Greenlight Ventures NZ

Greenlight Ventures NZ is a Wellington-based seed investment firm founded in 2015 by Jennifer Sutton, who serves as Managing Director. The firm backs ventures with exceptional founders, game-changing ideas, and global reach, investing across cleantech, fintech, medtech, robotics, and sustainability, though it remains broadly industry-agnostic. As of January 2025, the portfolio spans 26 companies spanning New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Australia. Greenlight's typical cheque size is in the $100K to $500K range at the pre-seed and seed stages. Portfolio companies include LanzaTech (globally recognized gas-liquid fermentation for waste carbon fuels, founded in New Zealand by Dr. Sean Simpson, which completed a Nasdaq IPO in February 2023), Dendra Systems (Oxford-based drone-powered ecosystem restoration at scale, led by Dr. Susan Graham), CoGo Connecting Good (carbon footprint management with offices in Wellington and London, founded by Ben Gleisner), OkHi (digital addressing for four billion unaddressed people globally, founded in Kenya by Timbo Drayson), Mint Innovation (biometallurgy recovering metals from e-waste, Auckland), Invert Robotics (suction climbing robots for industrial inspection, Christchurch), Sharesies (fintech), InsuredHQ (insurtech), and Sen Corporation (space). Goodments was acquired by Douugh in 2021 and Ethique, a sustainable beauty brand, was also exited. Jenny Sutton's diverse cross-industry background guides a portfolio that gravitates toward solutions enabling systemic change — climate, financial access, health, and ecological restoration. Greenlight emphasizes founders with the conviction and capability to compete globally from the start, and the firm actively supports its portfolio companies in building international presence from New Zealand.