The Funding Files

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/19/58/4e/19584e1f-0428-615a-20b3-7418d6e85a11/mza_1063300968044345772.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

The Funding Files

Anna Guenther and Matt Stevens

14 episodes

1 week ago

In this episode of The Funding Files we interview Peter Russell, founder of Reterniti, a company creating stones from cremated ashes so no pet or person is ever forgotten. Russell shares that the idea came from a deeply personal experience with his dog, Hogan, whose ashes were buried under a rock later built over by a council toilet block. Frustrated by how ashes are typically handled, Russell set out to innovate within the slow-moving “death care” industry, working with Callaghan Innovation ...

Entrepreneurship

Business

RSS

All content for The Funding Files is the property of Anna Guenther and Matt Stevens and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Entrepreneurship

Business

Episodes (14/14)

The Funding Files

Ep 14: Peter Russell (Reterniti) on building a company in Death tech, working for free for 3 years, and nailing his Equity crowdfund

1 week ago

29 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep13 - Sasha McLeod (DoseBuddy) on "Building in Public", getting funded in 3 hours, and her masterclass in authentic marketingisode

On this episode of the Funding Files we’re interviewing Sasha McLeod who recently raised $20k in three hours to fund the first production run of her re-usable liquid medicine syringe. Sasha, a mother and digital marketing professional, created DoseBuddy because of her own shitty experiences using single-use medicine syringes. She partnered with a product developer found on Instagram to design and prototype the product. Initial funding came from personal savings from her and her husband, fol...

2 weeks ago

31 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 12: Simone Woodland (Circle Living) on “Farmer Finance”, the benefits of community, and managing emotions in hard times

In this episode of the Funding Files, Simone Woodland from Circle Living shares her journey from architecture and social entrepreneurship in the UK to founding a co-housing community in Golden Bay, New Zealand. After securing a 14.5-hectare site from a local farmer with a 10% deposit and a promise they’d figure out how to fund the rest in 9 months, Simone went on to develop 34 homes with a focus on community, sustainability, and land regeneration. Over the course of the developmen...

3 weeks ago

23 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 11: Jessica Manins (Beyond) on relationship based raising, surviving the lows of COVID, and Snoop Dog

In this episode of the Funding Files, Jessica Manins, co-founder of Beyond Studios, shares the rollercoaster journey of her gaming business 🎢 From COVID shutting down her interactive VR arcade game weeks after it launched in the US through to later paying out dividends to shareholders. She shares how she got into tech, from her early work at Star Now and community building at Biz Dojo, through to founding Beyond. Beyond began as a service company in the augmented reality space, later developi...

3 weeks ago

46 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 10: Jamie Cashmore (twiice) on trying to fix the single use plastic cup problem with a tasty alternative

In this episode of the Funding Files we interview Jamie Cashmore from twiice. Jamie and his family started twiice to address environmental concerns around single-use cups, creating tasty edible cups. They've sold 350,000 edible cups across 26 countries and are now pivoting to selling their patented technology. In this episode we hear more about Jamie's background, including his training as an audio engineer and how the idea for twiice came about. We learn more about the growth plans for...

1 month ago

40 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 9: Joerg Henkenhaf (Broken Heart Spirits) on making the world's best vodka & bringing sustainability into spirits

In this pod, we interview Joerg from Broken Heart Spirits, a multi-award-winning spirits manufacturer based in Queenstown. Joerg shares his journey from being an electronic engineer and airline pilot to becoming a master distiller. Originally from Germany's Rhine Valley, he discovered New Zealand during his time flying commercial planes here and eventually purchased a vineyard in 2001. He started distilling in 2004 after noticing unused grape skins in local wineries and wanting to do s...

2 months ago

30 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 8: Wills Cameron (Remarkable Cream) on launching sell-out cream liqueurs & scaling with his crowd

In this episode of the Funding Files, we interview Wills Cameron, a third-generation spirit seller who has re-launched his family's cream liqueur business. Wills shares how he transformed his father's and grandfather's previous business model into a modern multi-channel approach. He talks about how they started, by selling out their first batch through a Facebook group during COVID. Pretty much immediately, they faced manufacturing challenges that led to establishing their own cre...

2 months ago

36 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 7: Alliv Samson (Kami) on going from failing to raise a follow-on round from early investors to a massive (partial) trade sale

This podcast is all about the funding journey of Kami, a digital classroom platform used by 90% of US K-12 schools. The conversation is between Anna Guenther, co-host of The Funding Files and co-founder of PledgeMe, and Alliv Samson, one of the co-founders of Kami. Alliv delves into Kami's beginnings in 2012 as a university project called Notable, designed to make lectures more interactive. Initially, they faced challenges in monetizing the product and gaining traction, leading to a piv...

4 months ago

40 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 6: Greg Shanahan (Veriphi) on raising privately & publicly, developing Deeptech, and persistence

In this episode of the Funding Files we interview Greg Shanahan, founder of Veriphi, about Veriphi’s innovative solution to prevent medication errors using laser technology, AI, and cloud computing, and his big goal to create a billion-dollar company here in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the pod we cover Veriphi's development, funding journey, and future plans with the goal to reduce the 3% of hospital patients harmed by preventable medication errors, particularly with high-impact cancer dru...

5 months ago

51 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 5: Laura Bell Main (SafeStack) on bootstrapping, raising from VC and profitability in hard times

In this pod, we learn about Laura from Safestack's journey in building her company, from its inception as a cybersecurity consultancy to its evolution into a VC-backed platform with over 25,000 security learners in 80 countries. Laura shares her journey as a software engineer and security enthusiast, detailing the origins of her passion and the unique approach Safestack takes in integrating security with software development. The conversation also delves into Safestack's funding journey, star...

5 months ago

51 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 4: Lani Evans (Thankyou Payroll & Fundsorter)

In this episode of The Funding Files, Anna and Matt interview Lani Evans, the first CEO of Thankyou Payroll, a New Zealand-based payroll intermediary with a social enterprise model. Lani shares her journey helping scale the company, raise early-stage funding, and later support an equity crowdfunding campaign. The conversation highlights the lack of funding when you're just getting started, values-driven business model, challenges of raising capital for social enterprises, and the ...

6 months ago

29 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 3: Matt Stevens (Parrotdog)

In this episode of The Funding Files, co-host Anna Guenther chats with Matt Stevens, co-host and co-founder of Parrotdog, about his funding journey raising capital to launch and grow a craft brewery in Wellington, way back when the beer industry was just taking off. Parrotdog started in 2011 when three friends named Matt decided to start a craft brewery. Matt Stevens, initially brought in to help with incorporation, eventually became a co-founder. The company began with contract b...

6 months ago

36 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 2: Tim Shallard & Nigel Cottle (Morningcider)

Tim, Lou and Nige, former pastors and youthworkers, started Morningcider in 2015. What started off as just a name to do with their favourite suburb, Morningside in Auckland, has now grown into a nationwide cider brand that distributes around Aotearoa and the world. In this pod, Tim and Nige will share the story of how they started, the power of joint ventures with friends to scale, and how being pastors and starting a business are related! They’re currently raising investment on the Ple...

7 months ago

41 minutes

The Funding Files

Ep 1: Anna Guenther (PledgeMe)

Back in 2011, Anna needed a topic for her masters thesis, and fell in love with the idea of crowdfunding. Her background was grants administration and she thought there must be a better way to fund things. She met a guy building the backend to a crowdfunding platform, and they joined forces to launch PledgeMe in 2012. Over the years, she’s funded PledgeMe in a variety of ways - personal investment, private rounds, equity crowdfunding, and organically through revenue. This episode ...

7 months ago

31 minutes