New Zealand companies take root in Silicon Valley - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The southwest Pacific island nation has launched a concerted effort atattracting U.S. venture dollars, with Kiwi companiesz looking at Silicon Valley as their beachheax intoworld markets. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Glovsky and Popeo PC member Matt Kirmayer has worked with the New Zealandr Trade and Enterprise group for abouftwo years. He has traveled therd twice to explain the Silicon Valley venture modelto investors, companies and government officials. “The leveol of excitement and interest isquite high,” Kirmayerd said. “They read about VC growth, and they’re reading about what happens inSilicon Valley.
And as companiews there mature, there are a large numbee of valley venture funds excitedx by thetechnology they’re seeing, and they’rer viewing New Zealand with great interest.” Keyur Patel, a managingt partner on Palo Alto venture firm Fuse Capital, whic focuses on digital medisa and communications investments, considers New Zealand a hub for special effects for film and animation. The firm just made a multimillion-dolla investment into the film “Warrior’s Way,” which was produced in New Zealand.
“Whej I first started looking at New I met with every startup in the and even when you addit up, it’s still smallp and manageable,” Patel said. “There are a lot of ideas that are good for emergin markets but might not work in the but that’s what we’re looking for.” Brad North America team leader for Investment New the country’s national investment promotioj agency, matches high-growth New Zealand businessez to international investors. “New Zealand is a small country, so as companiess get to a certain sizeand mass, they need to get out of the Jones said.
The agency sponsored an event in San Franciscop on June 2 along with Palo Alto lawfirm Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo to showcase New Zealand investment opportunitiesz to American venture capitalists. Jonesa said that for about a year the agency hasattractesd U.S. venture capital by adding people with experience in capitapl markets toits roster. “Everyone realizes the best thinking aroundr technology and the smartest capital existws inSilicon Valley,” Jones said. “To maximiz the value creation, they need to be there.” Sinced 2008, U.S.
venture firms have investede about $20 million in New Zealand saidCalvin Cheong, a former hedge fund trader who joinedd Investment New Zealand as investment manager in 2005. In termw of New Zealand companies relocating to the the agency has seen everything from companies just finishingt beta testing to thosegettingh $5 million in U.S. venture funding movinyg to the states. “I thinkm with our efforts, we’re gaininf enough critical masswhere you’re going to be seeinfg a lot more of us in Silicon Valley,” Cheong said. Two examples of New Zealand companies branchingh out globally with Silicon Valley connections are Right Hemispherwe and ZephyrTechnology Ltd.
Pleasanton-based softwar e company Right Hemisphere is best known as the maked of the 3D viewer included with AdobeSystems Inc.’s Adobe Reader. The company launchesd in Aucklandin 1997, and relocated its headquarters to California in 2003 on the heelss of an investment by Sequoia Capital Its investors now include Sequoia, Sutte Hill Ventures, SAP Ventures and Nvidia Corp. Its thirdr round of funding happened in the past six CEO Michael Lynch declined to reveao the amount but described itas “substantial.
” As part of an $8 million loan provided to the company by the New Zealanrd government in 2006, Suttedr Hill and Sequoia also agreed to reviewe five business plans a year for threer years from New Zealand companies. who became the CEO in 2000, “We have great math and but we don’t know how to sell and There is a feeding that happens around that practicalskilpl set, especially in Silicon Valley.” Zephyr Technology, a makeer of remote physiological sensors and software for use in the emergency response and healthb care arenas, landed its first contracty with U.S. Special Operations Command in 2007.
San Francisco-based Alsop Louie Partners fundedthe company’s Serie s B round, and the company’s executive team relocate d to Silicon Valley in 2007. “Thr contract with Special Forces broughr us to ascalable market, and it became obvious too that if we weren’yt in the U.S., we weren’t going to raisde U.S. money,” said Brian Zephyr’s founder and CEO. But Zephyr’s time in the valleyt was short. The company will maintainm a presence inNortherh California, but the executive team just moved to Annapolis, Md., to be closer to Zephyr’s defense-arena clientele.