Being AI’s website went offline the Friday before its Monday February 3 suspension and stayed offline for several days.
At the same time, the firm advised the NZX its physical address had changed to a street in a light-industrial section of Avondale, West Auckland, as of Friday.
Being AI was formerly in upmarket Takapuna.
Being AI reverse-listed on the NZX on April 2 last year through the shell of Ascension Capital.
The firm was formed by a transaction that brought together three separate businesses.
Those were Send Global (“helping businesses to move and store their paper-based information” according to Being AI’s website), which accounted for the bulk of revenue; Age, a small private school operator; and the newly-formed Being Consultants.
A series of controversies ensued, including NZX issuing a “please explain” letter on April 3, 2024, its second day of trading, after the stock had tripled in value (no action was taken).
On April 4, the exchange issued its first-ever “trade with caution” alert, “strongly urging” investors to read the company’s pre-listing independent valuation report, which detailed a transaction, equivalent to 2.5c per share, that created Being AI – then trading at 11.3c.
‘Meme stock’ behaviour claim
“We observe trading in a security that appears untethered to movements that could be reasonably expected in an informed market – with trading having elements of ‘meme stock’ behaviour,” NZX said in its alert.
The same month, Being AI chairman Sean Joyce defended the firm after criticism of its AI branding and marketing positioning from investment bank Clare Capital, which said it was “calling it out”.
In its first public financials, the firm reported a net loss of $35.6 million for the six months to September 30, 2024, on revenue of $21.4m.
The firm said in an investor presentation: “Due to headwinds and increasing strategic focus, we have agreed to return Being Consultants to 2384 LP [50/50 owned by David McDonald and his wife and business partner Courtney McDonald] in return for cancelling their Contingent Consideration.
“The fair value adjustment to Contingent Consideration ($32.13m) means the loss recorded in our financial statements for the period does not reflect our trading position.”
On November 15, 2024, Being AI said its submission for funding for a new charter school in Auckland had been unsuccessful.
RegCo placed Being AI in a trading halt between December 2 and December 5, 2024, as it sought more information on the sale of Being Consultants, which was ultimately confirmed.
Being Ventures – originally billed the company’s investment arm for AI opportunities – was offloaded at the same time.
Being AI said it planned to focus on an AI marketplace and “AI-enabled learning and education platforms”.
Later the same month, Being AI told the NZX it had completed one of four acquisitions announced to shareholders in 2024, paying $200,000 for the business assets of Villa Education Trust.
Three potential acquisitions – Tymestack, Spectrum Consulting and Solution Dynamics – all technology companies with an artificial intelligence (AI) product, did not pan out as originally planned.
On January 24, 2025, Being AI said it had reached a settlement in its defamation proceedings against Clare Capital and its directors, whom it said had agreed to pay $150,000.
Clare Capital managing partner Mark Clare said: “We have always stood behind our financial analysis of Being AI. We have not provided any admission of wrongdoing or apology.”
Independent directors Sean Joyce, Roger Gower and Joe Jensen all retired from the board in October 2024, with Andrew Higgs and Brett O’Riley (who replaced Joyce as chairman) taking their place before they left the roles at the end of January 2025.
The resignation of Higgs and Riley, without replacements being found, triggered the February 3 suspension.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
