New VC fund launched in New Zealand

It has been a big year for regional biotech-flavoured venture funds to be launched from New Zealand. The latest is Finistere Partners, a San-Diego based venture capital firm, which has launched a new fund targeted at agricultural biotechnology and medical devices.

Launched in Auckland two weeks ago and with a target value of $US21 million, Finistere's Oceania Fund is being financed primarily from New Zealand with a view to investing in agricultural biotechnology, industrial and environmental biotechnology, medical devices, nutraceuticals and functional foods.

"Australians and New Zealanders bring a lot of expertise in agbio and in medical devices to the table," said Finistere venture partner Robert Gilmour. "There are good devices around Australia and New Zealand that need an American flavour in order to be able to exit them, and there's also a lot of very valuable device deals in the States which people make a lot of money out of."

Finistere currently has two other funds -- its $US25 million Chicago Fund, which has a similar focus to the Oceania Fund but is financed primarily from within the US, and an AgResearch Fund, which is seeking agbiotech and agritech technologies for licensing and development in Australia and New Zealand.

In total, Finistere is looking to raise around $US60 million, according to some reports. "It's not that hard [to raise the money], not for good projects," Gilmour said.

Finistere is considering creating an Australian fund similar to the Oceania Fund. "I've been talking to some people this week about expanding or doing an Oceania Australia fund here, with the same focus," said Gilmour.

The launch of Finistere's Oceania Fund follows the launch of Pioneer Capital's New Zealand Innovation Fund in June. With a target of $80 million, the fund aims to invest in IT, manufacturing, design and biotechnology.

And in March, BioPacific Ventures launched a $150 million fund to target agriculture and plant-based biotechnology in Australasia. "Our aim is to invest in what we see are the competitive strengths of Australia and New Zealand," said BioPacific Ventures' Andrew Kelly earlier this year. "In consumer terms, that is the convergence of food and health."