A Kiwibank pilot programme aimed at early-stage businesses hit its funding target within the first month, with demand running at more than three times what the bank had expected, a result it says points to a wider gap in how startups are served by traditional lending. The bank is now rolling out the programme, called StartUp+, more broadly after the pilot’s results. Eligible borrowers can access up to $450,000 in total lending through tranches of up to $150,000 per application, with no security required on
the initial $150,000. Funding is released in stages tied to business milestones, rather than as a single upfront loan. Kiwibank General Manager Business Products and Performance Joanna Greaves says the level of pilot demand reflected founders who didn’t fit conventional lending criteria despite being on track. “We saw strong demand from founders who are doing all the right things but don’t fit traditional lending models,” Greaves says. “That’s the gap we’ve stepped in to fill.” The pilot, run in partnership with start-up support organisation Ministry
of Awesome, included founders across biotechnology, health technology, maritime innovation and FMCG. Greaves says the more notable result was what founders did once funding came through. “What stood out was not just the demand, but what happened next,” she says. “Once founders had access to funding, they were able to move faster and take up opportunities that might otherwise have been out of reach.” Capture The Bug founder Ankita Dhakar says the funding helped the business move on opportunities with international clients. “The support from
Kiwibank gave us the confidence to move faster and pursue opportunities with major clients outside New Zealand.” The pilot’s results echo a problem flagged in recent research on New Zealand’s start-up ecosystem: Local start-ups tend to raise less capital, take longer between funding rounds, and drop out of the funding pipeline at a higher rate than peer countries, according to a 2023 assessment prepared for MBIE by Startup Genome. The OECD’s most recent New Zealand economic survey, published in May, also pointed to capital constraints
as a hurdle for local entrepreneurship. Greaves says staged, milestone-linked funding is intended to better match how start-ups actually grow, rather than forcing founders into a single lending decision early on. “That approach reflects how start-ups actually grow,” she says. “We’re backing progress as it happens and providing help when it’s needed most.” For founders who have struggled to secure early-stage capital through mainstream lending, the pilot’s results suggest there may be a meaningful cohort whose growth has been constrained less by viability than by
how funding has traditionally been structured.
Kiwibank, StartUp+, pilot programme, early-stage businesses, startup funding, milestone-linked funding, Joanna Greaves, Ankita Dhakar, Ministry of Awesome, New Zealand start-up ecosystem