Runway June 2023

Our next Runway event of the year is being held in Wellington Wednesday 28 June under the theme of Lessons and Reflections from the GFC Applied Today!

We have a great line up of speakers, both founders and investors, who will come together to share their stories and experiences:

Angel Delivery​ was Rebecca Cass's​ first foray into entrepreneurship more than fifteen years ago. This fully female run business was one of the first on-line food delivery businesses in New Zealand. In 2020, not happy running just one rapidly growing company, Becks co-founded Qula. Qula​ is a kombucha tablet which is soluable in water and meets a consumer need for a sustainable, healthy alternative to sugary powdered drinks. Suse and Becks will talk about navigating the highs and anxiety generating lows of raising money and scaling a business, which in Becks case, are in both New Zealand and the US.

The Lanzatech Story

Lanzatech​ was founded in 2005, shortly before the GFC hit and the impacts began to be felt in New Zealand and across the world. Sean Simpson​ventured into the world of deep tech, well before "deep tech" was a well understood investment sector. Through incredible hard work and a few false starts, Lanzatech grew to become a global leader in carbon recycling technology. Sean will share his experience of raising capital in a recession, how he had to think differently to stand out and what lessons he learnt that still apply today.

Investors – Ask Me Anything session

In this session we ask some experienced early stage investors about their investment thesis, about how you get attention from investors in a tight investment environment, how you stand out from the pack, what you need to show/prove to build your investor pipeline. Sam Wong​from Blackbird Ventures​ and Phil McCaw​, founding partner of Movac​ will share their thoughts on the investment landscape and the lessons learnt from previous periods of market uncertainty. Come armed with your questions!

Speed Dating

This session is always a bit of fun and is a great way for founders to practice their elevator pitch! But the real aim is for you to meet people who might be able to help you in all sorts of ways. Each founder gets 3 minutes with an investor before they need to move on! This allows you to connect with everyone in the room for a quick chat!

Runway is designed for early stage startups - their founders and CEOs and existing and budding investor directors.

This is a full day of sharing insights, practical advice and experiences with lots of opportunities to get to know each other and make valuable connections. We conclude the day with another opportunity to network and make new friends over a glass of wine.

VENUE AND DATE

Wednesday 28 June

9:30am – 6:00pm

Prefab Hall, Wellington

Registration fee includes lunch as well as drinks and nibbles at the conclusion of the day. Doors open at 9:00am to grab a coffee before kick-off at 9:30am

The cost is $90 + GST for founders and $150 + GST for investors.