Mark Dillon, Aroha Drinks

Some of the startups looked a little nervous as they waited their turn to present to our team of investors during the final pitch for the Unlimited Investment Challenge this week. But spare a thought for Bridget Liddell, who arrived at 4am from the US, then spent the whole day enbedded in the team of investors. She and Derek Handley were there to match the startups with members of our informal advisory panel, a stellar line-up of offshore Kiwis put together with the help of Kea.


Donna and Simon Musgrave from Tru2U

Ten startups got to pitch through the day to a panel of nine investors plus Liddell and Handley. The investors were Carlos Carralho from Ice Angels, Dion Mortenson from Movac, Greg Sitters from Sparkbox, Norman Evans from Upstart, Craig Styris from Pioneer Capital, Ralph Shale and Larry Podmore from iGrow, Miles Hockly from Powerhouse Ventures and Simon Holdsworth from Evander Management.


Sunil Vather from Im-Able Limited

We will bring you more news of investments later. For now, it’s safe to say that after four years, the Unlimited Investment Challenge is starting to create a real buzz.

This isn’t some kind of investment beauty challenge where we have a million bucks to throw at the winner. This is about taking startups on a journey to become investment ready, then putting them before a panel of the country’s top investors.

“For us the value was just as much in the phenomenal support we received through the preparation process, as it was in having the opportunity to present ourselves to a carefully selected and pre-qualified investors,” says Simon Musgrave of Tru2U. “The whole process was outstanding, putting our business under the microscope and directing our focus to where the true value lies in our business!”

You can find images from the day and the after-match function at our Facebook page

Photography: Marcel Tromp

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