Capital efficiency in startups: what does regaining control of your runway really involve?
News from New Zealand's startup ecosystem, straight to your inbox.
Good morning Caffeinators,
Happy Thursday.
The weekend is in sight and to give you the motivation to reach it, help yourself to a fresh update on NZ’s startup ecosystem.
Today we’re sharing a fascinating piece from Re-Leased’s Founder Tom Wallace on the epic turn around his company undertook and what other founders can learn from it.
As well as your usual Daily Shot, we’ll also take a look at what’s heating up and cooling down in global markets and it turns out AI could be going nuclear in the most literal way.
Sit back, sip that coffee and enjoy your Caffeine.
Finn & the Caffeine team
Callaghan gives rocket boost to startups: More good news blasting off from the AeroSpace summit this week. Callaghan Innovation has allocated $17.5 million in co-funding to Astrix Astronautics, Basis NZ, Emrod, Fabrum Solutions, Toku Eyes, Zincovery Process Technologies and Zenno Astronautics. The Ārohia Trailblazer Innovation Grant supports businesses benefiting the New Zealand innovation ecosystem and that have global potential. More here.
Congrats to the latest Founder Catalyst Cohort! Founder Catalyst is powered by the Ministry Of Awesome and provides a launchpad for young startups to elevate connection with industry experts and accelerate their path to success. Meet the new cohort here. Think your startup could be part of the next batch? Apply now and learn more here.
Gisborne Leads Economic Growth in June Quarter, Surpassing Major Cities as Construction Booms: RNZ reports on some fascinating data from ASB breaking down the economic health of New Zealand. The Regional Economic Scoreboard ranks regions based on their annual growth in employment, building consents and retail sales. For the first time, Gisborne has taken the top spot.
Screaming opportunities for NZ Inc in sustainable supply chains: Interesting piece from Hamish McNicol over at NBR on a recent DLA Piper report showing how NZ businesses risk being left out in the cold if they do not meet the increasingly sustainability needs of large overseas firms. The report surveyed over 600 consumer goods, beverage, fashion and food firms. Some interesting tidbits include 54% of respondents saying the stakes were ‘very high’ when it came to getting sustainability right and 67% were locking in sustainable suppliers with exclusivity arrangements. Read here.
From founder mode to ‘God’ mode?: Look, we know we’ve talked about OpenAI a lot this week but like it or not, there’s a lot to talk about. Yesterday Sam Altman posted a fascinating vision for where he sees AI’s future, including a startling claim that Artificial General Intelligence - when AI is as capable or more capable as a human across most tasks - could be here ‘within a few thousand days’. Tech Crunch has a great writeup parsing what is plausible and what is capital H ‘Hype’.
AI goes nuclear: The latest powerful and potentially dangerous emerging technology could lead to a revival of an old one. The surging power demands of AI have prompted Constellation Energy to propose re-opening the Three Mile Island Nuclear Facility, which famously melted down in 1979 (while causing no injuries) and stalled America’s nuclear power momentum. With OpenStar building a fusion reactor 20 minutes drive from the Beehive, a new nuclear age could be just around the corner.
Car Wars: Geopolitical tension between the US and its rivals could cause another swerve for the future of autonomous vehicles. As the NYT reports, the Biden administration has announced a sweeping initiative to ban Chinese-developed software from internet-connected cars in the United States. The proposed prohibitions would prevent testing of self-driving cars on U.S. roads by Chinese automakers and could extend to Russia and other U.S. adversaries.
Capital efficiency in startups: what does regaining control of your runway really involve?
Re-Leased’s Founder Tom Wallace shares his insights on a dramatic turnaround.
On 17 March 2023, The New Zealand Herald published the ominous headline: "Jobs Could Be on the Line for Hawke’s Bay Re-Leased Staff." Fast forward 18 months, and the tone was drastically different with the startup making waves in the NBR with this cracker: "Re-Leased Raises US$12.5m in a Round Led by Movac."
How did they pull off such a dramatic turnaround? What changed?
Over the past year, Re-Leased has been laser-focused on capital efficiency and operational effectiveness. Pair that with strategic product investment, and the results speak for themselves — a rent roll of US$7.5 billion, 1,400 customers, and major investor confidence.
We sat down with Re-Leased’s Founder Tom Wallace and the startup’s CRO Dai Williams for some (unfiltered) advice for startups looking to regain control of their capital efficiency*. Read more here.
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