Venture capital fund Maker Partners has raised $15 million in an oversubscribed capital raise as the investment company looks to pad out its portfolio with homegrown investment in a bid to achieve its global ambitions.
Maker Partners co-founder Rod Snodgrass, who was chief executive of Spark Ventures for almost four years, said the firm wasn’t interested in playing “startup roulette” when it came to funding NZ startups.
Maker Partners wanted to focus on “passionate founders doing great things”, Snodgrass said, and invest in those that the company believed had a lot of growth potential.
“We want to invest early, take an active role and add value through our extensive personal experience and professional networks,” he said in a statement.
The investment company’s founder list also includes the ex-CEO of Infratil and HRL Morrison & Co, Marko Bogoievski; Hemant Walter-Rao, who helped build India’s first-ever e-commerce site; and Jonathon Reid, who is best known for his work at VMG Ventures.
Maker Partners' first three investments were women’s fashion brand Paris Georgia; Abel Odor, a fragrance brand launched by Frances Shoemack; and home-based online services platform NexDo.
Maker has invested $1m in Paris Georgia, $2.2m in Abel and $1.5m in NexDo.
The company said in a statement that it was looking to establish a “clear niche” in the early-stage investment sector and had a tight focus on investing in founders that were driven by purpose – as well as mass-market products that had the potential to go global.
Maker Partners was founded at the beginning of the year.
