, Hampson said.
The investors would eventually look to recover their investment, maybe through a trade sale to a large international company working in the same sector, he said. A lot of the planning done by the export-focused companies, with the help of Powerhouse, was to position themselves for such a sale.
"It's a long, long road. So from seed funds to an exit and getting your money back it's seven or eight years. So we're maybe five, maybe three years away from getting a return on capital."
Those involved in the investment group include John Walley (chief executive of New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association), Steve Wilson and Phil Holliday.
Powerhouse now had a team of 12 (some based at Canterbury's universities) engaged with entrepreneurs working in the private sector and venture development.
Ad Feedback
"That requires finding the right customers [for start- ups], getting the market research right and building the management team up. |
|
|
|
|
