Punakaiki Fund news: New Funding and Vibe Communications

We re-invested in Vibe Communications

I’m delighted to report that Punakaiki Fund this week reinvested in Vibe Communications, bringing the fund’s shareholding to 24%. The remainder of the shares are owned by the executive-founders, CEO and key staff.

Vibe had a fantastic year in 2014, growing their network, launching new products and delivering for customers. It’s the company that’s taken the largest amount of my time as the sheer pace of change is a lot to keep up with.

Great companies are growing

 

Vibe was not alone in their growth: Mindscape, Timely and InfluxHQ also had fabulous years, delivering record month after record month. It’s easy to be a smart investor when you have lead founders like Ryan, Andrew, Jeremy, John-Daniel, Scott, Dania, Davey and Barry to invest your money with.

November Options Round 

We were able to make this second investment in Vibe as we just successfully closed out an options round. Our original private investors from April had the right to buy more shares, and we were very pleased when they collectively invested another $1.5 million, or 98.4% of their options. And we also have an offer out now with selected Exempt investors that is giving us more capital on top of that.

More funding for more companies

We now have money in the bank to invest in another round of companies.* At this stage in our life are generally looking to invest between $100,000 and $750,000 per company per round.

We are always on the lookout for new companies to look at. Our requirements are simple:

1: Well defined end users in a global niche, and a great product that delivers to their needs.

2: Growing revenue from paying customers that shows you know how to grow and keep growing.

3: Smart driven yet balanced founders and team who understand their niche and are in it for the long haul and the right reasons, and who we can trust.

4: Good numbers for investors. Frankly if the first three are in order then this part is easy, and we are pretty easy on valuations and terms when it comes down to it.

We continue to invest with a very long term horizon, a luxury we have as our fund has no defined lifetime. We like simple term sheets, founder-centric arrangements and being able to give help when asked, and stay back when not. So get in touch if you are a founder and are thinking of fund-raising, but maybe after Christmas – and have a good break.

*Of course we do have a wish-list of great companies whose requirements already dwarf our capacity, and who we are talking to. We will keep on our own path to growth so we can increasingly be there when companies need us.