Hello!
Back in April we shared the four areas we’re backing with Fund II. A quick reminder, because they still feel exactly right:
Service-as-a-Software – services that behave like software businesses, with AI supercharging both product and operations.
Sovereignty – industries and infrastructure that stay local, resilient, sovereign.
Human Enhancement – tools that make us healthier, stronger, more capable.
Robotics – automation that takes on the messy, physical world.
We are proud to share two more investments we made from Fund II:
Wych — the plumbing you don’t see (but can’t live without)
If you’ve ever tried to fix a leaky pipe, you know the pain of “infrastructure.” That’s what Wych is solving — but for open data. They handle the gnarly parts like consent flows, accreditation, and secure integrations so banks, fintechs, and soon energy and telcos don’t have to.
They’ve already landed Kiwibank (with a nine-year deal, which in startup years is basically forever), Westpac, and others. And here’s the kicker: Australia’s Consumer Data Right is the most ambitious framework anywhere — it’s rolling out sector by sector, and other countries (NZ from 2025, Canada, Asia) are gearing up to copy it. That means anything built for Australia first has a head start globally.
For us, Wych is a classic service-as-a-software play. Their customers are buying open data compliance. As a service. At software margins.
Elo — smart nutrition without the friction
Now let’s jump to something more personal: what we put in our bodies. Elo Health is building the rails for personalized nutrition. They’re the behind-the-scenes engine that lets big health and wellness brands launch personalized products without having to figure out biomarkers, manufacturing, or fulfillment.
It’s already working. Luminary Vitamins hit significant ARR milestones in 15 months with zero customer acquisition costs. How? By using Elo’s repeatable playbook inside fertility clinics. And now they’re scaling that model across new clinics and into longevity with Outside — a brand that touches 100M+ outdoor and fitness enthusiasts every month.
This one is human enhancement in action. Plug-and-play infrastructure that compounds every time a new partner, biomarker, or vertical comes online.
Why both matter
Wych and Elo don’t look similar on the surface — one’s open-data plumbing, the other’s personalized nutrition. But they rhyme. They both take something slow and messy (compliance, formulation) and turn it into something fast, scalable, and invisible. That’s the kind of building block we love backing.
Together with recent investments like Foundry Lab (digital casting for onshoring) and Puralink (robots for pipeline inspection), they show what Fund II is all about: AI-enabled services, sovereign capabilities, human uplift, and robotics that actually pay back in cost and reliability.
Come see it live
We’ll be running four panels on these focus areas at Portfolio Day on October 21st in Auckland. If you’re curious to hear from the founders building this future — and meet the people who will shape the next decade of the ANZ ecosystem — you should come. Here’s the link: Auckland Startup Week — Portfolio Day.
As always — if you want a deeper deck, an intro, or just a quick chat about any of these companies, reply to this email or drop us a line.
Best,
Hendrik & Mark — and the NZVC team