That Wanaka Tree. Photo by John Thomas on Unsplash.
I’ve fallen in love with New Zealand.
On Friday, October 16, I’ll be joining a group of New Zealand investors, fund managers, bankers, and tax and immigration advisors who are coming to Boulder for an Active Investor Plus roadshow lunch from noon to 2:30. Icehouse Ventures, Invest New Zealand, ASB Bank, Private Capital Group, and several others will talk about the program, where the investment opportunities are, and what it’s actually like to invest in and live in New Zealand.
Amy and I spent six weeks there and in Australia for my 60th birthday, and we head back later this month for a while. Since my work life is completely remote now, we are mostly just embracing our inner hermits and chasing the sun. But along the way, I’ve invested in ten New Zealand early stage venture funds (and ten, going on eleven, in Australia) and, when asked, have tried to be helpful to the broader New Zealand startup community.
The amount of overlap between Colorado and New Zealand surprises a lot of people. Both places are about 104,000 square miles. Each has a population between 5 and 6 million. Both are fucking beautiful places with enormous amounts of farmland and unpopulated space.
But the unexpected story for many is the business overlap.
Over 30 New Zealand companies have a presence in Colorado, employing 400-500 people, mostly in tech and aerospace. Xero moved its Americas HQ from San Francisco to Denver in 2017. Halter, which makes virtual fencing for cattle, is headquartered in Boulder and raised $220 million at a $2 billion valuation in March. Rocket Lab has been in Littleton since 2021. Auror, Cin7, Figured, Parkable, TracPlus, and others followed.
The government plumbing exists too. Denver and Auckland signed a City2City agreement at Denver Startup Week in 2024, and Auckland ran its first Startup Week a year later, modeled on Denver’s. In April 2025, Governor Polis and Judith Collins signed a Memorandum of Cooperation covering aerospace, quantum, geothermal, and entrepreneurship. It’s New Zealand’s second agreement with a US state (California is the other one).
New Zealand was the sixth largest source of foreign direct investment into Colorado in 2023.
The only thing missing is a nonstop flight between Denver and Auckland. Someday. Maybe. Hint hint airlines.
New Zealand overhauled the Active Investor Plus visa in April 2025. Since then, there have been almost 1,000 applications. Americans are the largest group at 32%, and NZ$2.88 billion has already been deployed into the New Zealand economy, mostly into venture capital, private credit, and private equity.
This is a two-way pipe. Americans on AIP visas back New Zealand companies, and those companies need a US home. I want them landing in Colorado.
If you’re curious about the visa, investing in New Zealand, or about building a bigger bridge between Colorado and New Zealand, join us. It’s a private event and requires host approval, so request an invite here.