New Zealand-based building tech company Tether has successfully closed its $1.75m seed capital funding round, led by environmental investment firm Impact Enterprise Fund (IEF).
Founded in 2018, the tech company has developed a range of products to improve building efficiency and help reduce emissions, with its EnviroQ sensor measuring a site’s temperature, carbon dioxide and humidity. The group’s tech is currently deployed by the Ministry of Education and housing and urban development group Kāinga Ora.
The latest round of investment will reportedly be used to expand the company’s scope; gaining access to new markets and bringing new technologies into development.
“Raising capital is incredibly difficult, especially in New Zealand. It takes a lot of time and energy. However, we now have access to new mentorship and consultative resources to help scale this business. That’s why we did it,” said Tether chief executive Brandon van Blerk. “Being product led we could only work on solutions clients were willing to pay for – we were always looking for customers to use our data to fulfil their needs and that has driven much of our product development. But now we know what works because we’ve already sold it.”
“This capital raise means a lot to us. It gives us license to create and dream and will let us build a range of new benefits for our technology to enhance the sustainability and performance of New Zealand’s construction industry,” he added.
In addition to the IEF (which is the umbrella company for the Akina Foundation, New Ground Capital and Impact Ventures), the investment round was joined by government spin-off NZ Growth Capital Partners, and privately-owned Greenside Energy Solutions.
“Just this week the Human Rights Commission has described New Zealand’s well documented housing crisis as a massive human rights failure,” Peter Watson, Manager at the IEF, said. “The housing situation is a real concern for us, and Tether is the most exciting catalytic solution we’ve seen to change that.”
The New Zealand government has several schemes in place to try and achieve their aim of carbon neutrality and eco-friendly buildings, such as the Healthy Home Standards and The Carbon Neutral Government Programme. In addition, the government has allocated $28m towards the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund, established to trial emerging small-scale renewable energy tech and encourage local-level renewable power generation.
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