2021 Impact Investment Readiness Programme (IIRP) recipients announced
Ellie and Mark from Cleanery, and Vlatko Materic from Hot Lime Labs. Both businesses are recipients in the November round of the Impact Investment Readiness Programme 2021.
For the sixth year running we are very proud to announce the full line up of remarkable impact businesses receiving funding from the Ākina Impact Investment Readiness Programme.
This programme provides funding of up to $30,000 for impact-led businesses to spend on professional support that gets them ready for investment. Previously, we’ve supported businesses like SuperGenerous, LearnCoach, Zincovery and Mentemia, who have each gone on to receive over $1 million in impact investment.
The programme is run by Ākina, but programme funding comes from our generous programme partners The Tindall Foundation, Kiwibank, Foundation North, WEL Energy Trust and Rotary Wellington. This year there was a total funding pool of $275,000 – the largest ever!
Director of Ākina invest, Jackson Rowland, said the Impact Investment Readiness programme was a proven way to support the number of impact investments being made.
“The recent RIAA report shows that amount of money available for investment into impact businesses continues to grow – it’s now over $3 billion – but the number of impact investment deals being made is still pretty low. That’s because not enough businesses are ready to receive that money. That’s the problem this programme is addressing.” he said. “Ultimately, we want to see more growing businesses in Aotearoa that – like these awesome recipients – improve people’s lives or the environment”.
The Ākina programme is currently the only one of its kind in Aotearoa New Zealand. In Australia, the government supports an investment programme similar to this one; and Ākina is calling for the New Zealand Government to do the same to accelerate the growth of the New Zealand impact investing market.
*This article was amended on 1 November to include the addition of the November round of recipients.
November round recipients
Brainy Picture People
Brainy Picture People have created a brand new way to teach literacy, to make reading and spelling easy for struggling learners. They are digitising this new method in order to scale the number of students using the platform – but they need to raise capital to enable this.
Certified Energy
Certified Energy is the administrator of the New Zealand Energy Certificate System - a platform used by energy generators and retailers to track and differentiate retail energy products. Certified Energy is preparing to raise capital in order to properly support growth in the market and further develop the platform to drive greater impact.
Cleanery
Cleanery has developed incredibly effective cleaning and personal care products delivered as a powder that dissolves in water at home. This eliminates single-use bottles and the emissions, hassle, and cost of shipping bulky packaging and water around the world.
An early stage business preparing for their first capital raise, they have an amazing team and a scalable manufacturing plant producing these products for mainstream consumers.
Hot Lime Labs
Hot Lime Labs has developed carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology for the commercial greenhouse industry. Their clean, renewable CO2 allows growers to boost yields, reduce their carbon footprint and transition to renewable energy. The process involves burning waste biomass (wood and crop), replacing commonly used fossil fuels. Ākina is assisting them to prepare funding options to scale up production.
September round recipients
3BagsFull
3 Bags Full provide educational pathways and mentoring for Māori and Pacific young people to enter the tech sector. Their programmes are going from strength to strength, and are now ready to scale the country, and funding from this programme is going to help them get ready for that.
Nau Mai Rā
Nau Mai Rā are New Zealand’s first kaupapa Māori power company, set up to help solve power poverty while also giving back to Māori initiatives through the spirit of Manaakitanga. They have a huge waitlist of customers wanting to sign up, and this funding will enable them to identify their growth strategy to prepare for these customers.
Olive & Ash
Olive & Ash produce a plant based alternative to mince called Vince. It’s made completely out of vegetables, and is already being sold in some supermarkets and specialty stores. They need a bigger facility to keep up with demand, which is why they applied for this programme.
Usedfully
To meet the world’s time critical climate targets, Usedfully has taken a whole of system, national scale approach to decarbonising the clothing and textile sector. To do this they are co-designing with industry a low carbon, circular textile system that delivers scale and impact.
Wanaka Wastebusters
Wastebusters are working towards Zero Waste through reduction, reuse and recycling in Wānaka and Central Otago. They have operated for over 20 years, and have exciting plans to grow their impact even further, which funding from this programme will help with.
ZeroJet
ZeroJet is an innovative startup company working on solving a massive pollution problem in the marine industry. ZeroJet partners with boat builders to provide a turnkey electric jet propulsion system for small boats and has a goal to replace 10,000 combustion outboards within 5 years.
