Movac

Movac Research

Investment Thesis

Movac, founded in 1998, describes itself as New Zealand's most experienced venture capital firm. It backs what it calls rare founders with the appetite, intellect and endurance to build world-class tech companies, and pairs capital with global networks, an institutional investor base and hands-on governance, usually through a board seat. Its stated values are tenure, intelligence, decency and discernment, and it uses the tuatara as its emblem: thoughtful selection over scattering capital, long-term vision over short-term hype, patient partnership. The firm says it has raised NZ$922m across nine funds since 1999, invested in more than 60 companies, deployed over NZ$510m, and made 14+ exits. It reports returning NZ$636m to its own investors since 1998, and positions itself on DPI (cash returned) rather than paper marks.

Fund Suite and Stage Focus

Movac runs a suite of stage-specific funds. Fund 1 (1999) was a seed fund. Fund 2 (2005, NZ$21m), Fund 3 (2011, NZ$42m), Fund 4 (2016, NZ$110m) and Fund 5 (2020, NZ$250m) were Seed to Series A/B funds. Growth Fund 6 (2022, NZ$202m) is a late-growth fund (Series A to D+) concentrated in six companies. Emerge Fund 4 (2023, NZ$45m final close) is an early-stage fund offering pre-seed to Series A funding to emerging AI and deep tech companies, led by Partner David Beard. Growth Opportunity Fund 1 (2025, NZ$50m) is a secondary fund, the first of its kind in New Zealand, buying existing shares in NZ and Australian growth-stage tech companies. Growth Fund 7 closed at NZ$200m in July 2026 (first close NZ$185m against a NZ$100m target), a concentrated late-growth fund backing 6 to 12 companies with initial cheques of roughly NZ$5m to NZ$30m+.

Check Size

Growth Fund 7 deploys initial cheques of about NZ$5m to NZ$30m+. Emerge Fund 4 writes seed cheques far smaller: it led SupaHuman's NZ$2.6m seed with NZ$1.3m. Movac does not publish a single range, so the working range is roughly NZ$1m to NZ$30m+ depending on fund.

Lead Tendency

Both. Movac led SupaHuman's seed (Oct 2026) and has led LawVu's NZ$15m round (2023) and the Advemto seed (Emerge Fund 4). It also joins syndicates led by others, for example Advanced Navigation's US$110m Series C led by Airtree, and Cadmus Animal Health's NZ$8m round led by Brandon Capital.

Recent Activity

• October 2026: invested in Advanced Navigation's US$110m Series C (led by Airtree, with KKR, Quadrant, Main Sequence and Australia's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation); Movac joined as board observer.
• October 2026: led SupaHuman's seed with NZ$1.3m of a NZ$2.6m round via Emerge Fund 4; David Beard joined the board.
• October 2026: invested in Cadmus Animal Health's NZ$8m round, the first therapeutic company in Emerge Fund 4; Byron van Vugt joined the board.
• September 2026: Ngai Tahu Holdings appointed Movac to lead sourcing, management and execution of its venture capital strategy.
• July 2026: Growth Fund 7 closed at NZ$200m; NZ Super committed NZ$35m in June 2026. Active Investor Plus investors committed about NZ$80m across Growth Fund 7 and the Growth Opportunity Fund.

Third-party data (Tracxn) lists additional recent deals: Wellumio (seed, July 2026), AutoGrab (Series B, January 2026), Hnry (Series C, December 2025) and Avasa (seed, August 2025). The firm is actively deploying.

Portfolio Highlights

The firm's own portfolio page renders its company grid with JavaScript and the grid was not readable, so company names come from Movac's own articles and third-party coverage. Notable names: Trade Me (sold to Fairfax for NZ$720m), Vend (sold for NZ$455m), Crimson Education (unicorn), Auror, Unleashed Software, Aroa Biosurgery (ASX-listed), PowerbyProxi, GreenButton, Dawn Aerospace, LawVu, Advanced Navigation, Tradify (acquired by The Access Group, 2024), Yabble (acquired 2024), Author-it Software, Modlar and Coretex. Education conviction also includes Kindo and SupaHuman.

Team

• Mark Vivian, Partner: late stage, fundraising and capital formation; the investor-facing contact for Growth Fund 7.
• David Beard, Partner: early stage and deep tech; heads Emerge Fund 4.
• Jason Graham, Partner: late stage, SaaS and fintech; LawVu board.
• Fiona Foster, Partner: late stage, growth and go-to-market.
• Mark Stuart, Partner: late stage, product and hardware.
• Phil McCaw is Founding Partner (retired) and Advisor Emeritus. Operating Partners include Serge van Dam, Kirsty Traill, Ben Gracewood, Paul Shingles, Alia Bojilova, Ben Anderson and Rob Shaddock. The advisory board includes Randy Komisar and Lisa Nelson.

Decision Process

Partnership. The founder process is six steps: introduction and dialogue, evaluation and alignment, presentation, term sheet, due diligence, then support and growth, usually with a board seat. Movac describes its evaluation as more rigorous than most.

Founder Preferences

Standout founders with a clear technical or go-to-market edge. For Growth Fund 7 it wants businesses where sustained market fit is already proven and the goal is global scale, and it favours category leaders. Emerge Fund 4 targets deep tech, med-tech and AI at the earliest stages.

Geographic Focus

New Zealand first, with Australian and offshore-selling companies increasingly included (Advanced Navigation, AutoGrab, SupaHuman's Australian expansion). Most portfolio revenue growth is aimed at the US and Europe.

Gaps

Portfolio company domains and investment stages were not verified, so they are left empty. Fund-level AUM is not published, only capital raised.