Movac Raises $202m For Its Latest Venture Capital Fund

Venture capital firm Movac has successfully raised $202m for its latest venture capital fund, having secured NZ Super Fund, Fisher Funds, Generate KiwiSaver and Government Superannuation Fund as key institutional investors.

This is alongside a number of iwi, community trusts, family offices and individual investors. Movac Growth Fund 6 is a $202m venture capital fund which will provide growth funding to Kiwi technology companies that have at least $2m in product revenue, coupled with the ambition and potential to scale globally.

Mark Vivian, Partner at Movac, comments “Raising capital is incredibly challenging globally at the moment, for both funds and companies, so I’m absolutely stoked to have raised a fund of this scale. Our track record of returning cash to investors across multiple funds over a number of years has been a critical evaluation factor. This is underpinned by our thorough due diligence process, disciplined investment approach over many years and economic cycles, and the depth of company support that we provide.”

“Whilst the capital markets are fairly volatile at the moment it’s worth noting that historically, venture capital funds deployed by experienced managers in cycles like this have had very strong investment returns. With our new fund, we believe that we’re very well placed to help accelerate high growth potential Kiwi tech companies across multiple funding rounds, in order to fuel their potential.”

The NZ Super Fund announced last December it would commit up to $70 million to Growth Fund 6, its third investment in a Movac fund.

Head of External Investments and Partnerships Del Hart said the NZ Super Fund was always looking for domestic investment opportunities that are commercially attractive.

“New Zealand’s technology sector has performed very strongly over the past few years. Growth Fund 6 is set up to support local technology businesses that are high growth, typically www.movac.co.nz internationally focused, and who will benefit from the management expertise and connections that come from an experienced manager like Movac.”

Fisher Funds Chief Investment Officer Ashley Gardyne says it is excited to be investing in Growth Fund 6 on behalf of its KiwiSaver clients.

“Movac is New Zealand’s leading venture capital manager, with a strong investment track record and a history helping successful New Zealand companies like Vend and Unleashed Software succeed on the global stage. With funding markets currently more challenging for growth companies, we believe now is an opportune time to be making this investment, as Movac seeks to invest in New Zealand’s future success stories. Investing in private growth companies in New Zealand has the potential to deliver investment returns over and above listed markets, while also supporting innovation and creating high value domestic jobs.”

Generate KiwiSaver Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director Sam Goldwater said investing in Movac was a natural fit for Generate’s first investment in the venture capital space.

Movac has an enviable track record of venture capital investment in New Zealand. We see our investment as an investment in NZ Inc. as Movac employs the cash into the next generation of Kiwi tech companies.”

Annuitas Head of Equities and Alternatives, Peter McCaffrey, who manages the private investments of the Government Superannuation Fund, says the Movac investment provides diversification away from the growth and buy-out focus of the Fund’s New Zealand privates portfolio.

“We have known Movac for some time and are excited to make our first investment with them. Movac’s expertise in bringing international connections to New Zealand technology businesses is a win-win for both those companies and the Fund.”

Additionally, Movac is also making excellent progress raising its fourth early-stage fund, targeting Kiwi deep tech companies that are pre-revenue or early-revenue.

Movac Partner Mark Vivian comments “With our success from making very early-stage investments in the likes of PowerbyProxi, Aroa Biosurgery and Greenbutton, our team has skills and experience of supporting highly-disruptive deep tech companies who are building solutions for massively valuable problems. We’re bullish about the early-stage part of the Kiwi tech ecosystem, and are enthused by the strong investor interest we’ve had so far in Movac Emerge Fund 4.”

© Scoop Media