Two Kiwi inventions just made TIME Magazine’s best of 2026
Kia ora John,
Supabase has raised US$150m as they continue to build the foundations for the agentic era. Familiar Therapeutics secured US$5m to bring existing human medicines to pets, while Precision Chroma has raised US$7.3m to commercialise a new approach to pharmaceutical purification.
Daisy Lab has joined international biotech company Mycofeast, giving their protein technology access to US-based R&D and global manufacturing. After more than a decade of building from Auckland, Fuel50 has been acquired by Phoenix Education Partners, the parent company of the University of Phoenix.
A preview of what is in this month's edition:
- Founder & Friends Hui is happening tonight in Auckland
- Join our next IV Athletes session: Introduction to Investing in Startups
- Hear from leaders at Humankind, Contented, Cambridge Partners, and Lumin in Christchurch
- Check out the latest community perks
- See who’s hiring across the portfolio
Ngā mihi,
Steph
Rather not hear from us in this format? No sweat, let us know here. Have feedback or news you’d like to share? Please get in touch.
🎉 CELEBRATE
- Simplicity commits NZ$50m to Icehouse Ventures Growth Fund III.
- Tracksuit wins in the regional Deloitte Fast 50, alongside Calocurb, Starboard Maritime Intelligence, and First Table.
- Familiar Therapeutics raises US$5m to bring proven human medicines to pets.
- Precision Chroma secures US$7.3m to advance its drug purification technology.
- Supabase raises US$150 million to help power the agentic era.
- Daisy Lab heads global after its acquisition by international biotech company Mycofeast.
- Phoenix Education Partners acquires Fuel50.
- Sharesies expands their low-fee offering with new bond, cash and global share funds.
- Kip McGrath’s board has backed Crimson Education’s acquisition offer.
- Extraordinary makes employee perks simpler for businesses.
- Squirrel is exploring a potential public listing in 2027.
- BioLumic and Leaft Foods make Time Best Inventions 2026 list.
- Linca joins forces with Mitsui to take their battery recycling tech global.
- DataMasque is making inroads across Asia Pacific with 'synthetically identical’ data copies.
🎟️ ATTEND
Introduction to Investing in Startups
Wednesday 4th of November | 7:00PM - 8:00PM | Online
The IV Athletes community brings the culture and mindset of New Zealand’s high-performance sporting world into the startup ecosystem.
Open to founders, athletes, and startup builders, the next session features Will Somerville (former professional cricketer and wealth advisor, JBWere) and Jack McQuire (Partner, Icehouse Ventures). Together, they will explore how venture firms identify and back high-growth Kiwi companies, the risks and rewards of startup investing, and how venture capital can fit alongside traditional assets in a diversified portfolio.
Scaling Performance As You Grow by Humankind
Tuesday 3rd of November | 5:00PM - 7:00PM | Christchurch
Join Anna Muir from Humankind, Lucy Pink from Contented, James Howard from Cambridge Partners, and Max Ferguson from Lumin for a conversation on maintaining high performance and evolving leadership as organisations grow.
Founder & Friends Hui
Wednesday 28th of October | 6:00PM - 8:00PM | Icehouse Ventures
Come along to reconnect and catch up with the people who make up Auckland’s startup ecosystem. Hosted by Ministry of Awesome and supported by Icehouse Ventures, the Hui is a chance to spend time with fellow founders, operators and others across the startup community.
💰 SAVE
Startup Lawyers NZ
A not-for-profit helping startups connect with the right lawyers.
Startup Lawyers NZ provide practical legal support for founders, covering everything from capital raises and employment agreements to IP protection. They offer flexible support, from one-off advice to fractional or full-time in-house legal expertise.
💡 PERK UPDATES
TaxStudio & Studio Leonelli: Offering discounted US expansion packages from US$250.Together they cover entity setup, legal, tax, and accounting for companies moving into the US. Access here.
🏢 RENT
ZURU: Try their London coworking space for free throughout November (referred businesses only), with new serviced and private offices available from February.
Get in touch with Matt for more information.
🚀 JOIN
- Joyous - Growth and Demand Generation Manager - Remote, NZ
- Concord Visa - Growth Lead - Sydney, AUS
- Dawn Aerospace - Manufacturing Supply Chain Coordinator - Christchurch, NZ
- Halter - Senior Content Specialist - Brisbane, AUS
- Joyous - Sales Executive - Remote, NZ
- Harth - Senior Frontend Engineer - Christchurch, NZ
- Kwetta - Software Engineering Internship - Napier, NZ
- Nuro - Staff Robotaxi Program Manager - Mountain View, USA
- Onside - Customer Success Specialist - Melbourne, AUS
- Partly - Principal Product Engineer - Austin, USA
- Vessev - Senior Boat Builder - Auckland, NZ
Or check out the other 1,000+ open roles in Kiwi startups here.
Thanks for reading!
Steph BensemanHead of Platform at Icehouse Ventures
Our Community Newsletter is a monthly email to keep you informed on what's happening within the Icehouse Ventures' and wider startup community. We hope you find the content valuable, but in any case if you're not interested in receiving this email you can .
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