Retail investment platform Sharesies has issued new shares worth $3 million to Ngāi Tahu Holdings in an extension of its $50m capital raise completed last October.
Sharesies said the South Island iwi had planned to join the funding round but decided to wait so the investment could be made by a newly established manager Greenmount Capital.
Greenmount is the new fund management arm of another Ngāi Tahu investment called GreenMount Advisory, which is a tax and corporate advisory firm founded by Ryan Davis (Ngāi Tahu – Ōraka Aparima).
The Sydney-based advisory firm poached NZ Super Fund portfolio manager Hamish Blackman in October to run the new fund management arm, which was given a mandate from Ngāi Tahu.
Kaihautu of Ngāi Tahu Holdings, Craig Ellison said the iwi fund had decided to invest after several months of talks with the Sharesies team.
“To build wealth and opportunities for our iwi over the long term will require continued investment into innovative, sustainable, earlier stage companies such as Sharesies. Our partnership with Greenmount now gives us a vehicle to do so,” he said.
Sharesies co-founder Brooke Roberts said Ngai Tahu Holdings was a strategic shareholder with values that closely aligned with the B-corp.
“Including a focus on intergenerational wealth creation and positively impacting communities in Aotearoa,” she said.
The NZ-based investment platform raised $50m in the October round led by US-based venture firm Amplo, which also invested in Robinhood.
That funding round valued Sharesies at $500 million, with the new capital earmarked for expanding the company in NZ and breaking into the Australian market.
