Bootstrapped NZ Edition #12
๐ The final wrap ๐
Kia Ora team,
Welcome to the final edition of Bootstrapped NZ for 2022!
Itโs a short and sweet one today, wrapping up the last bits and pieces before the year comes to a close.
Whether youโve been here from the beginning or just joined the community, thank you. Connecting with so many of you through writing Bootstrapped has undoubtedly been the greatest highlight of what has been a pretty challenging year.
I hope you all have the opportunity to relax and recharge over the holiday season, whatever that might look like for you.
Iโll be back in 2023 once the news starts to roll in - if you want to stay in the loop, feel free to subscribe ๐
Stay safe, take care, and see you in 2023!
Mฤ te wฤ,
Izzy
๐๏ธ Noteworthy
๐ฎ The government announced a $2.27M funding boost for the video game development industry and approved a few loans to support Queenstown film and tech
๐ต Money Sweetspot launched with a bang (the bang being a $5M deal with Bank of New Zealand)
๐ค Te Hapori Matihiko, a community for Maori in digital and tech, went live with their website
๐ต There was a bit of KiwiSaver news, with Sharesies sharing their intent to launch a KiwiSaver scheme next year and provider Generate announcing a $20M investment into Movacโs fund 6
๐ถ Crayon put out a call for employers to contribute their parental leave policies to The New Zealand Parental Leave Register
๐ฟ Investment Ready opened up applications for their 2023 program supporting food and fibre businesses to raise capital (read the NZ Entrepreneur writeup here)
๐๏ธ In the news
๐ต Word of PaySquadโs launch reached stuff
๐ We read about about Kimer Medโs mission to develop a broad-spectrum antiviral drug to fight future pandemics
๐ฅ Ali Adams wrote about Christchurchโs vibrant startup ecosystem
๐ฐ Funding news
๐ Partly closed a $37M Series A round, the largest in New Zealand history
๐ฅ๏ธ SafeStack closed a $4M round led by Blackbird
๐ OrbViz closed a $600k pre-seed round
๐ฆ Pictor closed a $5M round and announced their COVID antibody test is now available throughout New Zealand
๐ Red Phase received $397K from the governmentโs Low Emission Transport Fund (EECA)
๐ Showcased
๐ฟ There was a celebration of all things agri-innovation at Fieldays (you can catch up on video content here and read about the innovation award winners here)
๐ Stefan Hadzi-Longinovic won more than $15k in cash and prizes at AUTโs entrepreneurship competition for his Computerised Equine Bit
๐ Creative HQ took over the beehive for their fifth GovTech showcase* where Ngฤ Mihi won the $50,000 prize for their platform enabling those in NZ Corrections Facilities to purchase pre-approved goods online
*You can watch the showcase recording here
๐ StartupBlinkโs: Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2022
You may have seen some stats floating around about New Zealand's rankings in the global startup ecosystem. These probably came from StartupBlinkโs Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report for 2022*.
Here is a quick wrap of the relevant New Zealand info:
๐ As a country, we now rank 30th globally (up three places from 33 last year)
๐ Christchurch lept up by 168 spots in the city rankings to 228th globally
๐ We now have 8 cities in the top 1000 with Dunedin, Tauranga, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Nelson entering the ranks this year
๐ Auckland remained the highest-ranking NZ city despite dropping 7 places to 112th
๐ Auckland ranked in the top 100 globally for Edtech, FoodTech and Transportation
You can read the report for yourself here (free download)
*StartupBlink claim to be the worldโs most comprehensive startup ecosystem map and research centre. They produce an annual Global Startup Ecosystem Index report that ranks the ecosystems of 1,000 cities and 100 countries. The ranking is done through an algorithm that is updated annually, you can read more about the methodology on page 11 of the report.
๐๐ผโโ๏ธ Cool people doing cool things: Meet Laura from Solid
Solid are on a mission to change how we look after our teeth. We make sustainable toothpaste, tablets, powder and more in Tฤซtahi Bay. Our products are vegan, cruelty free, and palm oil free. Our glass jars and bottles can be returned to us to be sterilised and reused. We exist to stop the 16 million toothpaste tubes Kiwis send to landfill every year.
Hi Laura! What's your story? How was Solid born?
Iโm a dental therapist and dental hygienist and love it when people feel empowered to look after their teeth. Iโm especially passionate about the oral health of our tamariki and used to drive the dental van around Auckland to support this kaupapa. However, Iโm also very aware of the amount of waste involved in the dental sector, and as I went on my own zero-waste journey, I went looking for sustainable toothpaste options. I didnโt find any that I would be happy to use on my own teeth, so I began to study toothpaste formulation. After a little bit of experimentation โ OK quite a lot of experimentation - I developed a formula and method for making my own toothpaste tablets. After that, I worked on toothpaste, then toothpaste powder, and I have just kept experimenting with different flavours and options. Iโm at my happiest when Iโm alone in the lab tinkering with new formulations.
How's it going?
Iโm really proud of the progress we have made on the sustainability side. We have saved 30,000 toothpaste tubes from going to landfill, and last year we were โ quiteย unexpectedly - a finalist in the 2021 Sustainable Business Awards โGoing Circularโ category. We have been certified Carbon Positive by Ekos for the last two years and more and more people are returning our jars for reuse. Itโs been amazing to be a small part of other peopleโs zero-waste journeys and to witness how transformational it can be. Going through the Creative HQ Climate Response Accelerator programme was another highlight in 2022 โ learning from other teams like Mutu and skilling up on some of the business processes was invaluable.
Another bonus has been how the dental community has embraced our mahi. Iโve done a guest lecture to oral health students at AUT, spoken to dentists at the NZ Dental Association and worked with the team at Bee Healthy (the dental nurses that support tamariki in schools). It means a lot to have them on side.
What's your vision for the future?
Our vision is โeveryday kaitiakiโ or a world where everyone takes responsibility for the everyday decisions they make around waste. More broadly, we see our contribution to climate action as supporting the necessary behaviour change we will all need to adopt in the coming years. For example, my partner and co-founder, Adam, is currently in New York with the Obama Foundation, meeting with climate leaders from around the world and discussing the role of business, activists and government in driving climate action.ย ย
Do you have an ask for the community?
At the moment, we are focused on getting our name out there, growing our manufacturing capacity and exploring export opportunities in Singapore and Australia. Let us know if you have any ideas! We are also looking at how we might raise money. We have been inspired recently by the approach of Hello, Peopleโs and Speak Scents, but would love to chat with people about the best way to raise when youโre a B2C product company.
And keep an eye out for our sustainable whitening kit!
๐ย Upcoming Events
The introverts will be delighted to hear there are NONE - happy holidays!
โจ Subscribing to Pauli and Paulโs Techstars Startup Digest is a great way to keep up with weekly events โจ
Thanks for reading! Hit subscribe for more free fortnightly kiwi startup goodness (make sure to check your promotions tab, Substack tends to send them there)
Ngฤ mihi nui,
Izzy ๐ฉ๐ฝโ๐ป