Angel investing in New Zealand is organised through regional clubs and nationwide investor networks. These groups help individual investors assess young companies together and connect founders with capital, commercial experience, and potential board support.
This mapping profiles eight active angel networks and investor groups based in New Zealand. They range from established organisations with professional investment teams to newer regional initiatives, reflecting different approaches to sourcing deals, conducting due diligence, and coordinating individual investor participation.
What the mapping reveals
Local networks connect founders to a national market
Regional identity is a prominent feature of New Zealand’s angel networks, but investment relationships frequently extend across regional boundaries. Nelson Angels considers companies throughout New Zealand while maintaining a particular interest in Tasman, and Flying Kiwi Angels works with other angel groups and funds to assemble investment rounds. Mainland Angel Investors provides another model, connecting investors through events across five South Island locations.
Together, these examples suggest that a local network can provide an entry point to a wider financing community. Its value includes the investors it can introduce, the expertise it can gather, and its ability to bring other participants into a round.
Shared structures are changing the regional map
Canterbury Angels amalgamated with Mainland Angel Investors in May 2024. In 2026, MIG Angels joined forces with Launch Taranaki and established a partnership with Foodeast, extending its regional presence across Taranaki, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay. Foodeast’s new Hawke’s Bay Investment Group is also developing shared investment administration with neighbouring regions while retaining its local identity and investor relationships.
These changes point towards wider regional structures that preserve local access. They also affect how the landscape should be counted. The eight profiles represent named networks and communities, with some operating through connected structures rather than eight independent pools of capital.
Shared diligence supports individual investment decisions
Angel Investors Marlborough explicitly operates without a pooled fund, leaving investment decisions to individual members. Enterprise Angels combines individual investing with managed funds, while Flying Kiwi Angels relies on members to champion opportunities and decide individually whether to invest. These structures allow networks to coordinate screening and due diligence while leaving investment decisions with participating investors.
For founders, the practical distinction is who must commit capital. Where members invest directly, a network can coordinate screening, due diligence and administration while the amount raised still depends on individual commitments. Understanding that process helps explain why investor champions and relationships within a network matter.
The networks
Angel HQ
Based in Wellington, Angel HQ brings individual investors together to assess and back New Zealand companies with the potential to expand into large markets. Founders can attend free Angelic Drop-In clinics before seeking investment, while the club’s nominee structure gives participating members a single entry on a company’s shareholder register. The group backed energy pricing software company Factor ahead of its April 2025 pre-seed round, with Gentrack subsequently acquiring the business in May 2026.
Angel Investors Marlborough
Established in 2017 and based in Blenheim, Angel Investors Marlborough connects individual investors and business professionals with companies seeking early funding. The club operates without a pooled fund, using monthly meetings, screened opportunities and member-led due diligence to support individual investment decisions. Its investment criteria emphasise capable founders, differentiated products or services and the ability to scale internationally, while portfolio founders connect through webinars and in-person events.
Enterprise Angels
Founded in 2008 and based in Tauranga, Enterprise Angels supports young New Zealand companies through an investor membership network, a full-time team and managed funds. Members make their own investment decisions and contribute sector expertise to due diligence, while investor directors and an exit committee support companies beyond the initial raise. Its investments have included visitor management software company SwipedOn, which was acquired by SmartSpace Software in 2018.
Flying Kiwi Angels
Established in 2014, Flying Kiwi Angels operates across New Zealand, with members helping companies prepare for investment, conducting due diligence and contributing to governance. Prospective investments need a member champion, and rounds can bring in other angel groups or funds while individual investors retain discretion over their commitments. Its NEXT GEN programme gives eligible investors under 35 a way to assess live opportunities together and vote on investments, creating a practical route into angel investing.
Hawke’s Bay Investment Group
Launched by Foodeast Haumako in Hastings in March 2026, Hawke’s Bay Investment Group brings local investors together around young companies and business growth opportunities. The initiative builds on two investor forums held in 2025 and provides curated opportunities, investor discussions and connections to national networks. Supported by Willis Legal, Nexia New Zealand and FMG, it is developing a shared regional investment structure linked to MIG Angels and neighbouring regions while maintaining its local identity and investor relationships.
Mainland Angel Investors
Established in 2020, Mainland Angel Investors connects investors across Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, Wānaka and Invercargill, following its amalgamation with Canterbury Angels in May 2024. Its regular pitch events combine local gatherings with online participation, supported by screened opportunities, investor education and nominee arrangements. In September 2026, restaurant booking platform First Table named Mainland Angels among the existing investors backing its NZ$12 million funding round.
MIG Angels
Founded in 2007, MIG Angels is facilitated by The Factory in Palmerston North and focuses primarily on founder-led businesses at the pre-seed and seed stages. Members review opportunities through quarterly meetings and shared due diligence, with investments held through a nominee structure and a published portfolio that includes BioLumic and Bovonic. In 2026, the group joined forces with Launch Taranaki and partnered with Foodeast, extending its meetings and local investment opportunities across Taranaki, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay.
Nelson Angels
Nelson Angels is a Nelson-based investment group backing startups throughout New Zealand, with particular emphasis on the Tasman region. Members invest individually, collectively and alongside other angel groups, while contributing mentoring, business experience and board support. Its investments have included Tectonus, which develops technology designed to improve the earthquake resilience of buildings and other structures.
Methodology
This mapping covers New Zealand-based groups that organise individual investors to source, evaluate, and participate in startup investments. It includes membership clubs, regional angel networks, and organised investor groups that facilitate recurring early-stage investment activity.
Research was completed on 22 October 2026. Entries were checked against official websites, recent network communications, investment events, company announcements, and regional agency reporting, with current operating evidence principally drawn from 2025 and 2026. Inclusion indicates that an active investment group could be verified; it does not imply that every organisation publicly disclosed a completed investment during that period.
Overseas networks, individual investors, standalone venture funds, crowdfunding platforms, and historical groups without sufficient evidence of current operations were excluded. Merged brands and regional chapters were counted under their current networks, while separately named regional groups were retained where distinct current operations could be established.
The result is a snapshot of publicly verifiable activity rather than an exhaustive census of angel investing in New Zealand. Disclosure varies between groups, and some investment activity takes place through private channels. Portfolio examples illustrate investment history, while the listing makes no ranking of investment performance, investor activity, or capital available.
A network’s contribution can continue through board appointments, commercial introductions and later funding rounds. Enterprise Angels’ exit committee and Flying Kiwi Angels’ investor representative model show how that support can extend across a company’s development.
As regional partnerships develop, an important test will be whether shared operations help investors sustain that involvement. Administration can be coordinated across a wider geography, but relationships require time and continuity. The lasting value of these networks will depend on their ability to keep experienced people engaged as founders face new markets, larger funding needs, and difficult decisions about the future of their companies.
