Impact Snapshot
February 2024
In this Impact Snapshot, read about EHF Fellows in action creating economic, environmental and social impact, plus recent recognitions and awards they’ve received during February 2024.
Fellows in action 🎬
Anthony Lee’s Altos Ventures, along with Silicon Valley-based Footwork have raised $21.6m NZD ($13.5m USD) in Series A funding for Tracksuit, a NZ-based global software company revolutionising the way that brands track and build customer experience. Tracksuit’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO noted that the funding and partnership with the Altos Ventures team will help speed up their plans to democratise brand marketing data and research.
In the announcement, Anthony emphasised Tracksuit’s potential for long-term, sustainable growth. “Tracksuit has created a simple, beautiful solution to a very real problem ... We were impressed by their early traction across four markets, all while being super efficient and maintaining a bootstrapped mindset … “
Altos Ventures’ investment and involvement with Tracksuit stemmed from Anthony’s visit to Aotearoa NZ last year and is an example of Fellows supporting Kiwi startups to scale. The partnership will provide Tracksuit with the resources to accelerate its growth, while also recognising the innovation and potential for global growth from NZ-based companies.
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You can also hear more from Anthony in the recent Impact Springboard ‘Going Global: Transforming NZ Startups into Global Leaders’ session.
David Booth, co-founder and CEO of On Deck, a talent studio and community for founders in the earliest stages of starting new technology ventures, gave a fireside chat with ‘The Inquisitive VC’.
David shared valuable insights into his journey spanning Aotearoa NZ and the US startup scenes, as well as learnings from his experiences as a founder and roles at prominent companies such as CoinList and AngelList, before co-founding On Deck.
On Deck has helped 1,000+ companies get started: find their first customers, hires, and investors, and raise over $2b. They also raised and deployed ~US$30m across two funds into startups founded in their ecosystem.
Through offering a comparative analysis of startup ecosystems, David is fostering dialogue and knowledge-sharing within the Aotearoa NZ startup community.
Mohan Nair, Sean McGrail, and Kaye Maree Dunn shared their expertise and thought leadership with Aotearoa NZ's startup and investment ecosystem at the recent Angel Association NZ Summit 2024.
Mohan and Sean's discussion on 'Designing startups and our ecosystem for growth' highlighted the distinctive value propositions of Aotearoa NZ startups and the importance of leveraging global knowledge to enhance their growth potential, with a specific focus on readiness for the US market.
Kaye Maree's contribution to 'Applying the learnings from a startup in Aotearoa NZ Context' brought a vital tikanga Māori and Pasifika perspective, exploring pathways to intergenerational wealth creation and fostering prosperity for Aotearoa NZ through diverse business models and founders.
Their contributions helped amplify the importance of innovation and inclusivity within Aotearoa NZ's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Several Fellows also attended the Summit to connect with local entrepreneurs and investors, and to understand how they can support NZ’s startup landscape.
Alex Lee and Dan Shanan, founders of Doc Edge, have forged a partnership with ChristchurchNZ and the University of Canterbury to bring the documentary festival to Christchurch in June.
With support from the MBIE Creative and Cultural Events Incubator, Doc Edge aims to elevate the festival to major event status in the Asia Pacific region within the next three years.
Additionally, the University of Canterbury's Digital Screen initiative provides students with exposure to international film production standards.
Doc Edge's expansion to Christchurch through the partnership with ChristchurchNZ highlights Dan and Alex’s commitment to hosting a prestigious international event, attracting filmmakers, storytellers, audiences, and documentary enthusiasts worldwide, ensuring that the festival is accessible to a broad audience. Subsequent screenings are also planned in Auckland, Wellington, and beyond.
Courtney Klein with her partner and children have launched www.allonething.xyz a new way of building community by having city-centric spaces to co-work, co-learn and co-exist.
Courtney notes the concept is in response to a lack of central community areas, like town squares, and the new cafe-style spaces will allow communities to gather and children to learn in proximity to their parents.
They are launching in LA, Phoenix and Austin, and country spaces with tiny houses for families to co-invest in is also part of the plan.
Courtney’s new venture offers a fresh approach to people, families and communities not being served by traditional structures and models, and an example of Fellows finding solutions to generate social impact.
Cameron Smith, Founder of Take2 - the non-profit teaching incarcerated individuals web development skills, recently featured on Newshub.
Building on the success of Take2 in New Zealand, Cam is extending the programme's reach to Australian prisons. The expansion represents more than just geographic growth; it's a testament to Cam's commitment to positive change through education, support, and opportunity.
Cam’s mission is not just about teaching technical skills, it’s about transforming lives. Take2 offers a lifeline to individuals seeking redemption and a second chance at life. Many of Take2’s graduates have successfully transitioned into meaningful employment with leading IT companies - demonstrating the programme's efficacy in breaking cycles of incarceration and unemployment.
Elizabeth McNaughton, co-founder of Hummingly, launched the official rebrand of the organisation, along with a sharpening of focus to ‘upskill humanity to navigate disasters, together’.
The shift of direction, and rebrand to DISASTROUS, signifies a strategic pivot towards addressing the escalating impact of climate-related disasters.
By emphasising collaboration and customised solutions, Elizabeth and DISASTROUS aims to empower communities, leaders and organisations with the skills and resources needed to navigate disasters collectively. Her goal is to emerge as the leading provider of professional development and innovation in the field of disaster response and climate adaptation.
Ruth Martin, co-founder of Telescope, a UK-based social enterprise, is also a strategy and human-centred design consultant to businesses and the social sector.
Ruth was interviewed recently by ProFellow.com (a world-leading online resource for information on professional and academic fellowships), spotlighting her journey across academia, government, and social entrepreneurship.
From her research on civil liberties to her roles in government policy and social innovation, Ruth demonstrates a holistic approach to addressing societal challenges. She not only encourages collaboration and inclusion, but also advocates for systemic change and wellbeing, inspiring others to embrace interdisciplinary approaches and prioritise personal resilience on their paths toward social impact.
Francesca Pick is the founding partner of Greaterthan, which supports leaders and companies transitioning to new organisational forms.
Francesca was a speaker at the School of System Change’s ‘Constellating Change’ series - a learning & practice series focused on supporting changemakers to understand how they can organise internally towards ambitious systems change.
Francesca's inclusion in the series allowed her to share her deep expertise and practical insights into navigating the complexities of resources and money in systems change initiatives.
Sahar Izadi, Farmehr Farhour, and Arash Tayebi, the co-founders of Kara Technology, have received the prestigious Puawaitanga Award from the Angel Association of New Zealand.
The accolade recognises the success of founders who embody a world-class approach, illustrating the remarkable achievements that can be attained when pooling collective skills and experience.
Kara Technologies' receipt of the award recognises their excellence in pioneering technology for social impact, and highlights the tangible impact of their work in developing a globally accessible communications system for the deaf community.
*Images have been provided by Fellows or sourced from the Internet. EHF does not claim to own the images.