# GD1

> GD1 is a conviction-led venture capital firm backing New Zealand technology companies from pre-seed through Series B.

GD1 manages approximately $250M AUM and has been investing in New Zealand startups since 2012. The firm operates a generalist strategy across deep tech, hardware, health tech, SaaS, and financial infrastructure.

## Investment Strategy

- Stages: Pre-seed through Series B
- Geography: New Zealand-founded companies, typically scaling globally
- Thesis areas: Industrial & hardware, space technology, health tech, software, financial infrastructure
- Core Fund 2 is currently open to wholesale investors (AIP approved)
- GD1 Select Fund focuses on late-stage growth investments from Core Fund 1 vintages

## Team

- **Vignesh Kumar** — Co-Managing Partner
- **John Kells** — Co-Managing Partner
- **Nawaz Ahmed** — General Partner
- **Aaron Small** — General Partner
- **Doug Bohaboy** — Go-To-Market Principal
- **Jonathan Tan (Jono or JT)** — Investment Associate
- **Catherine Young** — Operations Manager
- **Tracy Han** — Operations Coordinator
- **Jin Budelmann** — Head of Data + AI

## Portfolio Companies (37 active)

- **Alimetry** (health) — Non-invasive gastric mapping device for diagnosing gastrointestinal conditions — the first clinically validated diagnost… [https://www.alimetry.com]
- **Atomic Tessellator** (industrial) — The materials bottleneck is the hidden constraint on human progress. Every unsolved challenge, in any category, from aer… [https://atomictessellator.com/]
- **Auror** (software) — The world's leading retail crime intelligence platform. Auror connects retailers, law enforcement, and communities to re… [https://www.auror.co]
- **Basis** (industrial) — A smart electrical panel replacing the traditional switchboard, giving homeowners real-time energy monitoring, circuit-l… [https://www.wearebasis.com]
- **Buddy** (software) — A relationship-led marketplace for the scrap metal industry, connecting suppliers and buyers through verified profiles, … [https://www.tradebuddy.io]
- **Caruso** (software) — AI-native fund administration software for private market fund managers, trusted by 900+ funds across real estate, priva… [https://www.getcaruso.com/en-nz]
- **Dawn Aerospace** (space) — Building the world's fastest reusable aerospace plane. Dawn's Mk-II Aurora broke the sound barrier and reached the strat… [https://www.dawnaerospace.com]
- **Deconflict** (financial) — An intelligence network that helps law enforcement and banks coordinate to fight financial crime [https://deconflict.com]
- **EarnOS** (financial) — Rewards people with real value from brands for their attention, replacing traditional advertising [https://earnos.com]
- **Easy** (financial) — Faster, cheaper digital payments built on stablecoin technology [https://itseasy.co]
- **Flowingly** (software) — No-code workflow automation platform enabling enterprises to map, automate, and continuously improve operational process… [https://flowingly.io]
- **Flywheel** (software) — Marketing platform that converts e-commerce customers into brand advocates by enabling them to share content on Instagra… [https://www.useflywheel.co]
- **Formus Labs** (health) — AI-driven surgical planning software that creates patient-specific 3D models and implant plans for orthopaedic surgery. [https://formuslabs.com]
- **FoundryLab** (industrial) — Revolutionising metal casting with a proprietary electric furnace platform that reduces time-to-part from weeks to hours… [https://foundrylab.com]
- **Gluon** (financial) — A money app for saving, sending, and spending, with built-in yield and a Visa card, no bank account required [https://gluon.money]
- **Immersve** (financial) — Lets people spend their digital assets in the real world, anywhere card payments are accepted [https://immersve.com]
- **inshAllah** (financial) — Financial infrastructure built specifically for the Middle East and Southeast Asia [https://inshallah.fi]
- **Interstate** (financial) — A trading platform built for speed, executing trades across prediction markets, tokenised stocks, and more almost instan… [https://www.interstate.so]
- **Ivo** (software) — AI-powered contract intelligence platform helping legal teams review, negotiate, and manage contracts at scale — reducin… [https://www.ivo.ai]
- **JunoFem** (health) — Clinically proven pelvic floor training device that reduces urinary incontinence symptoms by up to 80%. Combines a medic… [https://www.junofem.com]
- **Layer3** (financial) — Helps companies reach and reward online users, distributing value directly to the people who engage with them [https://layer3.xyz]
- **Nextwork** (software) — Learning platform connecting aspiring tech workers with real-world projects and hiring companies. Building the career in… [https://www.nextwork.org]
- **Opacity** (software) — Lets you prove something is true without revealing the underlying private data [https://opacity.network]
- **Outlier Space** (space) — Outlier Space is unlocking microgravity with a scalable, reusable, uncrewed satellite platform. From semiconductors to b… [https://www.outlier.space/]
- **Phase One Ventures** (other) — Early-stage venture capital firm backing deep tech founders across New Zealand and Australia. [https://www.phaseoneventures.com]
- **Poof** (software) — Lets anyone build and launch an app in minutes using plain language [https://www.poof.new]
- **Polymath** (software) — A personalised maths learning app for children that makes the subject engaging through adaptive content and guided exerc… [https://polymath.how]
- **Ribbon** (software) — A professional network and AI-powered recruiting platform [https://ribbon.ai]
- **Rilla** (software) — Video streaming infrastructure that cuts the cost of serving content by up to 90% [https://rilla.network]
- **Runn** (software) — Real-time resource and project management platform for professional services teams. Strong NRR with growing US market pr… [https://www.runn.io]
- **Simfuni** (financial) — Award-winning platform that orchestrates life insurance operations, helping insurers modernise legacy systems, automate … [https://simfuni.com]
- **Surmount Systems** (software) — Securing Bitcoin against the threat quantum computers pose to encryption [https://surmount.systems]
- **Type One Energy** (industrial) — Developing stellarator fusion energy — a radically different and more stable approach to clean, unlimited power. Backed … [https://typeoneenergy.com]
- **Unofficial** (software) — A social platform and marketplace owned by the people who use it [https://officialunofficial.com]
- **Vessev** (industrial) — Electric hydrofoil vessels for commercial maritime — replacing fossil-fuelled ferries with zero-emission craft that are … [https://www.vessev.com]
- **VXT** (software) — VoIP phone system built for law firms and sales teams, integrating calls, SMS, and AI note-taking with leading CRM and p… [https://www.vxt.ai]
- **Zenno** (space) — Next-generation electric propulsion systems for small satellites — reducing the cost and complexity of in-space manoeuvr… [https://www.zenno.space]

## Recent Writing

- [Our Pre-Seed Investment in Kura Dynamics - Building the Intelligence Layer for Earth's Subsurface Hydrogen](https://gd1.vc/notes/our-pre-seed-investment-in-kura-dynamics) — Kura Dynamics is taking a fundamentally different approach to geologic hydrogen. Rather than simply 
- [GD1 Inaugural Late Summer Social & 2026 Bowling Competition](https://gd1.vc/notes/gd1-inaugural-late-summer-social-2026-bowling-competition) — GD1 hosted its inaugural Late Summer Social and Lawn Bowls Competition at the Auckland Bowling Club 
- [Between Two Worlds — Why "Web 2.5" Businesses Are the Future of the Space](https://gd1.vc/notes/between-two-worlds-why-web-2-5-businesses-are-the-future-of-the-space) — "Web 2.5" companies — hybrids that use blockchain as practical infrastructure rather than as a core 
- [Beyond the Hype: Building GD1's Crypto Fund from the Edge of the World](https://gd1.vc/notes/beyond-the-hype-building-gd1s-crypto-fund-from-the-edge-of-the-world) — How New Zealand's "Number 8 Wire Mentality," Islamic finance principles, and a rigorous Skeptic Test
- [Demystifying Venture Capital: Reflections from My First Year](https://gd1.vc/notes/demystifying-venture-capital-reflections-from-my-first-year) — Nawaz Ahmed shares hard-won lessons from launching GD1's Web3 Fund 1, including pitching to over 250
- [GD1 Investment Notes — EarnOS (Web3 Fund 1)](https://gd1.vc/notes/earnos-investment-note) — EarnOS is transforming the $1T digital advertising landscape by realigning incentives toward guarant
- [The Skeptic Test](https://gd1.vc/notes/the-skeptic-test) — A four-question framework for distinguishing genuine crypto innovation from speculative hype — askin
- [Our Series A Expansion Investment in Alimetry — Revolutionising Gastroenterology Diagnostics](https://gd1.vc/notes/alimetry-investment-notes) — GD1 led Alimetry's $30 million Series A Expansion Round, backing a wireless "ECG for the gut" device
- [Reflections on the 2024 Aerospace Summit in Christchurch: Sustainability, Innovation, and Government Support](https://gd1.vc/notes/aerospace-summit-reflections) — The 2024 Christchurch Aerospace Summit highlighted New Zealand's growing role in sustainable aerospa
- [Understanding the Rollercoaster Ride](https://gd1.vc/notes/understanding-the-rollercoaster-ride) — Simfuni co-founders Shaun Quincey and Damon O'Neill and GD1's John Kells share how mutual trust, int

## Key URLs

- Homepage: https://gd1.vc
- Portfolio: https://gd1.vc/portfolio
- Notes: https://gd1.vc/notes
- About: https://gd1.vc/about
- Team: https://gd1.vc/team
- Invest with GD1: https://gd1.vc/invest-with-us
- Full detail: https://gd1.vc/llms-full.txt