Portfolio Day 2026.

Name: NZVC Portfolio Day 2026
Start: 2026-10-13T09:30:00+13:00
End: 2026-10-13T17:00:00+13:00
Location: Pipiri Lane

One day a year we put the whole NZVC portfolio in one room with the people who fund it, hire from it and buy from it. This year the robots are real, the founders judge the investors, every speaker hosts a lunch table, and the room votes on every prediction made on stage.

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Doors: 9:30 AM
Program: 10:00 AM to 4:55 PM
Venue: Pipiri Lane, 124 Halsey Street, Auckland
Part of: Auckland Startup Week
Room: About 300 founders, investors and operators
Tickets: Free, and only a few left: get yours

Founders and investors with their arms raised on stage in front of a screen reading NZVC Portfolio Day, 21 October 2025 — The stage as Portfolio Day 2025 closed.

A seated audience watching the Agentic AI Future panel at NZVC Portfolio Day 2025 — A full room for the AI panel, 2025.

The day, hour by hour

Hendrik and Mark moderate every session. Every name below links to the person or their company.

9:30 AMRegistration & Welcome30 minutesRegistration opens. Caps and totes at the door, and in every bag the print edition of Cap Table NZ and discount codes from the portfolio. Subscribe to TechMates on YouTube at the QR gate to collect yours.
10:00 AMThe NZVC Year in Review20 minutesA four-minute recap film opens the day cold. Then Natalie Kim puts Hendrik and Mark in the chairs and asks what the last twelve months proved, company by company, and explains the predictions vote you will use all day.
10:20 AMPanel: Dirty Jobs, Real Robots45 minutesWorld-class hardware ships from Australia and New Zealand. Robots that crawl pipes, map building sites and frame houses, built by the people on stage. Each panelist opens with one prediction for the next ten years and the room votes live.Hendrik and Mark moderate.
11:05 AMFrom NZ to the World60 minutesOne chair, twenty minutes each. Three people who took New Zealand companies global sit in the hot seat in turn, and each weighs in on the other two. Every guest brings one prediction, and we reveal the vote after the third chair.11:05 Eric · 11:25 Hamish · 11:45 LeightonHendrik and Mark moderate.
12:05 PMWhy the Settings Matter10 minutesTen minutes, non-partisan, on the economic and regulatory settings for building and backing companies in New Zealand, from the day's official sponsor.
- Jordan WilliamsExecutive Director, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
12:15 PMLunch & Hosted Tables90 minutesA working lunch. Every speaker hosts a table on one topic. Pick a table, and when the bell rings at the halfway mark, pick another. The tables are below.
Table hosts so far
1:45 PMThe Reverse Pitch60 minutesDragon's Den, flipped. Each investor gets 90 seconds to pitch why a founder should take their money. Then a jury of five portfolio founders grills them, at least one question each, and raises a paddle: yes or no, would you take this investor on your cap table. No audience questions. The jury crowns the fund they would actually take money from.
MC
- Doug ParkerInvestor, matai.vc
Founder jury
Investors pitching
2:45 PMBreak10 minutes
2:55 PMThe Future of Capital in NZ30 minutesWhere the money for New Zealand companies comes from next. The head of New Zealand Growth Capital Partners, the Crown's venture investor, and a Pear VC partner who moved from Silicon Valley to Auckland, on what each backs and why.Hendrik and Mark moderate.
- James PinnerChief Executive, New Zealand Growth Capital Partners
- Warren ShaefferPartner, Pear VC
3:25 PMNZ's Role in the New World60 minutesGeopolitics and where New Zealand fits. A non-nuclear history, alliance commitments, a neutral geography, and deep-tech companies that started outside defence and now feel the pull. Predictions and a live vote. This is Mark's pick for the session of the day.Hendrik and Mark moderate.
4:25 PMBuilding a Neutral, Sovereign Alternative to Starlink30 minutesThe closing talk. Ed shows what Exosat is building and why the world wants a satellite network no single superpower controls, then Hendrik and Mark ask why NZVC backed it.Hendrik and Mark interview.
- Ed GeFounder, Exosat
4:55 PMCloseWe publish every prediction and every vote after the day.

How the vote works

The predictions vote, every panel

Each panelist opens with one prediction about the next ten years. One sentence, on screen as they say it. You vote agree or disagree on your phone, thirty seconds a session.

In the last two minutes the moderator reveals the vote and hands the most contested prediction back to its author for a thirty-second defence.

Lunch tables, 12:15 PM to 1:45 PM

Ninety minutes, one host and one topic per table, no screens. Pick a table, and when the bell rings halfway, pick another. Every speaker hosts one; these tables are set, and we are agreeing the rest with their hosts.

On stage, 25 people so far

In the order the day introduces them. More names land here as they confirm.

Natalie Kim

Founder, Inflection Group
10:00 AM The NZVC Year in Review
Natalie grew up in New Zealand, left for Princeton at 18 and spent twelve years as a lawyer in Seattle and the Bay Area, where she advised Anthropic on legal AI products. She moved back to Auckland this year and hosts the day.
David Inggs

Strategic Engagements, DroneDeploy
10:20 AM Panel: Dirty Jobs, Real Robots
David co-founded Rocos in Auckland, a robot operations company, and sold it to DroneDeploy in 2021. He now leads strategic engagements there. Procore agreed in July to buy DroneDeploy.
Shyeon Delnawaz

Co-founder, Puralink
10:20 AM Panel: Dirty Jobs, Real Robots
Shyeon co-founded Puralink, which builds autonomous robots that inspect and map underground pipe networks for water and infrastructure operators. NZVC backs it.
Hamish Maxwell

Founder and CEO, Stansted
10:20 AM Panel: Dirty Jobs, Real Robots
Hamish founded Stansted in Christchurch. Its robots assemble timber wall frames off-site for residential construction. NZVC backs it.
Eric Laakmann

CEO and Co-founder, Vessev
11:05 AM From NZ to the World
Eric runs Vessev, which designs and builds electric hydrofoiling boats in Auckland that lift clear of the water and cut energy use dramatically. NZVC backs it.
Hamish Mathieson

Chief Revenue Officer, Tracksuit
11:05 AM From NZ to the World
Hamish joined Tracksuit early and runs its revenue team. Tracksuit started in Auckland, made brand tracking affordable for growing brands, and now sells in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Leighton Roberts

Co-founder and Co-CEO, Sharesies
11:05 AM From NZ to the World
Leighton co-founded Sharesies, the investing platform that opened share ownership to everyone through fractional investing. It serves over half a million people in New Zealand and Australia.
Jordan Williams

Executive Director, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
12:05 PM Why the Settings Matter
Jordan co-founded the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union in 2013 and has run it since.
Doug Parker

Investor, matai.vc
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Doug invests in early-stage companies from Auckland and spends his time with entrepreneurs. He runs the Reverse Pitch.
Dermot Butterfield

Founder and CEO, Wych
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Dermot founded Wych in 2018. It runs the open banking rails that move financial data by customer consent, and has integrated with over 140 Consumer Data Right providers across Australia and New Zealand. NZVC backs it.
Steph Kennard

Founder and CEO, Bonnet
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Steph founded Bonnet, the vehicle app that became New Zealand's number one app three weeks after launch and now manages over 60,000 vehicles. NZVC backs it.
Erika Palmer

Co-founder and CEO, Cupla
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Erika co-founded Cupla, the shared calendar app for couples, and before that founded Synthony, the orchestral dance music show. NZVC backs Cupla.
Shaun Quincey

CEO and Co-founder, Simfuni
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Shaun has built payments companies in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand for 17 years. Simfuni builds cloud software for life insurers. NZVC backs it.
Saba Samiei

CEO, MACSO
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Saba runs MACSO, which builds sensory AI for hardware companies, from data collection to the model running on the device. NZVC backs it.
David Burnett

General Partner, Ecliptic Venture Capital
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
David is a general partner at Ecliptic, an Auckland venture fund.
Jack McQuire

Partner, Icehouse Ventures
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Jack is a partner at Icehouse Ventures, one of New Zealand's most active early-stage investors.
Finn Templeton

Partner, Altered Capital
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Finn is a partner at Altered Capital, an Auckland venture fund, and works with founders from their first round.
Simon Pound

Co-CEO, Previously Unavailable
1:45 PM The Reverse Pitch
Simon co-runs Previously Unavailable, the Auckland venture studio behind Tracksuit, and leads its Brand Fund.
James Pinner

Chief Executive, New Zealand Growth Capital Partners
2:55 PM The Future of Capital in NZ
James runs New Zealand Growth Capital Partners, the Crown's venture investor, which backs New Zealand funds and companies through Elevate and Aspire.
Warren Shaeffer

Partner, Pear VC
2:55 PM The Future of Capital in NZ
Warren is a partner at Pear VC and a three-time founder. He moved from Silicon Valley to Auckland this year.
Grant Straker

Founder, Straker
3:25 PM NZ's Role in the New World
Grant founded Straker, the translation company he took to a listing on the ASX. He sat on the board of New Zealand Growth Capital Partners and now sits on the Prime Minister's startup council.
Ajay Gupta

Founding Partner, CLAI Ventures
3:25 PM NZ's Role in the New World
Ajay invests from the Bay Area in AI, deep tech and healthcare companies and was a partner in NZVC's first fund.
Kirstin Mead

Syos Aerospace
3:25 PM NZ's Role in the New World
Kirstin joins from Syos Aerospace, which builds uncrewed vehicles for air, land, sea and subsurface and sells them to allied militaries. NZVC backs it.
Oscar Leslie

Managing Partner, Phase Alpha
3:25 PM NZ's Role in the New World
Oscar runs Phase Alpha, an Australian government-backed fund investing in defence and dual-use technology.
Ed Ge

Founder, Exosat
4:25 PM Building a Neutral, Sovereign Alternative to Starlink
Ed founded Exosat, which is building sovereign satellite constellations as an alternative to Starlink. NZVC backs it.

Why come

For investors
Every NZVC portfolio founder in one room, a lunch table with each speaker, and a Reverse Pitch where the founders judge the funds for once.
For founders
Twenty minutes in the hot seat with the people who took Vessev, Tracksuit and Sharesies global, a robotics panel that ships real hardware, and about 300 people who write checks, hire and buy.
For talent
The founders building robots, hydrofoils, inference hardware and open banking in New Zealand, at a table, for ninety minutes, with a bell.

What last year felt like

4.7out of 5, based on the latest reviews

I really enjoyed the speakers, venue, food, and the event as a whole, and my only suggestion is perhaps make it bigger next year!
Hanna Eastvold-Edwins
Great event and good exposure for Founders to engage with a wide audience especially as some were raising capital
Mark Robinson
It was awesome! And your podcast is amazing thank you! Ben
Ben Keehan

The room between sessions.
Portfolio founders in the foyer.
Opening remarks, 2025.

Tickets are free through Auckland Startup Week, and only a few are left: get your ticket. The 2025 day is the closest guide to what to expect.