Bootstrapped NZ Edition #13
🔥 Benchmarking the growth of the Māori tech sector 🍗 What on earth is alt-protein and how LILO is transforming our food systems, one ugly fruit at a time 🍏
… And we’re back 🎉
Happy new year Bootstrapped whānau, I’m beyond pumped to be bringing you the first edition of 2023!
I hope all of you and your loved ones are keeping safe as the extreme weather continues to affect us all in different ways. The cyclone has brought its fair share of stress and uncertainty for many, and it’s been heartening to see communities come together to support each other to get through.
As we move forward, I hope Bootstrapped can serve as a source of joy and connection for us as an ecosystem, and that we can look forward to a year full of new opportunities and growth.
Without further ado, lets recap on 2023 thus far…
📸 A snapshot of 2023
⌨️ Dev Academy became the first to offer the New Zealand Certificate in Applied Software Development
🤿 ExploreGo secured their biggest deal to date - $1M to create a bespoke bucket list adventure (watch their interview with Startup Daily here)
🐟 NewFish joined forces with the Cawthron Institute to develop and commercialise high quality non-animal proteins from microalgae
🖋️ Cerulean Labs are off to Atlanta with their conceptual design tool for architects, after Atlanta-based Shadow Ventures led their seed round
📚 Sydney-based legal tech startup Sprintlaw eyed up expansion into New Zealand
🐄 Ruminant BioTech spoke to Stuff about how their slow-release pill for cows may slash our agricultural methane production
💸 Money Sweetspot shared why, for them, success looks like losing customers
🖱️ NZTech put out a call for organisation leaders to participate in NZ digital tech skills survey (if that’s you, share your thoughts here)
🍗 Beyond Meat and Dairy: Examining the alt-protein landscape in New Zealand
Late last year, food and fibre sector think tank Te Puna Whakaaronui released a report aiming to establish a “fact base” for the conversation on alternative proteins.
The report outlines the state of our meat and dairy industries, defines commonly used terms like ‘precision fermentation’ and explores how changes in consumption patterns may impact the New Zealand sectors.
“For New Zealand, understanding the global context for alt-proteins… and what role they could play in the global food chain is key to understanding future demand for New Zealand’s meat and dairy
Some interesting takeaways:
👉 Dairy and conventionally farmed meat are NZ’s two largest exports, earning roughly $19B and $10-11B annually
👉 Plant based meat holds 0.5% of the global meat market while plant based milk holds 15% of the global fluid milk market
👉 Investment into plant based proteins is growing ($6.3B in the USA between 2010-22) but pales in comparison to the size of global meat industry (currently US $1.7T)
👉 Investment in cultured meat is growing but comes with many regulatory question marks (the only country to approve it for human consumption as of June 2022 was Singapore)
👉 By 2030, it is plausible cultured meat and precision-fermentation could claim some market share, and there may be milk powders produced by precision-fermentation that can be sold in commodity ingredient quantities (this is relevant to NZ as the majority of our dairy export revenue is from whole milk powder)
➡️ You can read the full report here
💰 Funding news
👾 Hillfarrance led the pre-seed round for In Game Collectables, investing $1M into their vision for blending the physical and virtual gaming world
👟 Tracksuit closed a $7.5M seed round led by Blackbird
🏭 Liquid hydrogen tech company Fabrum closed a $23M series A round
🌱 Clean-tech start up Capital Technology Limited (Captivate) closed a 750k seed round led by Matū Karihi
🍇 Cropsy was awarded $534k through Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and $200k from the Agribusiness Innovation grant to lead a project on enabling growers understand the health and productivity of their vineyards
🦷 Solid are aiming to raise $20,000 through PledgeMe to help them expand to a bigger, better lab!
🔥 Benchmarking the growth of the Māori tech sector
Pāua Interface released the first ever Toi Hangarau: A report on Māori-owned Technology 2023. The first in sector report benchmarks the growth of Māori-owned tech companies through data, founder experiences and analysis from industry experts.
🔥 There are 72 companies that provide a helicopter view of the sector: employing 1,310 people, half are earning over $1M revenue and 9 are earning over $5M revenue
🔥 All of the ‘9 heavyweight companies’ operate within the industries of Cloud, Cyber security, Human-Machine interface and the Internet of Things
🔥 None of the founders of “the 16” companies with sustained revenues and markets started with formal tech qualifications and almost exclusively learned on the job
🔥 Government funders, organisations and investors are encouraged to support Maori-owned tech companies with: platform and product development, creation of new IP, investment and inter-generational ownership, in-house talent development and capability building, and getting smart on remote and outsourced workforces.
👉 For more insights and founder stories, you can read the full report here
🙋🏼♀️ Cool people doing cool things: Meet Cleo from LILO Desserts
LILO is on a mission to get fruit tasted, not wasted - changing our food systems one ‘ugly’ fruit at a time (check out their full manifesto here)
Hi Cleo! What's your story?
I'd just finished my law degree and was avoiding getting a job at a corporate law firm, a good friend Connie told me about the Prime Ministers Scholarship for Asia so I third-wheeled her and her boyfriend's gap year to learn Mandarin, best decision ever.
From there I got an internship (later a job) with a Chinese Marketing agency United Media Solution, I was thrown into the wonderful world of helping New Zealand brands navigate the China market. I love telling and representing the New Zealand brand story overseas and how you adapt products and messaging to different markets.
How was LILO Born?
LILO was started in a cherry orchard after witnessing thousands of tonnes of fruit go to waste for being a bit small, a bit weather beaten or a bit underripe. Myself and Co Founders Alex Worker and Russell Haines were well aware of the premium position NZ fruit holds around APAC so knew there was an opportunity for value-add products using lower grade produce. LILO ethos is about shifting mindsets around our food - focusing on flavour and nutrients rather than appearance.New Zealand grows some of the world's most nutritious, delicious fruit and we need to tell this story better. Almost 10% of fruit never makes it off the orchard (with summer fruit this can be up to 90% if there is a freak weather event).
How is it going?
After three years of research and development we've launched our Real Fruit Cheesecakes into New World supermarkets across New Zealand. We sold out in multiple stores in under a week!We've currently got two flavours: Central Otago Summer Fruit (Black Dorris Plum, Cherry and Blueberry) and Gisborne Lemon and Golden Kiwi. All are dairy free, vegan and made without gluten, but trust us when I say you wouldn't know. We are exploring the US and Australia as our first export markets. LILO was built to go global from day one and we have a big year of growth planned for 2023.
What is your vision for the future?
To rethink our fruit system one snack at a time. We see the cheesecake as a platform for deeper research and innovation into the nutritional qualities of New Zealand fruit.
Do you have any asks for the community?
Open your mind and your tastebuds to a new dimension of snacking ... try a cheesecake from your local New World, tell us what you think :)
🚀 Cool Opportunities
Here are a few of the many opportunities on offer at the moment:
⛰️ Applications for Blackbird Giants close today! Giants offers mentoring, resources and a community that backs you to turn your wild idea into reality (and its free!).
⚡ If you’re an ambitions women founder (or co-founder), Ministry of Awesome ant to hear from you! Applications for their women-founder focussed Electrify Accelerator are open until 5 March
👩 The Christchurch Foundation are offering multiple $10K scholarships alongside mentoring and networking opportunities for Christchurch based female entrepreneurs
🤝 Tairawhiti Tāiki e! Impact House and Arup have teamed up to offer not one, but TWO one-year paid internships in Gisborne for individuals keen to explore a career in software engineering and tech (if you’re interested or know someone who would be awesome, get in touch with Phil Kupenga on 021 877 827 or phil@nextchapter.co.nz)
🌱 Applications for Kōkiri, Aotearoa’s dedicated Māori business accelerator, close on 19th Februrary
💼 Cool Jobs
❄️ Startup Dunedin are looking for a Program Facilitator
👨💻 Fingermark are looking for a Product Marketer
🤝 Derek Handley is looking for a co-founder for his latest venture Aera, a financial services and tech company that aims to radically reduce the time it takes for Kiwis to get into their first home
📆 Upcoming Events
NZ Hi Tech awards launch - Hamilton (15 Feb)
Kiwi SaaS Local Chapter meetup - Bay of Plenty (16 Feb)
AKL Founders Meetup - T3 (16 Feb)
Techstars Startup Weekend ANZ - Online (17 Feb)
Orion Energy Accelerator Demo Night (22 Feb)
Startup Speed date night - Taranaki (22 Feb)
Migrants in Tech meetup (22 Feb)
Creative Mornings Auckland with Julia Arnott-Neenee (24 Feb)
Terrible Ideas Hackathon (10-12 March)
Icehouse Careers of the Future (22 March)
NZ Life Sciences Summit (22-23 March)
✨ If you want to keep up with events, Pauli and Paul’s Techstars Startup Digest sends you a weekly summary of these. If you’re organising an event, add it to the national event spreadsheet ✨
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)
Ngā mihi nui,
Izzy 👩🏽💻