New Zealand
Power · Eat · Heal.
New Zealand turns modest venture money into outsized companies. It leads in food and farm science, and its winners sell to strategic buyers.
01 · Entry and exit
10.89xEV per VC dollar
New Zealand turns each venture dollar into 10.89 dollars of enterprise value, first of the ten OECD countries Dealroom compares. Australia turns it into 6.66.
Dealroom.co and NZ Growth Capital Partners, NZ Tech Ecosystem Report 2026, p. 7.
0.16decacorns
New Zealand has produced 0.16 decacorns for every US$1bn invested, against 0.06 in the United States.
NZ Tech Ecosystem Report 2026, p. 12.
81.8%to operators
Of venture-backed New Zealand acquisitions on our exit register, 81.8% go to a strategic operating company, 9 of 11. In our model 83% of New Zealand winners exit by trade sale, after 14.5 years. Read as the exit ceiling divided by entry multiple, New Zealand sits below United States parity, at 0.54x to 0.89x, so the case rests on capital efficiency and the Eat lead.
Modelhmm exit register; hmm fund model, plate of 13 September 2026; entry multiple 0.56, an Australian proxy graded unsupported. Information Memorandum, section 10.
02 · What New Zealand produces
1.53Eat
New Zealand leads in food and farming. Its specialisation index is 1.53 on innovation and 1.77 on exits, the strongest lead of any market and system we measured. It built the practical battery energiser that put electric fencing on farms worldwide.
hmm catalogue of 79 innovations and patents, and 115 exits. Information Memorandum, section 9.
US$372Magritech
Since 2025, agritech raised US$372M, the second-largest sector. Health raised US$64M and energy US$59M.
NZ Tech Ecosystem Report 2026, p. 20.
14institutions
One technology-transfer network serves 14 universities and research organisations, about 80% of publicly funded researchers.
Information Memorandum, section 7.
03 · How we pick
9.8%reach Series B
Seed companies reach Series A at about the OECD rate, 25.6% against 26.9%, then fall behind: 9.8% reach Series B, against 13.7% across the OECD. The job at seed is picking the companies that will raise the next round.
NZ Tech Ecosystem Report 2026, p. 24, seed years 2010 to 2020.
30working days
New Zealand has no pre-market approval for medical devices. A sponsor notifies within 30 working days, so a company earns the record that sells abroad, at the Australian regulator or the FDA. Pharmac buys medicines for the whole country in one negotiation.
Information Memorandum, section 10.
Figures tagged Model are inputs to our fund model and our judgement, graded in the Information Memorandum. Every other figure is a measurement, and its source sits beneath it.
New Zealand dollars at NZ$1.6 = US$1, Dealroom's own convention.
Wholesale investors · wt@hmm.ventures