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5 of 9

Ep 9: Joerg Henkenhaf (Broken Heart Spirits) on making the world's best vodka & bringing sustainability into spirits
In this pod, we interview Joerg from Broken Heart Spirits, a multi-award-winning spirits manufacturer based in Queenstown. Joerg shares his journey from being an electronic engineer and airline pilot to becoming a master distiller. Originally from Germany's Rhine Valley, he discovered New Zealand during his time flying commercial planes here and eventually purchased a vineyard in 2001. He started distilling in 2004 after noticing unused grape skins in local wineries and wanting to do something about that waste. The company name "Broken Heart" comes from the tragic loss of his business partner, Berndt. The discussion covers their current equity crowdfunding campaign to build a new facility combining a distillery and tasting room, their sustainable initiatives including innovative pouch packaging, and their numerous international awards, including being named the world's best vodka in 2022.If you'd like to learn more about their raise, head on over to: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/investments/620-- Kia ora and welcome everyone to THE FUNDING FILES, where we explore the highs, lows and cashflows of funding a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Huge thanks to the founders for sharing their stories, to our board for inspiring us to make this pod, and to Rory Harnden for making our design and intro string.
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Ep 8: Wills Cameron (Remarkable Cream) on launching sell-out cream liqueurs & scaling with his crowd
In this episode of the Funding Files, we interview Wills Cameron, a third-generation spirit seller who has re-launched his family's cream liqueur business. Wills shares how he transformed his father's and grandfather's previous business model into a modern multi-channel approach. He talks about how they started, by selling out their first batch through a Facebook group during COVID. Pretty much immediately, they faced manufacturing challenges that led to establishing their own creamery. Wills secured initial investment from two early supporters and customers to fund their factory and early growth. He's launched many products, but another sellout was their keto Pina Colada generating $340,000 in online sales within 30 days. Wills is currently running an equity crowdfunding campaign to fund expansion, including a new production facility to meet growing demand. Learn more here: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/investments/615-remarkable-cream-- Kia ora and welcome everyone to THE FUNDING FILES, where we explore the highs, lows and cashflows of funding a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Huge thanks to the founders for sharing their stories, to our board for inspiring us to make this pod, and to Rory Harnden for making our design and intro string.
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Ep 7: Alliv Samson (Kami) on going from failing to raise a follow-on round from early investors to a massive (partial) trade sale
This podcast is all about the funding journey of Kami, a digital classroom platform used by 90% of US K-12 schools. The conversation is between Anna Guenther, co-host of The Funding Files and co-founder of PledgeMe, and Alliv Samson, one of the co-founders of Kami. Alliv delves into Kami's beginnings in 2012 as a university project called Notable, designed to make lectures more interactive. Initially, they faced challenges in monetizing the product and gaining traction, leading to a pivot from targeting university students to focusing on PDF annotation for a broader audience. Alliv shares the company's early funding experiences, from a $10,000 seed round in 2013 to subsequent rounds through local and international investors to a partial sell out in 2024 and huge returns for investors. She emphasizes the importance of product-led growth, driven by user feedback, which eventually led them to focus on the EdTech sector around 2016. A pivotal moment was attending an EdTech conference in the US with support from a Education New Zealand grant, where they discovered the specific needs of teachers using Chromebooks and digital textbooks - and had one of their users literally cry at the reduction in her workload thanks to their product.The conversation highlights Kami's organic growth, achieving profitability and cash flow positivity before seeking further investment. In 2019, they raised approximately $1.9 million New Zealand dollars to scale their operations. The COVID-19 pandemic caused explosive growth, with sign-ups reaching a million users a day. Alliv also shares the story of Kami being recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential companies in 2020.Alliv discusses Kami's trade sale where investors like NZGCP made around a 75x return on their investment. A highlight of their funding journey was getting Sam Altman from OpenAI to invest in. A low point was when their initial investors didn't want to invest more money after the first year of the business.Interested in what Kami are doing? you should work with them! Check out their current jobs here: https://www.kamiapp.com/careers/-- Kia ora and welcome everyone to THE FUNDING FILES, where we explore the highs, lows and cashflows of funding a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Huge thanks to the founders for sharing their stories, to our board for inspiring us to make this pod, and to Rory Harnden for making our design and intro string.
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Ep 6: Greg Shanahan (Veriphi) on raising privately & publicly, developing Deeptech, and persistence
In this episode of the Funding Files we interview Greg Shanahan, founder of Veriphi, about Veriphi’s innovative solution to prevent medication errors using laser technology, AI, and cloud computing, and his big goal to create a billion-dollar company here in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the pod we cover Veriphi's development, funding journey, and future plans with the goal to reduce the 3% of hospital patients harmed by preventable medication errors, particularly with high-impact cancer drugs. Greg shares his background, including his work at Fisher and Paykel, which inspired the idea to apply a recurring revenue model to intravenous drug administration, noting that 30 drugs are administered every second in the US.The conversation focuses on Veriphi's funding history, starting with personal funds and early investors like Roger Lampen, who Greg cold-called when he saw him investing in other health tech companies. Greg shares insights on capital raising, emphasizing persistence and focus. He advises founders to manage stress and focus on the steps they think will make them succeed. Ultimately, Greg highlights the importance of building a team where everyone feels ownership and contributes to the company's success.Veriphi are currently equity crowdfunding on PledgeMe - you can find their campaign here: https://pledgeme.co.nz/investments/608-veriphi-limited-- Kia ora and welcome everyone to THE FUNDING FILES, where we explore the highs, lows and cashflows of funding a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Huge thanks to the founders for sharing their stories, to our board for inspiring us to make this pod, and to Rory Harnden for making our design and intro string.
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Ep 5: Laura Bell Main (SafeStack) on bootstrapping, raising from VC and profitability in hard times
In this pod, we learn about Laura from Safestack's journey in building her company, from its inception as a cybersecurity consultancy to its evolution into a VC-backed platform with over 25,000 security learners in 80 countries.Laura shares her journey as a software engineer and security enthusiast, detailing the origins of her passion and the unique approach Safestack takes in integrating security with software development. The conversation also delves into Safestack's funding journey, starting with her quitting her job with a new baby and $300 in the bank, bootstrapping through consultancy revenue, to securing investments from various VC firms. Laura shares insights into the lessons learned during fundraising, team scaling, and navigating market shifts, particularly the economic downturn in 2023. She emphasizes the importance of adapting to market conditions, making tough decisions, and maintaining a focus on profitability. This podcast is entertaining, enlightening, and a must-listen for anyone interested in lessons on raising from Venture Capital.-- Kia ora and welcome everyone to THE FUNDING FILES, where we explore the highs, lows and cashflows of funding a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Huge thanks to the founders for sharing their stories, to our board for inspiring us to make this pod, and to Rory Harnden for making our design and intro string.
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