Investment in local start-ups holding up despite geopolitical uncertainty

Rising geopolitical uncertainty from the war in Iran does not appear to be putting off investment in new local start-ups, although it has had some impact.

The latest Catalist New Zealand Angel Market Report for the first quarter shows around $1.8 million was invested across 34 deals in 23 early-stage companies.

However, the Catalist report says the average individual angel investment fell to $9771, around 16 percent below the trailing 12-month average.

It said that reflected a broad recalibration of risk rather than a lack of support for early-stage businesses.

Angel Association New Zealand chief executive Bridget Unsworth said local investors were still actively engaged despite softer dollar volumes.

"We saw optimism come back last year and while it's tapered slightly, I do not think we have seen a complete retrenchment or people sitting on piles of capital rather than deploying it at the moment," she said.

Investment in innovation-led ventures dominated in the quarter, with the Catalist report showing it accounted for 65.6 percent of total investment value, well above long-term averages.

Software investment fell to 21.2 percent.

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