September 2005

More deal activity over the last month with No 8 Ventures announcing a $2 million investment into Surveylab, the recently launched AMP Pencarrow private equity fund entering into a joint investment with AMP's retail private capital fund to purchase a significant stake in marketing and distribution company, CS Company Limited and Goldman Sachs JBWere announcing the acquisition of leading scaffolding organisation, Acrow Group.

In mid-August the NZ Venture Investment Fund (VIF) called for proposals from experienced venture capital fund managers or firms to establish and manage a VIF Seed Fund under the VIF Fund of Funds Programme. It is expected that 2 or 3 new VIF Seed Funds will be established as a result of this process.

No 8 Ventures announced last week that two of its portfolio companies - Esphion (www.esphion.com) and Argent Networks (www.argentnetworks.com), have been listed on the Red Herring Top 100 Private Companies of Asia. The list is Red Herring's 2005 selection of the 100 most promising private technology companies in Asia.

Great to see the announcement this week as well of a $3.5 million technology sponsorship package between Microsoft New Zealand and Incubators New Zealand that will provide 100 incubator companies and 16 incubator organisations with access to software technologies to support their business ambitions.

Full details on all of the above deals and the other announcements can be found in the News & Events section of the NZVCA website.

The NZVCA's Christchurch networking event on 17 August went really well and, again, it was great to see the diverse range of industry participants in attendance. Details of our next networking events in Auckland and Wellington are set out below.

The AGM will be held from 4.30pm - 5.15pm on Thursday 22 September at Ernst & Young's offices in Auckland. The AGM will be followed by the second of our Auckland Networking evenings which will run from 5.30pm - 7.30pm.

Please register for one or both of these events through the News & Events section of the NZVCA website - see the link below.

Take me to the online registration for these events

Registrations for the 4th Annual NZVCA conference will close shortly.

All registrations must be made through the News & Events section of the NZVCA website.

Registration costs are $695 plus GST for NZVCA members and $795 plus GST for non-members.

Take me to the online conference registration form

This is the second of our NZVCA networking evenings in Wellington and our thanks in advance to NZX for hosting this event. The evening will begin with a welcome from NZX CEO Mark Weldon and NZVCA Executive Director Christopher Twiss. NZX & NZVCA will outline the relationship between the two organisations, plans to work together going forward, and how the industry will benefit.

Full event details are set out in the attached invitation and in the News & Events section of the NZVCA website (see link below)

Please note that registrations for this event close at 5.00pm Monday 10 October 2005

To register, please go to the “Events” section of the NZVCA website and click on “Register” for this specific event. The event is free to NZVCA members.

Take me to the online registration for this event

As noted above, this year the NZVCA conference is being held in conjunction with Connect New Zealand’s Springboard Showcase that will take place at the same venue on the afternoon of Wednesday 2 November.

This event and the ANZA Technology Network "Gateway to the US" conference in California on 13-16 November 2005 represent two fantastic opportunities to showcase innovative technology companies.

Details on both of these events are set out in the attached document and can also be found on the Connect New Zealand website (see the link to this below). Connect New Zealand is a newly established organisation and this will be the first Springboard Showcase event in New Zealand and so I really encourage you to have a close look at this information if you are not familiar with the organisation and what it does.

The Springboard Showcase is open to investors and other interested parties and you can register to attend this event through the online NZVCA Conference Registration Form OR as a separate event in the News & Events section of the NZVCA website. The registration cost for this event is $300 plus GST. Entry to the Springboard Showcase is, however, free to all NZVCA Full (i.e. venture capital and private equity fund) members.

Take me to the Connect New Zealand website

The SVCA is holding its International Investors' Conference ("From China to India") at Raffles Hotel on Tuesday 27 September 2005 and then the SVCA Gala Dinner at the Fullerton Hotel on Wednesday 28 September.

Please contact me if you would like any further details and full information on both events can also be found on the SVCA website (see the link below). Please note as well that NZVCA members are entitled to a 10 per cent. discount to the registration costs of these events.

Take me to the SVCA website

In mid-August I traveled to Taiwan as a guest of the Taiwan Government's Digital Content Industry Promotion Office (DCIPO). Three New Zealand digital content companies were also invited. The Taiwanese government is backing its digital content industry to be the next big thing following its historical success in semi-conductors and flat panel screens. In Taipei I met the Taiwan Venture Capital Association, the DCIPO and venture capital firms Fortune Ventures and iD Tech Ventures.

Many people will be familiar with the concept of looking to Singapore or Hong Kong as places from which to launch a China/Rest of Asia strategy but Taiwan also has a lot of potential in this regard. With the huge emphasis and support now being placed on the digital content industry in Taiwan, this is particularly the case for New Zealand companies operating in related areas.

If you are interested in learning more about the NZVCA trip, and our insights into the Taiwan market, please give me a call.

Chris Twiss
ex NZVCA