Backing Kiwi founders
building for the world.
Phase One is a founder community, growth incubator, and venture fund — partnering with New Zealand startups that obsess over their customers and want to change the world.
Operators first. Investors second.
Phase One is run by operators who've been part of some of Australasia's most successful companies. Supported by a bench of advisors covering GTM, engineering, brand and capital markets.
Before founding Phase One, Mahesh was an early leader at Canva, and held executiive roles at Airtasker and Simply Wall St. Mahesh sits on the Board of Ministry of Awesome, one of New Zealand's leading founder-support organisation.
Shipra has led product at some of the world's most loved SaaS companies — including Canva, Xero, and Octopus Deploy — developing a product-led approach built on user empathy, business value, and always starting with the problem.
Simon brings broad leadership and operational experience from executive Product & Technology roles with some of New Zealand's most successful public and private companies, including Trade Me, Halter, and Serko.
Three things we look for.
Customer obsession
We back founders who understand their customers in high resolution — and who are obsessed about solving their problem.
Global by default
New Zealand is a launchpad, not a market. Our companies are designed for international demand from day one - customer love, product, and ambition all built for scale.
Founders helping founders
The strongest moat is a community of operators who've shipped before. Phase One is that community, with capital attached.
From community to capital, in four stages.
One pathway, four entry points. Most of our portfolio met us before they pitched us.
Community events, shared digital spaces, Founder dinners, and social events across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
An informal program with weekly calls, pitch practice and connection with our advisor community.
We co-invest in pre-seed and seed rounds for companies in our community. Cheque sizes typically range from $25k to $100k NZD.
Pro-rata reserves through Series A. We support the portfolio as they get ready to scale, and help introduce them to global VCs.
The quick answers.
Do you only invest in companies in the Phase One community?
No, although most of our investments have come through companies that have been involved with our community prior to fundraising.
What's your geographic focus?
We invest in companies founded by New Zealanders headquartered in New Zealand, or with substantive operations here. International markets are the goal — local roots are the requirement.
At what stage do you typically invest?
Pre-seed and seed. We don't lead or co-lead but have co-invested with all the fabulous Australasian VCs you will have heard of.
How do I apply to join the community?
Unfortunately we're closed for new community members and investments at the moment. Drop us a line though, and we'll let you know when we're taking on more start-ups.