About

In 2021 $260 million was invested into early-stage companies in New Zealand. Only 4.2% of this was deployed to Otago & Southland start-ups, a smaller fraction still was from local angels. *

The problem: 

Until the establishment of MAI, there was no local active angel network. Early-stage companies raising in the lower South Island needed to navigate the dispersed and dislocated individual angels themselves – often negotiating with 20+ angels, which is fraught with issues and can take up to a year or more.  

Because of this when high growth potential early-stage companies need to raise capital we experience a flight of companies and jobs to Auckland, Wellington or offshore, as they simply don’t have access to an early-stage capital network. Start-ups are forced to look nationally or even internationally meaning they face constrained growth, relocate to other metropolitan areas or simply fail.    

The solution: 

There is already significant entrepreneurial activity happening across Canterbury, Otago and Southland thanks to founder focused organisations Ministry of Awesome, Startup Dunedin, COIN South and Startup Queenstown Lakes – but there is no local bridge to investment.

Operating as a coordinated single network across the wider region MAI will:   

• Provide a strong pool of capital and capability, including specialised expertise matched to the right business.   

• Build strong local as well as national and international connections to increase the expertise and capital available to local businesses.   

• Have a positive reputation for consistency, trust and transparency of investment activity.   

• Improve the startup and early-stage investment ecosystem through comprehensive investor capability building.  

By collaborating across our regions, we diversify our founder and investor talent pool, avoid duplication and create efficiencies in capital-raising to ensure founders are spending time on their business and not on arduous capital raising. It also allows us to manage risk better by having greater and more diversified resource in the due diligence process.     

Mainland Angels Value Funnel

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