Here’s this week’s fundraising announcements:
Outset Ventures closes NZ$41.5 Million fund II
Auckland-based Outset Ventures has successfully closed Fund II at NZ$41.5 million (A$38.4m), surpassing its original NZ$30 million target by over a third. Supported by more than 150 investors, this fund aims to back New Zealand startups pushing breakthroughs in science and engineering. Outset’s portfolio includes notable names like Rocket Lab, LanzaTech, and Mint Innovation. Their Future House incubator currently supports over 20 deep tech companies. Fund II has already made early investments in OpenStar Technologies, Ternary Kinetics, E Leviate, Zincovery, and Kelvius, which together have raised nearly NZ$70 million.
The government-backed NZ Growth Capital Partners contributed NZ$15 million through its Elevate NZ Venture Fund, benefiting from a $100 million boost in the 2025 Budget. Since launching its first $12 million fund in 2021, Outset has backed more than 26 startups focused on energy, aerospace, medical tech, and more, including Kwetta, Wellumio, Aquila, and RespirAq.
Patriot Resources raises $2.2 Million
Patriot Resources Limited closed a $2.2 million capital raise, attracting strong support from existing shareholders, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals.
Standards Australia enters VC market with $3.8 million pre-seed investment
Standards Australia’s VC arm, Kungari, made its debut investment by participating in a $3.8 million pre-seed round for CalcTree, a calculation management platform described as “GitHub meets Notion.”
The round, led by Foundamental, included backing from Suffolk Technologies, Antler VC, Autodesk, and Bentley employees. CalcTree was founded during the Antler accelerator by Onur Ekinci, Tim Rawling, and Mahan Lamei.
AI video analytics startup Unleash Live raises $17 Million Series B
Unleash Live, a nine-year-old AI-powered video analytics firm improving workplace safety and productivity, secured $17 million in Series B funding. Valued at $100 million, the company did not disclose backers, but records indicate Austrian family office JR Investment participated. Previous investors include Roger Allen’s Patagorang Investment Group, Amaysim co-founders, and New York’s Revel Partners.
Vively raises $1.6 million seed round to expand metabolic health platform
Vively, a metabolic health monitoring platform focusing on continuous glucose monitoring for pre-diabetes, raised $1.6 million led by Archangel Ventures, with support from Bupa Ventures and others.
Archangel also led Vively’s $1.5 million pre-seed round in 2022 shortly after CEO Tim Veron and co-founder Michael Pang launched the platform.
GenAI VC funding highlights growing US-China gap
GlobalData reveals a widening gap in GenAI venture capital between the US and China. US deals soared from 50 in 2020 to over 600 in 2024, with 2025 already exceeding 200 deals. VC investment surged from $800 million in 2020 to $39 billion in 2024, surpassing $50 billion in the first five months of 2025.
In contrast, China’s GenAI VC deals peaked at 39 in 2024, with just 14 deals so far in 2025. Funding rose from $40 million in 2020 to about $400 million in 2023, dipped to $140 million in 2024, and rebounded to $250 million in early 2025.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
