The Funding Files

In this episode of the Funding Files, we interview Rowan Simpson, a key figure in Aotearoa New Zealand's tech scene. He recounts his founding and funding journey, starting with Flat Hunt, which was acquihired by Trade Me, leading to his early involvement in Trade Me's growth and eventual $750 million exit. He later became an early investor and employee at Xero, and invested in Vend and Timely, contributing both capital and expertise. He recently wrote a book called 'How to Be Wrong' that shar...

On this episode of the Funding Files we’re interviewing Sasha McLeod who recently raised $20k in three hours to fund the first production run of her re-usable liquid medicine syringe. Sasha, a mother and digital marketing professional, created DoseBuddy because of her own shitty experiences using single-use medicine syringes. She partnered with a product developer found on Instagram to design and prototype the product. Initial funding came from personal savings from her and her husband, fol...

In this episode of the Funding Files, Jessica Manins, co-founder of Beyond Studios, shares the rollercoaster journey of her gaming business 🎢 From COVID shutting down her interactive VR arcade game weeks after it launched in the US through to later paying out dividends to shareholders. She shares how she got into tech, from her early work at Star Now and community building at Biz Dojo, through to founding Beyond. Beyond began as a service company in the augmented reality space, later developi...

In this pod, we interview Joerg from Broken Heart Spirits, a multi-award-winning spirits manufacturer based in Queenstown. Joerg shares his journey from being an electronic engineer and airline pilot to becoming a master distiller. Originally from Germany's Rhine Valley, he discovered New Zealand during his time flying commercial planes here and eventually purchased a vineyard in 2001. He started distilling in 2004 after noticing unused grape skins in local wineries and wanting to do s...

This podcast is all about the funding journey of Kami, a digital classroom platform used by 90% of US K-12 schools. The conversation is between Anna Guenther, co-host of The Funding Files and co-founder of PledgeMe, and Alliv Samson, one of the co-founders of Kami. Alliv delves into Kami's beginnings in 2012 as a university project called Notable, designed to make lectures more interactive. Initially, they faced challenges in monetizing the product and gaining traction, leading to a piv...

In this pod, we learn about Laura from Safestack's journey in building her company, from its inception as a cybersecurity consultancy to its evolution into a VC-backed platform with over 25,000 security learners in 80 countries. Laura shares her journey as a software engineer and security enthusiast, detailing the origins of her passion and the unique approach Safestack takes in integrating security with software development. The conversation also delves into Safestack's funding journey, star...

In this episode of The Funding Files, co-host Anna Guenther chats with Matt Stevens, co-host and co-founder of Parrotdog, about his funding journey raising capital to launch and grow a craft brewery in Wellington, way back when the beer industry was just taking off. Parrotdog started in 2011 when three friends named Matt decided to start a craft brewery. Matt Stevens, initially brought in to help with incorporation, eventually became a co-founder. The company began with contract b...

Back in 2011, Anna needed a topic for her masters thesis, and fell in love with the idea of crowdfunding. Her background was grants administration and she thought there must be a better way to fund things. She met a guy building the backend to a crowdfunding platform, and they joined forces to launch PledgeMe in 2012. Over the years, she’s funded PledgeMe in a variety of ways - personal investment, private rounds, equity crowdfunding, and organically through revenue. This episode ...