Investments groups Sparkbox and K1W1 have launched a start-up fund for entrepreneurs from business incubator The Icehouse.
Icehouse chief executive Andrew Hamilton says the fund will help start-up entrepreneurs with promising ideas to test them and build a case for the next stage of funding from angel investors.
Hamilton says too often, when funding is too late, great ideas can fall over.
The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund's seed co-investment fund will match investments made, so entrepreneurs can get up to $150,000 in funding per project to prove market size, market interest and to protect intellectual property.
It is expected the fund will back up to five projects a year.
Sparkbox's Greg Sitters wants the fund to help produce investible companies and successful founders.
Andrew Sharp, general manager of Icehouse graduate company BlackHawk, says his business would be years ahead of where it is now had the fund been available when he was starting.
BlackHawk is involved in engineering a vehicle anti-theft and tracking system, which was recognised by Icehouse as having the potential to become a world-leading company.
"It's almost impossible to overstate how tough it is to get a start-up company with big ambitions off the ground," Sharp says.
