New Zealand’s most active venture capital firm, Icehouse Ventures, has closed its second growth fund, with NZ$122 million (A$111m) in commitments to back later-stage scaleups.
The record raise for Growth Fund II, closed at the end of 2024, and will be used to back up to 20 Kiwi tech scaleups, with several investments already made. The NZ$110m Growth Fund I, is now fully deployed in 32 companies, having backed the likes of Hnry, Tracksuit, Halter, and Crimson Education. It brings total funds under management for Icehouse to NZ$454m.
The Icehouse story dates back two decades to the formation of Aotearoa’s first angel network, Ice Angels in 2003, then raising its first fund a decade later. The VC still has a co-investor network of more than 2,000 across a suite of funds with varying portfolio strategies.
CEO Robbie Paul said the Icehouse Ventures group exceeded NZ$100 million in returns in 2024, and now has NZ$500m in total investments, including co-investments across 346 companies.
“Raising a second fund is a privilege, not a right. We were delighted to exceed our target in a challenging fundraising environment. It speaks to the quality of the companies we are funding and their potential to deliver outsized returns to investors,” he said
“It is a great time to have lots of dry powder – $150m across our seed and growth funds. Relative to frothier times where more funds were investing, valuations are lower, terms are more reasonable, due diligence timeframes are longer, and projected burn rates are more balanced.”
More than 600 investors committed to Growth Fund II, from angels to high net worths, and several institutional funds, with around a third of them backers of the first fund, including Harbour Asset Management.
Paul said KiwiSaver investment managers took a third (NZ$40m) of Fund II, with Simplicity, PIE Funds, and Generate chipping in alongside Craigs Investment Partners, two Iwi wealth portfolios, and two more community foundations.
“This is the first time three different KiwiSaver managers have invested in a venture capital fund,” he said.
“These investments mean hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will have a stake in New Zealand’s private tech sector, and can share in the rewards of its future growth.”
The capital is already being deployed in several Kiwi high-growth scaleups, including follow-on investments in cow “fitbit” agtech Halter and edtech Crimson Education, which banked a NZ$67 million (A$60m) Series D last November.
“It’s fitting that Growth Fund II’s first investment would be in Halter and Crimson, as in many ways they exemplify the exact kinds of companies it has been created to back,” Paul said.
“These startups are growing faster than ever while doing 10’s – or hundreds – of millions in revenue, and have the right leadership in place to see them through the next phase of their business.
“We also have the benefit of having first invested in them at the very earliest stages of their journey, giving us a clear view of how they have grown and performed. On top of that, these are highly competitive fundraising opportunities, where our history together helps give us privileged access to these deals.”

The Icehouse Ventures team
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